snake in the lions den|| WTM

sixteen

"Oh it was moaning Myrtle." Blaise says realizing who the dead student.

"It wasn't him! Aragog never killed no one, never!"

"Monsters don't make good pets, Hagrid. Now, stand aside." Tom says taking out his wand. "No!"

"Stand aside, Hagrid!"

"No!"

"Cistem Aperio!" The spell hits Hagrid's box and makes it burst open. A giant spider crawls out and scurries out of the room. "Arania Exumai!" The spell misses Aragog, who escapes.

Ron and a few other students whimper and shiver at the sight of the massive spider. Ron starts getting flashbacks of meeting the spider. He lived his worst nightmare.

"Aragog! Aragog!" He starts to go after Aragog, but Riddle levels his wand at him. "I can't let you go. They'll have your wand for this, Hagrid. You'll be expelled." Hagrid lowers his head in shame. The door slams shut as Ada is pulled out of the memory.

Ada disappears from the memory and then reappears at the table in the Gryffindor Common Room. "Whoa!" She runs off.

The trio walk through the courtyard. "The memory showed that it was Hagrid. Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago. Well according to Tom." Honestly she doesn't think it was Hagrid. She knows the man and she knows that he would never hurt someone.

"Thank you Ada." Hagrid smiles grateful that she would stick by his side. "No problem."

"It can't be Hagrid. It just can't be." Hermione says no believing it either "We don't even know this Tom Riddle. He sounds like a dirty rotten snitch to me." Ron says.

"Yeah, but the way Riddle saw it. Look I'm not saying it was Hagrid, i know he would never hurt anyone and it was most likely a whole misunderstanding but he was there and he could know something."

"Exactly, Hagrid's our friend. Why don't we just go and ask him about it?"

"That'll be a cheerful visit. Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?" Ron snarks not knowing that Hagrid is standing right behind him. "Mad and hairy? You wouldn't be talking about me, now would ya?"

Ada, Ron, and Hermione in unison "No!" There is an awkward moment of silence. "What's that you've got, Hagrid?"

"Oh, it's Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent. For the Mandrakes, you know. Now, according to Professor Sprout, they've still got a bit of growing up to do, but once their acne's cleared up, we'll be able to chop 'em up and stew 'em, and then we'll get those people down at the hospital unpetrified. In the meantime, though, you three had best be looking after yourselves, all right? "He turns to leave. At the same time, Neville rushes over.

"Hello, Nev." Ada smiles at the boy, Neville runs up to the girl "Ada, I don't know who did it, but you'd better come! C'mon!" Neville leads Ada, Ron, and Hermione up to Ada's dormitory. The whole place has been ransacked. Ron and Hermione stand by the entrance as Ada looks through the mess.

"That was a bitch to clean." Ada groans, she hates cleaning, she always had to do it at the Dursleys. Hermione gives her a look. "I was the one who cleaned not you."

"Yeah, but it was exhausting just watching you." She smiles innocently while Hermione rolls her eyes.

"It had to be a Gryffindor. Nobody else knows our password. Unless it wasn't a student."

"Whoever it was, they must have been looking for something."

"And they found it." Ada looks up from the mess. "Tom Riddle's diary is gone."