Harry woke up on Sunday morning to find the infirmary blazing with winter-like sunlight and his arm re-boned but very stiff. Remembering what happened that night he sat up quickly and looked over at Colin’s bed, but it had been blocked from view by the high curtains Harry had changed behind yesterday. Seeing that he was now awake, Madam Pomfrey came bustling over with a breakfast tray and then began examining his arm by bending and stretching his it and his fingers.
‘All in order,’ she said, as he clumsily fed himself porridge left-handed. ‘When you’ve finished eating, you may leave.’
Harry dressed as quickly as he could and hurried off to Slytherin Dungeon, desperate to tell Tracey and Allison about Colin and Dobby, but they weren’t there, nor was Theodore. Harry asked around to figure out where they went, Terence hugged him when he saw Harry was all healed up but hadn’t seen them, the first year Ella Wilkins hadn’t either, but thankfully Daphne Greengrass had some more helpful information.
‘I heard Tracey say something about the third floor to Allison this morning.’
‘Thanks Daphne, I think I know where they are.’
Harry was a little hurt that his friends hadn’t gone to see him, or waited in the common room for him, but he at least had a strong theory as to where they were. Harry left the common room and headed straight for Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. After making sure that neither Filch, teachers, or any Prefects were around, he opened the door and heard their voices coming from a locked cubicle.
‘It’s me,’ he said, closing the door behind him. There was a big sigh of relief from the stall and his three friends emerged.
‘Oh good’ said Tracey with some left over nerves in her voice. ‘We are going to have to come up with a signal so we know that whoever is coming in is one of us– how is your arm doing this morning?’
‘It feels like an actual arm again,’ said Harry, looking into the cubicle. An old cauldron was perched on the toilet, and a crackling from under the rim told Harry they had lit a fire beneath it.
‘How’d you get a fire to burn in the toilet?’
‘It was Tracey,’ Allison said proudly, ‘She remembered this wacky charm for waterproof fire.’
‘It’s not one-hundred percent stable so I’ll have to keep checking on it to make sure it’s lit. Anyway Harry, sorry for worrying you, we were going to wait at the dorm but then we heard the news and thought it best to get started.’
‘You already know about Colin?‘ asked Harry, a bit confused.
Theodore got back to focusing on the potion while Allison answered his question. ‘Some of the nastier and older Pure-blood Slytherins started spreading rumours about how a Muggle-born was eaten as soon as we exited our dormitories, it was only at breakfast that we learned the truth from some upset Gryffindors. He is really petrified, isn’t he?’
Harry nodded sadly, ‘I saw him with my own eyes. We have to do this so no one else gets hurt. Theo, did you see Malfoy leave the dormitory last night?’
‘No, but I didn’t know what was about to happen so I was asleep by eleven, he could have left anytime after that.’
‘We’ll have to keep a better eye on him,’ said Harry, ‘and we should get the confession as soon as possible so no one else gets hurt.’
Tracey nodded in agreement than they were engulfed in momentary silence. After a couple moments Harry than broke the silence with what else had happened that night.
‘There’s something else,’ said Harry, watching Theodore tearing bundles of knotgrass and throwing them into the potion. ‘Dobby came to visit me in the middle of the night. That’s the house elf that had been stealing my letters.’
Theodore, Allison, and Tracey looked up, amazed. Harry told them everything Dobby had told him – or hadn’t told him. Tracey listened with her mouth open.
‘I was right, The Chamber of Secrets has been opened about fifty years ago.’ said Hermione.
‘I have a theory,’ said Tracey in an excited voice. ‘Maybe Draco’s father opened the chamber when he was at Hogwarts and has taught Draco to do the same.’
Harry thought for a moment, than shock his head. ‘No, I met Lucius, he’s only about forty, so if what Theo said is true he wasn’t even born yet. That doesn’t mean that someone he knows didn’t open it fifty years ago, maybe an older cousin.’
Allison changed the subject back to Dobby. ‘It’s to bad you couldn’t get him to spill what kind of monster is in the Chamber, it would be nice to know what we’re up against. Or at least know how it’s getting around the school unnoticed.’
‘Their are many species with different types and levels of camouflage,’ said Theodore, prodding leeches to the bottom of the cauldron. ‘Or maybe it has some kind of shapeshifting ability, or perhaps invisibility...’
‘I think you are over thinking this,’ said Harry. ‘I think it has just been luck, the two times it attacked were times the halls were practically bare, supper and the middle of the night.’
Tracey poured dead lacewings on top of the leeches. She crumpled up the empty lacewing bag, then turned to look at Harry.
‘So Dobby is what prevented you and Theo from getting on the train, as well as enchanted that bloody Bludger? It sounds like he’s putting your life more in danger than he is saving you from.’
~
The scary news that Colin Creevey had been petrified and was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing had spread through the entire school by Monday morning, and just as quickly the news spread so too did the rumour. The first-years were now moving around the castle in tight-knit groups, as though scared they would be attacked if they ventured forth alone.
But it wasn’t just first-years in a panic, many in Harry’s own year were clearly shaken up. Daphne Greengrass, the gossip queen, was often silent, Hermione Granger was often found sobbing behind her large books, and Terry Boot, Allison’s second cousin, was nervously chatting when he used to keep to himself. He now often sat with her in classes Slytherin and Ravenclaw shared as though to make up for lost time, she didn’t protest but it was obvious it was getting on her nerves.
Sirius and Remus had even heard what had happened and wrote multiple times there concerns and Harry just barely managed to calm them down by telling them he was safe and that the situation would be under control soon.
Meanwhile, hidden from the teachers, a roaring trade in talismans, amulets and other protective devices was sweeping the school. Though most were ordered from joke shops so Harry doubted there true level of protection. Even if the protective items did work they might not be effective against the particular monster in the Chamber, so until they knew what the creature was they didn’t know what to use to stay safe.
It was during this time of mass panic and anxiety that Terence pulled Harry aside after practice one day. He looked incredibly nervous, like he didn’t know if he should speak what was on his mind or not.
‘Harry there is something I need to tell you, and I believe I can trust you, but just incase I need you to promise to me that you won’t tell a soul.’
‘Terence I promise, but why are you so nervous.’ Harry asked, quite concerned for the first Slytherin friend he ever made.
‘Because I am absolutely terrified. There is an unknown monster free to roam the castle petrifying Muggle-borns and I fear I’ll be next.’
‘But like you said, it only attacks,’ realization dawned on Harry. ‘Wait, Terence, are you telling me you actually are a Muggle-born? I thought you are Half-blood? Your uncle is that famous Auror Bertie Higgs!’
‘I lied Harry, I have been lying for over two years. My parents are as ordinary as they come. When I got my letter one of the very first things about the wizarding world I learned was the prejudice against wizards like me, so I spent the following two months learning everything I could about the wizarding world, about famous wizards with the surname Higgs, and creating a backstory for myself. I didn’t think I’d have to use it but I was then sorted into Slytherin where I was then surrounded by only Half-bloods and Pure-bloods and ended up having to use that story and research every single day.’
Harry took a moment to process this. ‘Well your secret is safe with me. Just so you know though, you aren’t the only one with Muggle parental figures. Although I hate them my mothers family are all muggles, and Tracey’s dad is a muggle and she is proud to show it even though she admits it’s scary sometimes in Slytherin.’
‘I never knew her dad was a muggle, that is pretty cool. And thanks Harry, you are a true friend.’
~
In the last week of November the group made a decision about the potion. Since neither Harry nor Tracey planned to stay for the Christmas break they decided the day before everyone left would be the perfect time to use the Polyjuice Potion to worm a confession out of Malfoy.
Unfortunately, the potion wasn’t quite finished. They still needed the Bicorn horn and the boomslang skin, and the only place they were going to get them was from Snape’s private stores. Harry privately felt he’d rather face the mister from the Chamber of Secrets than have Snape catch him robbing his office.
‘I think I have a plan,’ said Theodore briskly, as Monday’s double Potions lesson loomed nearer. ‘I will distract Snape while one of you uses Harry’s cloak to sneak into Snape’s office to steal the ingredients.’
Harry looked at Theodore nervously.
‘I think Tracey or Allison should sneak in,’ Theodore continued, clearly having thought about this awhile. ‘Harry you would be expelled if you were caught breaking anymore school rules, especially if it is Snape or McGonagall who catches you. Tracey, you are quite nimble and have gotten past a lot of staff unnoticed before, you should do it.’
Harry trusted Tracey, but he felt unsure about giving his father’s invisibility cloak to someone else, even just for a short time.
‘Ok, I will start asking questions about our current assignment,’ started Theodore, ‘and then once he appears to be getting annoyed with me you Harry and Allison will start making a ruckus, something that will keep his attention a little bit long. I say we need to give Tracey about five minutes to pull this off.’
Harry smiled feebly. Deliberately causing mayhem in Snape’s potions class was about as safe as poking a sleeping dragon in the eye.
Potions lessons took place in one of the large dungeons. Monday’s lesson proceeded in the usual way. Twenty cauldrons stood steaming between the wooden desks, on which stood brass scales and jars of ingredients. Snape prowled through the fumes, making waspish remarks about the Gryffindors’ work while some of the Slytherins like Zabini sniggered appreciatively. Draco Malfoy, who was Snape’s favourite student, kept flicking puffer-fish eyes at Harry and his friends, who knew that if they retaliated they would get detention faster than you could say ‘unfair’.
Harry’s Manegro Potion was far too runny, but he had his mind on more important things. He was waiting for Tracey’s signal, and he hardly listened as Snape paused to sneer at his watery potion. When Snape turned and walked off to bully Neville, Tracey caught Harry’s eye and nodded. She ducked under the table and covered herself with Harry’s cloak.
Theodore then approached Snape and started asking him boring questions about how to make the potion more potent and the history of some of the ingredients. Harry watched Snape’s face for the moment he looked to disinterested with Theodore. When he was sure Snape couldn’t get any more bored Harry ducked swiftly down behind his cauldron, pulled one of Fred Weasley’s Filibuster fireworks out of his pocket and gave it a quick prod with his wand. The firework began to fizz and sputter. Knowing he had only seconds, Harry straightened up, took aim, and lobbed it into the air; it landed right on target in Goyle’s cauldron.
Goyle’s potion exploded, showering the whole class. People shrieked as splashes of the Manegro Potion hit them. Malfoy got a faceful and his entire face exploded with silvery hair; Goyle blundered around, his hands over his eyes, which had now feet of hair growing from them, while Snape was trying to restore calm and find out what had happened. Through the confusion, Harry saw the door quietly open and close.
‘Silence! SILENCE!’ Snape roared. ‘Anyone who has been splashed, come here for an anti-Manegro elixir. When I find out who did this...’
Harry tried not to laugh as he watched Malfoy stumbled forward, unable to see from the hair covering his face. As half the class lumbered up to Snape’s desk, all with hair sprouting from odd places, Harry saw Tracey slide back behind her desk and shed his cloak, the front of her robes bulging.
When everyone had taken a swig of antidote and the various hair ailments had dissolved, Snape swept over to Goyle’s cauldron and scooped out the twisted black remains of the firework. There was a sudden hush.
‘If I ever find out who threw this,’ Snape whispered, ‘I shall make sure that person is expelled.’ Harry arranged his face into what he hoped was a puzzled expression. Snape was looking right at him,
and the bell which rang ten minutes later could not have been more welcome.
‘He knew it was me,’ Harry told the others, as they hurried back to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. ‘I could tell.’
Theodore threw the new ingredients into the cauldron and began to stir feverishly. ‘It’ll be ready in a fortnight,’ he said happily.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Allison reassuringly to Harry. ‘If he absolutely knew it was you Harry you would already be on a train home. With no proof what can he do?’
‘Knowing Snape, something foul,’ said Harry, as the potion frothed and bubbled.
~
A week later, Harry, Tracey, Allison, and Theodore were walking across the Entrance Hall when they saw a small knot of people gathered around the noticeboard, reading a piece of parchment that had just been pinned up. Two Gryffindors, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, looked excited.
‘They’re starting a Duelling Club!’ said Seamus. ‘First meeting tonight! I wouldn’t mind duelling lessons, they might come in handy one of these days...’
‘I doubt it, not unless you think the Chamber’s monster can duel?’ said Theodore sarcastically, they scowled at him and moved along, leaving more space for Harry and his friends to take a look.
‘It does look to be interesting, and me and Allison don’t have Quidditch that afternoon,’ said Harry as they went into dinner. ‘Should we all go?’
They all agreed, so at eight o’clock that evening they hurried back to the Great Hall. The long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited.
‘I wonder who’ll be teaching us?’ said Hermione Granger, although she didn’t really seem interested. ‘Someone told me Flitwick was a duelling champion when he was young, maybe it’ll be him.’
‘As long as it’s not m–’ Harry began, but he ended on a groan: Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his usual black. The was, in Harry’s opinion, a nightmare of a paring.
Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called, ‘Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Duelling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions–for full details, see my published works.’
Harry rolled his eyes so much they hurt, this almost sounded like an advertisement than an introduction.
‘Let me introduce my assistant Professor Snape,’ said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. ‘He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don’t want any of you youngsters to worry–you’ll still have your Potions master when I’m through with him, never fear!’
‘It would be nice if we didn’t though?’ Allison muttered in Harry’s ear.
Snape’s upper lip was curling. Harry wondered why Lockhart was still smiling; if Snape had been
looking at him like that he’d have been running as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.
‘As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position,’ Lockhart told the silent crowd. ‘On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course.’
‘I wouldn’t bet on that,’ Harry murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth.
‘One–two–three–’
Both of them swung their wands up and over their shoulders. Snape cried: ‘Expelliarmus!’ There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart’s wand went flying, and Lockhart himself was blasted off his feet: he flew backwards off the stage, smashed into the wall and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.
Malfoy, his gang, and some other Slytherins cheered. Despite no longer being a fan, Harry was worried if Lockhart was ok. ‘Is he ok?’
‘Don’t really care’ said Allison, Tracey and Theodore nodded in agreement.
Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His hat had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end.
‘Well, there you have it!’ he said, tottering back onto the platform. ‘That was a Disarming Charm–as you see, I’ve lost my wand– mah, thank you, Miss Brown. Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don’t mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let them see...’
Snape was looking murderous. Possibly Lockhart had noticed, because he said, ‘Enough demonstrating! I’m going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you’d like to help me...’
They moved through the crowd, matching up partners. Lockhart teamed Neville with Justin Finch- Fletchley, but Snape reached Harry and his friends first.
‘Time to split up the dream team, I think,’ he sneered. ‘Davis, you can partner Bones. Nott with Boot. Potter–’
Harry moved automatically towards Allison.
‘I don’t think so,’ said Snape, smiling coldly. ‘Mr Malfoy, come over here. Let’s see what you make of the famous Potter. And you, Miss Runcorn–you can partner Miss Moon.’
Malfoy strutted over, smirking. The others reluctantly went to find their assigned partners leaving Harry alone with Malfoy.
‘Face your partners!’ called Lockhart, back on the platform, ‘and bow!’
Harry and Malfoy barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other. Harry felt quite confident as he had secretly learned how to cast the disarming spell the year prior when Malfoy had challenged him to a duel. It may have been over a year later but Harry was finally going to kick Malfoy’s butt with it.
‘Wands at the ready!’ shouted Lockhart. ‘When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent–only to disarm them–we don’t want any accidents. One...two...three...’
Harry swung his wand over his shoulder, but Malfoy had already started on ‘two’:
‘Everte Statum!’ His spell hit Harry so hard he felt as though he’d been hit over the head with a saucepan. He stumbled, but everything still seemed to be working, and wasting no more time, Harry pointed his wand straight at Malfoy and shouted, ‘Rictusempra!’
A jet of silver light hit Malfoy in the stomach and he doubled up, wheezing.
‘I said disarm only!’ Lockhart shouted in alarm over the heads of the battling crowd, as Malfoy sank to his knees; Harry had hit him with a Tickling Charm Tracey had used the year before, and he could barely move from laughing. Harry hung back, with a vague feeling it would be unsporting to bewitch Malfoy while he was on the floor, but this was a mistake. Gasping for breath, Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry’s knees, choked, ‘Tarantallegra!’ and next second Harry’s legs had begun to jerk around out of his control in a kind of quickstep.
‘Stop! Stop!’ screamed Lockhart, but Snape took charge.
‘Finite Incantatem!’ he shouted; Harry’s feet stopped dancing, Malfoy stopped laughing and they were able to look up.
A haze of greenish smoke was hovering over the scene. Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting; Theodore was standing triumphantly over a defeated Terry; but to everyone’s surprise Hermione Granger and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving; Hermione had Millicent in a headlock and Millicent was desperately trying to tap out. Both their wands lay forgotten on the floor. Tracey leapt forward and pull Millicent out and with the help of a girl named Alicia Spinnet they managed to separate the two. The surprise came from the fact that Millicent was much bigger than Hermione.
‘Dear, dear,’ said Lockhart, skittering through the crowd, looking at the aftermath of the duels. ‘Up you get, Macmillan...careful there, Miss Fawcett...pinch it hard, it’ll stop bleeding in a second, Boot...’
He continued giving quick advice to everyone then returned to the stage.
‘I think I’d better teach you how to block unfriendly spells,’ said Lockhart, standing flustered in the midst of the hall. He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away. ‘Let’s have a volunteer pair–Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you?’
‘A bad idea, Professor Lockhart,’ said Snape, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat. ‘Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We’ll be sending what’s left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox.’
Neville’s round pink face went pinker. ‘How about Malfoy and Potter?’ said Snape with a twisted smile.
‘Excellent idea!’ said Lockhart, gesturing Harry and Malfoy into the middle of the Hall as the crowd backed away to give them room.
‘Now, Harry,’ said Lockhart, ‘when Draco points his wand at you, you do this.’
He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action and dropped it. Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, ‘Whoops–my wand is a little over-excited.’
Snape moved closer to Malfoy, bent down and whispered something in his ear. Malfoy smirked, too. Harry looked nervously up at Lockhart and said, ‘Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?’
‘Scared?’ muttered Malfoy, so that Lockhart couldn’t hear him.
‘You wish,’ said Harry out of the corner of his mouth.
Lockhart cuffed Harry merrily on the shoulder. ‘Just do what I did, Harry!’
‘What, drop my wand?’ But Lockhart wasn’t listening.
‘Three–two–one–go!’ he shouted.
Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, ‘Serpensortia!’
The end of his wand exploded. Harry watched, in awe, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between them and raised itself, ready to strike. There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away, clearing the floor.
‘Don’t move, Potter,’ said Snape lazily, clearly enjoying the sight of Harry standing motionless, eye to eye with the angry snake. ‘I’ll get rid of it...’
‘Allow me!’ shouted Lockhart. He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight towards Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike.
Harry wasn’t sure what made him do it. He wasn’t even aware of deciding to do it. All he knew was that his legs were carrying him forward as though he was on roller skates and that he had shouted stupidly at the snake, ‘Leave him!’
And miraculously– nexplicably–the snake slumped to the floor, docile as a thick black garden hose, its eyes now on Harry. Harry felt the fear drain out of him. He knew the snake wouldn’t attack anyone now, though how he knew it, he couldn’t have explained.
He looked up at Justin, grinning, expecting to see Justin looking relieved, or puzzled, or even grateful–but certainly not angry and scared.
‘What do you think you’re playing at?’ he shouted, and before Harry could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the Hall.
Snape stepped forward, waved his wand and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. Snape, too, was looking at Harry in an unexpected way: it was a shrewd and calculating look, and Harry didn’t like it. He was also dimly aware of an ominous muttering all around the walls. Then he felt a tugging on the back of his robes.
‘Harry, lets go,’ said Theodore’s voice in his ear. ‘We need to go, move...’
Theodore steered him out of the Hall, the girls hurrying alongside them. As they went through the doors, the people on either side drew away as though they were frightened of catching something. Harry didn’t have a clue what was going on, and none of his friends explained anything until they had dragged him all the way down to the empty Slytherin common room. Then Theodore forcefully pushed Harry into one of the stone armchair and said, ‘You are a bloody Parselmouth. Merlin’s beard, why have you been keeping this from us?’
‘I’m a what?’ said Harry.
‘A Parselmouth!’ said Theodore, getting quite red in the face. ‘You have to ability to command snakes!’
‘I know,’ said Harry. ‘I mean, that’s only the second time I’ve ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor free on my idiot cousin Dudley’s birthday at the zoo once–long story–but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I get bad and the next moment the glass had...’
‘The boa constrictor told you something and you understood it?’ Said Tracey, who sounded almost as confused as Harry did.
‘So?’ said Harry. ‘Animagus’ can understand animals and my dad was one, I just must have inherited the ability to understand.’
‘Do you understand all animals, or just snakes?’ said Allison, deep concern in her voice.
‘I guess just snakes, why?’
‘Animagus only get a broad sense of what an animal means, they don’t understand it word for word. But history and legends say that Parselmouths can understand snakes as though it was their native tongue.’ Said Theodore.
‘What’s bad?’ said Harry, starting to feel quite angry. ‘What’s wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn’t told that snake not to attack Justin–’
‘Oh, you told it to stop?’ said Allison relieved, but only slightly.
‘What d’you mean? You were there...you heard me.’
‘No, I only heard you speaking Parseltongue,’ said Allison, ‘the snake language. No one in the room could understand you. Justin worry was completely justified, it looked like you were commanding the snake to do something to him. Harry, it was really scary to watch, even for me.’
Harry stared at her in shock.
‘I spoke a different language? But–I didn’t realise–how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?’
All three shook their heads. They all looked as though someone had died. Harry couldn’t see what was so terrible.
‘D’you want to tell me what’s wrong with stopping an enchanted snake biting Justin’s head off?’ he said. ‘What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin doesn’t have to join the Headless Hunt?’
‘Ok, I know both sets of your parents were Gryffindors, but how do you not know this,’ said Theodore, speaking in a frustrated voice, ‘The last known Parseltongue in history was our house’s founder, Salazar Slytherin, that’s why our symbol is a snake, Harry.’
Harry’s mouth fell open.
‘So the million Galleon question is,’ started Theodore, ‘Are you his long lost descendant? Are you the heir of Slytherin?’
‘I am not,’ said Harry, with a panic he couldn’t quite explain. ‘You just said how I come from a long line of Gryffindor’s, that and my parents attended hogwarts years after the chamber was last opened and my grandparents attended long before it was opened. It can’t be me.’
‘Harry, we don’t have any concrete proof of what happened fifty years ago,’ said Allison. ‘But what we do know is after centuries of Gryffindor’s you are were placed in Slytherin and than a year later the Chamber of Secrets opens. That and Salazar was alive a thousand years ago, for all we know, you could actually be his heir.’
It was then that Terence burst through the false wall, steaming mad. He grabbed Harry by the collar of his uniform and dragged him into the boy’s bathroom. Closing the door behind them.
‘You lied to me!’ Terence said furiously. ‘When I confessed my deepest secret to you, you left out the fact that you are his heir, you are the one hunting Muggle-borns!’
‘I am not, Terence I didn’t even know what a Parseltongue was until ten minutes ago. I don’t know why I am a Parseltongue but I am not the heir of Slytherin and I would never hurt you. Not you, and not any other Muggle-borns.’
‘I’d like to believe you, but I can’t take the risk. I have to watch my back. I’ll be keeping an eye on you.’
This hurt Harry really deeply. ‘But Terence, you are the first friend I made here, I would never do something as wicked as petrify you.’
‘Yeah, well. Now he are just team mates. Get out of my sight.’
Harry didn’t want to admit it, but tears were rolling down his cheeks. He ran out of the bathroom, past his friends, up the stairs to his dormitory, and pulled the curtains around his bed.
He cried for a few minutes wondering why this was happen to him. How could he possibly be a Parseltongue and how could his best friend not trust him anymore. He wanted this to all go away.
Then an idea popped into his head. He reached under his bed and grabbed his enchanted two way mirror.
‘Paddy? Moony, are you there?’ He called out, trying to force his voice to sound less shaky.
After a moment Sirius was in view. ‘Harry, I wasn’t expecting you. Remus isn’t here but are you ok? You sound upset.’
‘It’s just been a long day. I have a question, for, her, history class. Have all my ancestors been Gryffindors since the school opened a thousand years ago? Or at the very least not Slytherins?’
Sirius seemed to think for a moment. ‘I can’t really answer that Harry, I’m sorry. I’m sure your grandfather Fleamont would know but he didn’t really talk about the Potter family history while I lived with him. The farthest back Potter that I know about is Linfred from the thirteenth century, but I don’t even know if he was a Gryffindor or not. Does that help at all Harry with your project?’
Harry forced a smile on his face. ‘Yes, it helps a great deal. I am really tired now. I am going to sleep. Good night Sirius.’
‘Oh, um, good night Harry, I love you.’
‘You too.’
He than stashed the mirror back under the bed and laid back down in misery. He now knew that there was over a two hundred year gap between Salazar Slytherin’s time and the start of his family tree. Anything could have happened in those two hundred years, including a descendant of Salazar marrying an ancestor of Linfred. Making it, at the very least, possible that Harry was indeed the heir of Slytherin.
~
Harry lay awake for hours that night. Through a gap in the hangings round his four-poster he watched ice starting to form on the dormitory window, and wondered.
Could he be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin? The knowledge of his families earliest history seem to have died with his grandfather. Harry doubted that any books in Hogwarts would help him disprove this awful rumour.
Quietly, Harry tried to say something in Parseltongue. The words wouldn’t come. It seemed he had to be face to face with a snake to do it.
"But I am supposed to be a Gryffindor," Harry thought. "I begged the Sorting Hat to put me in my families house, but it must have made a mistake."
"Ah," said a nasty little voice in his brain, "But the Sorting Hat has never made a mistake, it said you were destined for greatness in Slytherin. It made no mistake."
Harry turned over. He’d see Justin next day at lunch and he’d explain that he’d been calling the snake off, not encouraging it, which (he thought angrily, pummelling his pillow) any fool should have realised.
~
By next morning, however, the snow that had begun in the night had turned into a blizzard so thick that the last Herbology lesson of term was cancelled so many of the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors saw no need to leave their warm dormitories: Professor Sprout wanted to fit socks and scarves on the Mandrakes, a tricky operation she would entrust to no one else, now that it was so important for the Mandrakes to grow quickly and revive Mrs Norris and Colin Creevey.
Harry fretted about this while attending his final History of Magic class before break, he could barely pay attention. As the class ended Tracey approached Harry.
‘Justin's reaction really bothered you,’ said Tracey empathetically. ‘You should go and talk to him then instead of waiting to potentially run into him.’
So Harry got up and left the class room, wondering where Justin might be.
The castle was darker than it usually was in daytime, because of the thick, swirling grey snow at every window. Shivering, Harry walked past classrooms where lessons were taking place, catching snatches of what was happening within. Professor McGonagall was shouting at someone who, by the sound of it, had turned his friend into a badger. Resisting the urge to take a look, Harry walked on by, thinking that Justin might be using his free lesson to catch up on some work, and deciding to check the library first.
A group of the Hufflepuffs who should have been in Herbology were indeed sitting at the back of the library, but they didn’t seem to be working. Between the long lines of high bookshelves, Harry could see that their heads were close together and they were having what looked like an absorbing conversation. He couldn’t see whether Justin was among them.
He was walking towards them when something of what they were saying met his ears, and he paused to listen, hidden in the Invisibility section.
‘So anyway,’ a stout boy was saying, ‘I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Potter’s marked him down as his next victim, it’s best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin’s been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he learned Slytherin’s monster was going after Muggle-borns. He is worried Potter knows what he is because they were both in Magical Theory last year whose students are often majority Muggle-born.’
‘You definitely think it is Potter, then, Ernie?’ said a girl with blonde pigtails anxiously.
‘Hannah,’ said the stout boy solemnly, ‘he’s in Slytherin and a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that’s the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue.’
There was some heavy murmuring at this, and Ernie went on, ‘Remember what was written on the wall? Enemies of the Heir Beware. Potter had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch’s cat’s attacked. That first-year, Creevey, was annoying Potter at the Quidditch match, taking pictures of him while he was lying in the mud. Next thing we know, Creevey’s been attacked.’
‘He always seems so nice, though,’ said Hannah uncertainly, ‘and, well, he’s the one who made You Know Who disappear. He can’t be all bad, can he?’
Susan Bones, an old friend of Harry’s then spoke up. ‘I have known him my whole life, he’s a good guy.’
Ernie lowered his voice mysteriously, the Hufflepuffs bent closer, and Harry edged nearer so that he could catch Ernie’s words.
‘Bones, did you ever think he would be a Slytherin, I don’t think so. And Hannah, no one knows how he survived that attack by You Know Who. I mean to say, he was only a baby when it happened. He should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark Wizard could have survived a curse like that.’ He dropped his voice until it was barely more than a whisper, and said, ‘That’s probably why You Know Who wanted to kill him in the first place. Didn’t want another Dark Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers Potter’s been hiding?’
Harry couldn’t take any more. Clearing his throat loudly, he stepped out from behind the bookshelves. If he hadn’t been feeling so angry, he would have found the sight that greeted him funny: every one of the Hufflepuffs looked as though they had been Petrified by the sight of him, and the colour was draining out of Ernie’s face.
‘Hello,’ said Harry. ‘I’m looking for Justin Finch-Fletchley.’
The Hufflepuffs’ worst fears had clearly been confirmed. They all looked fearfully at Ernie. ‘What do you want with him?’ said Ernie, in a quavering voice.
‘I wanted to tell him what really happened with that snake at the Duelling Club, I told the snake to stop,’ said Harry.
Ernie bit his white lips and then, taking a deep breath, said, ‘We were all there. We saw what happened.’
‘Then you noticed that, after I spoke to it, the snake backed off?’ said Harry, hoping this would stop the misconception.
‘All I saw,’ said Ernie stubbornly, though he was trembling as he spoke, ‘was you speaking Parseltongue and chasing the snake towards Justin.’
‘I didn’t chase it at him!’ Harry said, his voice shaking with anger. ‘It didn’t even touch him!’
‘It was a very near miss,’ said Ernie. ‘And in case you’re getting ideas,’ he added hastily, ‘I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood’s as pure as anyone’s, so–’
‘I don’t care what sort of blood you’ve got!’ said Harry fiercely. ‘Why would I want to attack Muggle- borns, my own mother was a Muggle-born!’
‘I’ve heard you hate those Muggles you spend the summer with,’ said Ernie swiftly.
‘It’s not possible to live with the Dursleys and not hate them,’ said Harry. ‘I’d like to see you try it. But I don’t hate them because they are muggles, I hate them because they are incredibly mean.’
He turned on his heel and stormed out of the library, earning himself a reproving glare from Madam Pince, who was polishing the gilded cover of a large spellbook.
Harry blundered up the corridor, barely noticing where he was going, he was in such a fury. The result was that he walked into something very large and solid, which knocked him backwards onto the floor.
‘Oh, hullo, Hagrid,’ Harry said, looking up.
Hagrid’s face was entirely hidden by a woolly, snow-covered balaclava, but it couldn’t possibly be anyone else, as he filled most of the corridor in his moleskin overcoat. A dead rooster was hanging from one of his massive, gloved hands.
‘All righ’, Harry?’ he said, pulling up the balaclava so he could speak. ‘Why aren’t yeh in class?’
‘I needed to find someone, apologize before the break,’ said Harry, getting up. ‘What’re you doing in here?’
Hagrid held up the limp rooster.
‘Second one killed this term,’ he explained. ‘It’s either foxes or a Blood-Suckin’ Bugbear, an’ I need the Headmaster’s permission ter put a charm round the hen-coop.’
He peered more closely at Harry from under his thick, snow-flecked eyebrows.
‘Yeh sure yeh’re all righ’? Yeh look all hot an’ bothered.’
Harry couldn’t bring himself to repeat what Ernie and the rest of the Hufflepuffs had been saying about him.
‘It’s nothing,’ he said. ‘I’d better get going, Hagrid, it’s Defence Against the Dark Arts next and I’ve got to pick up my books.’
He walked off, his mind still full of what Ernie had said about him.
‘Justin’s been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he learned Slytherin’s monster was going after Muggle-borns...’
Harry stamped up the stairs and turned along another corridor, which was particularly dark; the torches had been extinguished by a strong, icy draught which was blowing through a loose window pane. He was halfway down the passage when he tripped headlong over something lying on the floor.
He turned to squint at what he’d fallen over, and felt as though his stomach had dissolved.
Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, rigid and cold, a look of shock frozen on his face, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. And that wasn’t all. Next to him was another figure, the strangest sight Harry had ever seen.
It was Nearly Headless Nick, no longer pearly-white and transparent, but black and smoky, floating immobile and horizontal, six inches off the floor. His head was half off and his face wore an expression of shock identical to Justin’s.
Harry got to his feet, his breathing fast and shallow, his heart doing a kind of drum-roll against his ribs. He looked wildly up and down the deserted corridor and saw a line of spiders scuttling as fast as they could away from the bodies. The only sounds were the muffled voices of teachers from the classes on either side.
He could run, and no one would ever know he had been there. But he couldn’t just leave them lying here ..he had to get help. Would anyone believe he hadn’t had anything to do with this?
As he stood there, panicking, a door right next to him opened with a bang. Peeves the poltergeist came shooting out.
‘Why, it’s potty wee Potter!’ cackled Peeves, knocking Harry’s glasses askew as he bounced past him. ‘What’s Potter up to? Why’s Potter lurking–’
Peeves stopped, halfway through a mid-air somersault. Upside-down, he spotted Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. He flipped the right way up, filled his lungs and, before Harry could stop him, screamed, ‘ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!’
Crash–crash–crash: door after door flew open along the corridor and people flooded out. For several long minutes, there was a scene of such confusion that Justin was in danger of being squashed and people kept standing in Nearly Headless Nick. Harry found himself pinned against the wall as the teachers shouted for quiet. Professor McGonagall came running, followed by her own class, one of whom still had black and white striped hair. She used her wand to set off a loud bang, which restored silence, and ordered everyone back into their classes. No sooner had the scene cleared somewhat than Ernie the Hufflepuff arrived, panting, on the scene.
‘Caught in the act!’ Ernie yelled, his face stark white, pointing his finger dramatically at Harry.
‘That will do, Macmillan!’ said Professor McGonagall sharply.
Peeves was bobbing overhead, now grinning wickedly, surveying the scene; Peeves always loved chaos. As the teachers bent over Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, examining them, Peeves broke into song:
‘Oh Potter, you rotter, oh what have you done?
You’re killing off students, you think it’s good fun–’
‘But I didn’t-‘
‘That’s enough! The both of you! Go away Peeves!’ barked Professor McGonagall, and Peeves zoomed away backwards, with his tongue out at Harry.
Justin was carried up to the hospital wing by Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department, but nobody seemed to know what to do for Nearly Headless Nick. In the end, Professor McGonagall conjured a large fan out of thin air, which she gave to Ernie with instructions to waft Nearly Headless Nick up the stairs. This Ernie did, fanning Nick along like a silent black hovercraft.
This left Harry and Professor McGonagall alone together.
‘This way, Potter,’ she said.
‘Professor,’ said Harry at once, ‘I swear I didn’t–’
‘This is out of my hands, Potter,’ said Professor McGonagall curtly.
They marched in silence around a corner and she stopped before a large and extremely ugly stone gargoyle.
‘Sherbet lemon!’ she said. This was evidently a password, because the gargoyle sprang suddenly to life, and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in two. Even full of dread for what was coming, Harry couldn’t fail to be amazed. Behind the wall was a spiral staircase which was moving smoothly upwards, like an escalator. As he and Professor McGonagall stepped onto it, Harry heard the wall thud closed behind them. They rose upwards in circles, higher and higher, until at last, slightly dizzy, Harry could see a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffon.
He knew where he was being taken. This must be where Dumbledore lived.
