Second Year was not at all liked they planned. It didn't go swimmingly, as the four of them had hoped and expected it to; it went the exact opposite. It was tainted with darkness, and evil; and Ophelia very much wished to block it out of her life forever.
Their new self-absorbed Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, was only the start of their problems. Along with that, there was Dobby; whom was doing everything in his power to get Harry kicked out of the place: like stopping his letters, blocking him entry to the platform (which led to the second incident with the car and a nasty howler from Molly) and sending a bludger his way on the Quidditch pitch.
However Dobby's antics, the wrath of Molly Weasley and new teachers were the least of the problems they had this year. Soon into their second year, they had come to the, slightly unsettling, discovery that Harry was a parseltongue; meaning he could talk to snakes. And Harry, the parseltongue himself, had no idea he had even done it.
The four of them were under the close eye of their peers from then on. Rumours about Harry being evil, and his friends conspiring with him; made eager to hang out with them. Nobody except Luna, who despite ludicrous rumours, could never have been scared away from them.
Letters to Remus calmed Ophelia down, and as promised she didn't leave anything out of them this year. With that, came him being worried about her. Worried about all of them, but she assured him she was safe.
But things at Hogwarts weren't safe, or they wouldn't be soon at least.
Things with her other friends were rocky. Even Dean, Seamus, Pavarti and Lavender had their doubts about Harry and who he 'really was', as they so graciously put it. And then there was Draco Malfoy, the one that just wouldn't quit. After their, somewhat civil, interaction at Flourish and Blotts in the summer with the Weasley's; she steered clear of him. But it wasn't until he called Hermione a mudblood one day before a Quidditch match, that Ophelia was finished.
'Ophelia! Wait!' Draco had called, running after her a couple days after the incident.
She had whirled around, more furious than she had been in ages, and just shook her head. 'No, Draco, no. We're finished whatever pathetic friendship we had before -- and it ended the moment you dared to call Hermione that nasty name.'
They were done.
...
As the days morphed into weeks, and the end of summer turned into fall, it became more evident how unsafe Hogwarts was becoming. Eventually the discovery of the first victim of what was to be a gruesome year had been found. Mrs. Norris had been petrified, in puddles of water overflowing from a bathroom. And above, on the stone wall, a frightening message;
'The chamber of secrets has been opened; enemies of the heir beware.'
Naturally; Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ophelia were the first on scene by coincidence; which of course led to the continuing of the rumours they they were up to something.
And as the students of Hogwarts were downright frantic about the attack on the cat, their professors seemed to be in denial. They refused to talk about the Chamber of Secrets, and shot down any ideas that might suggest there was any imminent danger.
Others weren't doing so well. Ginny Weasley, for one, was downright shaken up about the crime. She seemed to be on edge all the time, refused to talk to anybody, and seemed to be trembling at any given moment. Ron insisted it was because she was a cat lover, that she was upset about Mrs. Norris, but Ophelia disagreed. Something was different about this eleven year old than the carefree, bossy one she met at the summer in the burrow.
Some however, didn't seem at all shaken by it. Like Draco Malfoy, for instance, who instead of being frightened; seemed all too pleased with the events that had taken place. ('The mudbloods are next!")
And then there was a couple people, like Hermione, who were spending their spare time doing research.
'This is ridiculous. All the copies of Hogwarts: A History have been taken out, and there's an enormus waiting list!' She huffed one day, as she sat down with them at a table in the library.
'Why do you want it so badly?' Ron groaned.
'The same reason everybody else wants it, to do research on the Chamber of Secrets.' Hermione replied, as if it was obvious.
The people that had taken out the history books already, would have already learnt about Salazar Slytherin, and his supposed heir, and that's when even more people turned their backs on Harry given his parseltongue.
Ophelia had other ideas of where to get the information, so they turned to the one teacher that would never turn her down.
Minnie was more than willing to fill in the blanks about the Chamber of Secrets and Salazar Slytherin; most likely because she didn't believe any of it was real. She seemed eager to prove it wasn't, as if she too was in denial. But instead of refusing them, she answered all their questions; Hogwarts had been founded thousands of years ago, by four brilliant witches and wizards; Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin. The four worked harmoniously together for many years; searching far and wide for children that showed magical potential, and they invited them to the school to be educated. But as their success grew greater, the four grew farther apart; or more like one of them in particular did.
The infamous Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students they invited to their sacred school. He claimed magic should be kept within all-magic families, otherwise known as purebloods, and when his three partners disagreed with him; he left the school. According to Minnie, that's all that is verified for certain. The Chamber of Secrets however, is only known due to ancient rumours. It was said that Salazar Slytherin created a chamber, with a monstrous creature within, and sealed it; so that only when his heir returned to the school could it be re-opened.
She was also persistent on making sure they knew this tidbit of information, 'Hundreds of searches have been conducted since, and no such chamber has been found. It isn't real, it is myth and a tale made to frighten the gullible. Do not dwell on it too much.'
But the four of them weren't convinced, so, as per usual; they investigated it themselves. Their investigations didn't get them far, however. Besides a few spiders, and a wailing ghost by the name of 'Moaning Myrtle', they had found nothing at all helpful to add to their case.
'Right. We have no evidence, no clues, no chamber in sight. Let's start with the basics, then. We discover who the heir is, we can figure the rest out.' Hermione began one day.
'In theory.' Ophelia nodded. 'But how would we do that? It isn't as if somebody would willingly tell us they were the heir.'
'Let's see? Who's a Slytherin, who has made it abundantly clear he hates muggle-borns?' Ron asked, sarcastically.
'Malfoy, the heir of Slytherin?' Hermione asked, skeptically.
Their might have been a time Ophelia would have disagreed with them, but now, after what Draco had said; even she wasn't completely unconvinced he didn't have something to do with it. And so their plan came to life. Polyjuice Potion. Ophelia was skeptical at first. It took a high-skill level to make it, months to brew it and it required dozens of ingredients they'd need to steal from Snape's person cupboards. Still, as always, she found herself agreeing to whatever they asked of her. It would be Harry, Ron and Hermione transforming; and Ophelia keeping guard.
But as the potions took months to make, other attacks had taken place during that time period. Collin Creevy had been petrified, found with a burnt out camera, all evidence erased, and so had Justin Finch-Fletchley.
Both were muggle-borns.
Harry had also learned one thing, while laying in the hospital bed due to Dobby's antics from the Quidditch match, that the Chamber of Secrets was indeed real and opened again; Dumbledore himself had said it, as he inspected the petrified body of Collin Creevy.
Their attacks stroke fear in the teachers that, until then, had been refusing to believe any of this. New rules were imposed; curfew was immediately after dinner, and students, regardless of age, had to travel in pairs everywhere (even the loos).
And suddenly, Remus was a lot more insistent on her coming home in their letters, despite her pleas that she was perfectly fine. After all, she wasn't muggle-born, and she wasn't daft enough to be caught alone at a time like this—like Justin and Collin had been. She had managed to convince him that, unless Dumbledore said something, she should be allowed to stay at Hogwarts.
Soon Harry and Ron were able to question Malfoy over Christmas break. Unfortunately, with unprecedented attacks came the fact that nobody could go home for Christmas this year. Everybody was to stay. Letting people go meant possibly letting the heir escape, and while Dumbledore was mental at the best of times; he at least knew better than to do that. Ophelia missed Remus and Ginger, of course, but if she was being honest her mind was too preoccupied with the attacks to think too hard on it.
But their plan didn't go as accordingly. Hermione on the other hand, ran into some unfortunate events with her dose of the potion; as she turned into Millicent Bulstrode's cat instead of the human herself. Instead of keeping watch, Ophelia had to escort a slightly harrier Hermione to the hospital wing.
Luckily, the boys didn't run into any trouble anyway. On the other hand, they had discovered Draco Malfoy was not the heir of Salazar Slytherin. But at least they had one name narrowed down, right?
But then they found the diary in February. Or Harry did, at least. He shared what he found with them; that a man by the name of Tom Riddle could communicate with him in it. Tom was, miraculously, also able to show Harry what had happened fifty years ago when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. It seemed all too easy though -- all too convienent, that just when they needed answers Harry happened to find a dairy that could provide them with anything they asked of. Still though, they did hear parts of the story.
A girl had died.
And Tom led Harry to another discovery,
'It's Hagrid, Ophelia! Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets.'
Ron and Ophelia were not convinced at first.
'Impossible. It's Hagrid Harry!' Ophelia had retorted.
Despite his large and tall stature, Hagrid was the sweetest being she had ever met. He had a heart of pure gold, and how much he loved the four of them was evident to anybody with eyes.
'It makes sense though! He was expelled, we know that-'
'We have no idea what for.' Ophelia cut in.
Harry frowned. 'And he has a history with creatures! All of the ones we've encountered, Fluffy and Norbert? They haven't exactly been safe have they?'
Ophelia and Ron could hardly argue with that logic.
'I know Hagrid is our friend, but we can't be favouring anybody; even if it hurts. Not when people are being attacked. Not when it's this serious.'
Despite wanting to disagree, they knew Harry was right. But they couldn't talk to Hagrid, not yet anyway; not until they could figure out a way to do it properly.
But then there was another attack. Not even a month later, on a brisk morning in April, Ophelia and Ron had been helping Harry prepare for a Quidditch match when McGonagall pulled the entirety of the Gryffindor team aside,
'Quidditch has been cancelled. To your dormitories at once, please.'
Of course, Oliver Wood threw a fit. But after he heard the circumstances, that another attack had taken place, he left with the rest of the team: except Harry, Ophelia and Ron.
'You three—I think it would be best if you come with me.'
They exchanged a grave glance, before following her inside the castle. Just as they had almost reached the hospital wing, she stopped them,
'This may come as a bit of a shock to you three. I am very sorry, but I need to ask some questions.' And with that, she opened the door.
'Hermione!' Ron cried.