For the next few days, the school talked of little but the attack on Mrs Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she had been attached, as though he thought the attacker might come back.
Estella sought out the trio after lunch, and they meandered into an empty section of the courtyard during break.
"So," said Estella finally, breaking the silence, "Tell me what happened! Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Is the cat dead?"
"We're okay," Harry said quietly, looking around them as if to check for invisible spies. "And the cat's not dead, only petrified."
That didn't do much to clear her conscience, but Estella nodded anyways. "Will she be okay?"
"Yes," Hermione revealed. "As soon as the Mandrakes grow, she'll be back to normal."
"And even if she's not," Ron added, "It's not a big loss, is it?"
Hermione nudged him rather harshly in the side and gave him a look.
"Okay fine," Ron rolled his eyes. "But-"
"Are you guys okay?" Estella said quickly before Hermione could hit Ron again. "Why were you in that corridor anyways? You didn't get in trouble, did you?"
Harry shook his head and the sides of his mouth tilted upwards. "Clear of all charges."
"But why were you in that corridor in the first place?" Estella pressed.
All three of them stared at each other
Estella frowned. "What aren't you telling me?"
They stared at each other like silent movie actors, conveying entire storylines with their movements.
Hermione blinked. Ron shook his head. Harry sighed.
He glanced at Estella, looked back at Hermione and Ron and returned his eyes back to Estella's.
"I've been... hearing things."
Whatever Estella was expecting, this hadn't been it. Heck, she'd half expected them to mumble something along the lines of, "Heading back to the Common Room."
"What... what do you mean, hearing things?"
Harry sighed again, sweeping his hair out of his eyes in a way that looked entirely too effortlessly graceful.
"On the night of the feast," he said, like an old narrator that had seen too much and yet knew too little. "I heard a voice. It was talking about killing and eating and blood."
Estella suppressed a shudder. The courtyard suddenly seemed chilly and desolate. Crinkled, browning leaves swept in wide arcs across the dirt-ridden pavement and their voices were carried away with the wind.
"The thing is," said Hermione timidly, "Neither Ron nor I heard the voices. It was just... just Harry."
"That's..." Estella trailed off, unsure of what to say."
"Concerning," Ron finished. "Hearing voices isn't good, even in the wizarding world."
"It's- it's alright Harry," Estella tried. "I'm sure it's just a one-time thing. Maybe... maybe you were just tired." But it sounded more like a question.
Harry shook his head. "It's happened before; when I had that detention with Lockhart."
Estella bit her lip, trying to think of something comforting to say. "Well... well let's just hope it doesn't happen again."
With that cheerful end to the conversation, the bell rang and they left to go to class.
✰♪
"I can't believe it!" Larisa cried, throwing her hands up in indignation. "I was this close" - she held up her hand to show thumb and forefinger less than a centimetre apart - "this close to getting it!"
"There were only so many copies a library would hold," Charlotte shook her head in disappointment. "I just guess it wasn't meant to be."
"Who has one?" asked Belle. "What about Hermione?" she turned to Estella.
Estella shook her head. "She left her copy at home - couldn't fit it in the suitcase with all the stupid Lockhart books."
Ever since the attack on Mrs Norris, all the students of Hogwarts had been clambering to get their hands on a copy of Hogwarts: A History to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets.
Estella - being Muggleborn - had never heard of the phrase until that night on Halloween, and her friends couldn't remember anything about it either.
The curiosity was driving her mad and she spent every odd hour before classes pondering the meaning.
Chamber of Secrets. The first thought that occurred to her was; What secrets?
The 's' was important. More than one secret. But for all it was worth, the answer was harder to find than a needle in a haystack.
Estella had also so far refrained from telling her parents about the incident. She hadn't wanted them to worry.
It was fine. This was a school of magic. Dumbledore was the headmaster. They would be fine.
"Did you all finish the essay for Binns?" Hazel questioned.
Amelia nodded. "I get a headache just thinking about it! A three-foot-long composition on 'The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards'! I swear teachers think we have no life outside of school."
"Tell me about it," Larissa groaned. "My essay only just made it and that was only because I started writing larger."
"Speaking of," Belle implored, "We should get to class."
Right on time, the bell rang.
History of Magic had not changed since her time at Hogwarts the year prior.
Ancient and shrivelled, Professor Binns had got up one day to teach and simply left his body behind him in an armchair in front of the staff-room fire; his routine had not varied in the slightest since.
He rambled on and on in his dull, lethargic voice that was indeed so slow and monotonous that everyone - with the exception of Hermione - either fell asleep or retired to doodling on the edges of their parchment.
Today was as boring as ever. Professor Binns opened his notes and began to read in a flat drone like an old vacuum cleaner until nearly everyone in the class was in a deep stupor, occasionally coming round long enough to copy down a name or date, then falling asleep again.
He had been speaking for half an hour and the edges of Estella's vision were getting blurrier and the vague notes she had managed to scribble down were indistinguishable from one letter to the next.
Then something happened that had never happened before. Hermione put up her hand.
At first, Estella didn't even realise the abnormality until Binns' bland voice came to a stop, breaking the air of sleepiness and daze that had engulfed the classroom.
"Miss - er -?"
Estella raised her head from her arms and blinked slowly as the classroom came back into focus. She held back a yawn and saw Hermione who was speaking.
"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione in a clear voice.
Estella's eyes widened and she seemed to gain a spurt of energy as she sat up straight and stared at Binns expectantly.
The Chamber of Secrets.
Binns's so old I wouldn't be surprised if he were alive during that time.
This could be my chance to find out everything.
Around her, her fellow Gryffindors had jumped to alertness as well. Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender Brown's head came up off her arms and Neville's elbow slipped off his desk.
Charlotte leaned forward in her seat, elbows propped up on the table and Hazel straightened her glasses.
Professor Binns blinked.
"My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk snapping and continued. "In September of that year, a sub-committee of Sardinian sorcerers-"
Estella raised her arm high into the air. This was the closest she had gotten to finding out what The Chamber of Secrets was and she was not going to let it go so quickly.
Binns stuttered to a halt. "Miss-"
"Granger," replied Estella promptly. "But sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"
Professor Binns stared between her and Hermione in amazement, stunned by their interruption.
"Well," said Professor Binns slowly, "yes, one could argue that I suppose. However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale..."
But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns's every word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his. Estella could tell he was completely thrown by such an unusual show of interest.
"Oh, very well," he said slowly. "Let me see... the Chamber of Secrets..." He gave a slight, wheezy cough.
"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin.
They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."
He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and continued, "For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated.
But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families.
He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. after a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."
Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled old tortoise.
"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said, "but these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing."
Estella leant forward in her seat, her eyes wide as she stared at the Professor who, for the first time, had garnered the attention of every single student in the room.
"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."
There was silence as he finished telling the story, but it wasn't the usual, sleepy silence that filled Professor Binns's classes. There was unease in the air as everyone continued to watch him, hoping for more. Professor Binns looked faintly annoyed.
"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."
But Hogwarts is a school of magic, though Estella, picturing what she imagined the chamber to look like. And not all magic gets discovered.
She envisioned a tall, grand hall - not unlike the Entrance Hall - the painted ceilings held up by regal pillars, proud and noble.
Light shone through open windows and made flecks of gold appear on the tiling.
Hermione's hand was back in the air. "Sir - what exactly do you mean by the "horror within" the Chamber?"
"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the heir of Slytherin alone can control," said Professor Binns in his dry, reedy voice.
Estella exchanged a look with her friends, her eyebrows creased, her face sullen.
Suddenly, she did not much like the idea of a chamber lurking undiscovered in the school, housing an unimaginable monster.
The imaginary hall faded into a dark corridor with prying eyes and hidden shadows.
"I tell you, the thing does not exist," said Professor Binns, shuffling his notes. "There is no Chamber and no monster."
"But sir," said Seamus Finnigan, "if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"
"Nonsense, O'Flaherty," said Professor Binns in an aggravated tone. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing-"
"But, Professor," piped up Parvati Patil, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it-"
"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic, doesn't mean he can't, Miss Pennyfeather," snapped Professor Binns. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore-"
"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't-" began Dean, but Professor Binns had had enough(Estella suspected that that was due to his lack of creativity).
"That will do," he said sharply. "it is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to history, to solid, believable, verifiable fact!"
And within five minutes, the class had sunk back into its usual torpor.