Gryffindor Princess and the Chamber of Secrets

Chapter One: Alone at Hogwarts

Hope Dumbledore, was laying down under the shade of a willow tree on a huge patch of grass beside a lake. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the lake was glittering in the sun. Sitting under the willow tree listening to the sounds of the giant squid swimming below, had become one of her favorite pass times over the summer. On this particular day, Hope was under the willow tree, struggling with a dilemma. Tomorrow she was supposed to go visit her mother, Bellatrix Lestrange, in the Wizard Prison Azkaban. However, her relationship with her mother was... Complicated, to say the least.

Her mother was Lord Voldemort's most loyal servant during the wars, and when Voldemort had disappeared she'd gone into a rage and attacked an Auror and his wife. Shortly afterwards she'd been captured and given a life sentence in Azkaban leaving her father to raise Hope alone. This was no ordinary task, for after all Hope was a witch, and no ordinary witch at that. After her battle with Voldemort last year, Hope had discovered she was a Siren and she possessed an ancient and forbidden power which allowed her to control others using her voice.

Last year had been Hopes first year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The year had been exceedingly eventful. She and her best friends Harry, Ron, and Hermione had managed to defeat a mountain troll during Halloween, battle their way through a series of powerful enchantments the teachers had created, and fight off Voldemort, to prevent him from getting his hands on the Philosophers Stone.

Now, she was on holiday, but she was still at the Hogwarts castle as that was where she'd spent her entire life. During the holidays, she lived in a secret bedroom hidden inside her fathers study. The castle was much lonelier without her friends, wandering the different corridors and peaking into the various classrooms, only made Hope wish that the school term would come sooner.

As she sat under the willow tree, watching the Black Lake sparkle in front of her eyes, she thought about her mother. Hope had never actually visited her mother before, and the thought of finally meeting her was both terrifying and intriguing. Hope stood up from her spot and brushed herself off. She decided to visit Hagrid, this was something she'd done often over the holidays, she'd helped him with his grounds keeper jobs and in return he would give her tea and they would chat together afterwards.

The strolled down the grassy slopes and over to Hagrid's hut. To her disappointment, he wasn't there. She could hear Fang, Hagrid's dog, barking loudly but no one opened the door. She was forced to give up and walk back up to the castle. Sir Nicolas, the ghost of Gryffindor House, was floating through the wall, just as she got to the Entrance Hall.

"Hope!", He said cheerfully, swooping down to meet her, "how are you?"

"Good, thank you nick", she replied, "you?"

"Can't complain", he said, "you know, I heard a rumor, amongst the ghosts, that your going to visit your mother in prison tomorrow. Is it true?"

"Yeah", Hope said, "visitors have to be eleven or older."

"How are you feeling about it? Nervous? Hmm?"

"I'm not sure, I suppose nervous. I'm just not really sure what to expect."

"Well", he said, "I was just talking to the Bloody Baron, he was in rather a temper mind you, apparently peeves stole several toads from McGonagall's store and let them lose in Filchs office. Neverminded that - so, I was talking to the Baron and he said that Snape was actually in the same year as your mother during their years at school."

"He was?" Hope had no idea that Snape had even known who her mother was.

"Well I was thinking", Nick continued, "that perhaps it would ease your mind, if you were to talk to someone who knew her personally."