Realisation clicked as Heather stared at the compact mirror in Professor McGonagall's hand. She glanced at the hospital bed with a mixture of worry and pride. Worry, because Hermione could have died. Pride, because Hermione could have died, if not for her quick thinking. Smart girl.
The basilisk had caused petrifications instead of death because the victims hadn't had direct eye contact. Creevey had seen it through his camera. Finch-Fletchley had had Nearly-Headless Nick in front of him. The Gryffindor ghost, well he was already dead. Mrs Norris must have somehow escaped the basilisk's direct gaze as well. Now Hermione and a Gryffindor prefect, Penelope Clearwater, had had a mirror.
Heather chivvied Hadrian and Ronald out of the hospital wing when Percy entered, despite their protests. She had a feeling that the older boy needed some time alone with his fellow prefect - or more, judging by the devastation on his face.
This couldn't go on. It had been sheer good fortune that no fatalities had arisen so far. The next victim might not be so lucky to have a camera or ghost or mirror with them.
~~~
"Did you hear?" George whispered, "Dumbledore's been sacked. The Governor's called in a vote of no-confidence."
Fred snorted. "That's not all. Hagrid's been arrested! Apparently he's the one behind the attacks."
"Hagrid?" Heather repeated sceptically. "Impossible. He wouldn't hurt a fly." Biased the half-giant might be, but he was too kind-hearted to hurt anyone. Besides, he had no reason to hurt muggleborns.
"We know! But he was charged the last-"
"-time the Chamber was opened too!"
"How do you guys know all this?"
Patting her on the head, they shook their heads secretively at her.
"Heather-harp-"
"-we have our sources."
Amused, she said, "So you eavesdropped on the Professors with that invention of yours. Elongated Ears, or something."
They scowled and hid their prototype listening device behind their backs.
~~~
Heather had an ominous feeling. The past few weeks had been tension-filled. No one walked anywhere alone, not even her fellow Slyths. No more attacks had taken place, but the possibility haunted them. Especially since the Headmaster had left. For all her misgivings, she knew that the old man had been doing his best - nothing to scoff at for such a powerful wizard.
Her brother had been snooping around. He had taken Hermione's petrification personally. It had fuelled his determination to get to the bottom of the mystery.
What Heather was more concerned with, surprisingly, was not her brother's actions. Ginny had become more taciturn and frightened. While her talk with the younger witch had cheered her up for a while, she had quickly reverted to her morose state. It was extremely worrying.
Heather turned into the dungeons, intending to speak with her Head of House. Walking into a corridor, she let out a horrified gasp. She ran as fast as she could the rest of her journey. Barely pausing to knock on the door, she slammed it open.
The Professor gave a nasty look. "What do-"
"There's been another attack!"
Severus' scathing diatribe died in his throat as Heather Lyra's words registered. "Explain."
"Another message, right down the hallway!" she said tremulously.
He clenched his jaw and stalked out of his office, following after the visibly shaken girl. She had not been this heavily affected even when she had found the Hufflepuff boy. Had there finally been a death?
Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever
No. Severus stared at the bloody phrase in shock before snapping out of it. "Follow me," he commanded tersely. Minerva needed to hear about this.
The teacher's lounge was conveniently filled with his fellow Heads of House.
"Severus, what-" Minerva asked when she saw the student behind him.
"The Heir has struck again," he cut her off. "Miss Potter found another message." He looked impatiently at the girl to explain herself.
The other Professors looked aghast at the eerie message, Minerva especially. She sighed mournfully and said, "It is Ginevra Weasley. Her friends reported her disappearance this morning."
Heather Lyra started trembling faintly at his side. Severus glared at his colleague for mentioning it in front of a student. The Deputy seemed to realise her mistake and asked the girl to return to her dorms immediately.
"And please, keep this to yourself, Miss Potter."
Heather Lyra frowned. "What about her brothers, ma'am?"
Minerva shook her head firmly. "Not until we can ascertain Miss Weasley's condition."
Heather agreed grudgingly and left the room. As she stepped out, she bumped into something she couldn't see. Thinking rapidly, she grabbed whatever she could and pulled it into a nearby Transfiguration classroom.
She ripped off the invisibility cloak and wasn't at all surprised to find her brother and Ronald looking crushed. "You heard all that," she stated. Of course they had.
"Ginny's been taken?" Ronald asked desperately.
"It hasn't been confirmed," she prevaricated. At the furious look, she gave in and added, "but the Professors believe so."
"She might still be fine!" Rian said forcefully, "We could go save her!"
"Sure," she snapped sarcastically, "lead the way to the Chamber of Secrets then!" Then she sighed and apologised for her outburst. She shouldn't have taken her vexation out on them.
"We can ask Myrtle! You said she was a victim of the last incident!" her brother said hopefully.
"The Chamber of Secrets?" All three students jumped and spun around. Heather berated her own carelessness. Silencing and locking charms existed for a reason!
"That is very dangerous indeed! Fortunately for you, you have a world-renowned adventurer and Defence Master at your service; me." Gilderoy Lockhart strutted into the room and gave a pose.
Heather wanted to rip into the pompous man, but stopped herself and the two boy's begging looks. Reluctantly, she accepted the man's help. If they had a Professor with them, they technically couldn't get into trouble. Even if said Professor was a total buffoon.
The ghost of Myrtle Warren certainly lived up to - err, died up to? - her nickname. She whinged and whined and moaned about every little thing. Lockhart was good for something after all. The bespectacled spectre was only too eager to share everything she knew with the primped wizard.
There was no way a basilisk could have entered the bathroom through the tiny door. Was there a hidden entrance somewhere? Heather, Rian and Ronald searched every inch of the bathroom while their daft Professor did nothing. He had probably gotten lost in his own gaze in the mirrors.
The only thing of interest they found were the snake engravings under the sinks. They tried all sorts of ways to open the hypothetical secret entrance, but to no avail.
Frustrated, Hadrian glowered at the inscriptions and groaned, {Why won't you jussst open!}
The floor shook slightly and the sinks shifted away to leave a small tunnel.
"Huh," Hadrian said, "That was easy."
Heather shook her head. Her brother's luck baffled her sometimes. "You were speaking Parsel, Rian."
Lockhart looked up from where he had been fiddling with the cubicle doors. "Ah hah! There we go. See, the Chamber of Secrets is no match for moi!"
The all stared at the delusional man in disbelief before letting it go. There was no time to spare.
Before she could stop them, the two Gryffs jumped down the tunnel. Who knew how deep it went? Casting a Lumos Maxima, she was relieved to see the boys relatively unharmed. She took a deep breath and followed suit.
Landing with a soft thump, she dusted them off with a quick cleaning spell. The catacombs they had landed in were littered with unidentified debris. Heather was decidedly not curious.
"Unfortunately, my dear students, this is as far as you'll be getting," Lockhart announced, with a strange expression on his face. His arm shot out and he grabbed Ronald's wand. What was the lunatic doing?
"Your help in getting here is much appreciated." He grinned charmingly. "But I'll be the one to complete this adventure. I can't have troublesome little hangers-on in the way." Raising his stolen wand, he intoned, "Obliviate!"
With lightning reflexes, Heather erected a shield charm the same time her brother did. As it turned out, neither had been needed.
Apparently, the idiot hadn't even realised that Ronald's wand was broken, even after a year of classes with him. Sparks erupted wildly from the tip of the faulty wand, backfiring violently on the caster. For the fourth time in his year of teaching, Lockhart was blasted backwards - by his own spell, no less. Oh, the delicious irony.
Unfortunately, Heather hadn't the opportunity to appreciate this, for the force of the failed memory charm had destroyed a nearby wall. The resulting avalanche of rubble injured Ronald, who had been closest to the older wizard.
"Ron!" Hadrian cried out. The boy barely retained consciousness and was heavily wounded.
Heather nudged her frantic brother out of the way and examined the Weasley. Nothing life-threatening, she sighed in relief.
"H-hadrian. Save my sister! N-no time!" the dazed boy whispered before passing out.
"Wait!" Heather exclaimed, "You can't go alone! Let me heal Ron first." She desperately sped up her healing, augmenting her spells with wandless magic.
Rian shook his head firmly. "No. It could be too late by then! Ginny's life is on the line! And you have both Ron and Lockhart to tend to. Yes, him too." He said, turning to the Professor, soon to be ex-Professor.
Flooding her patient's cracked ribs with magic, she protested, "But-"
"But nothing! Don't you trust me?"
Biting her lip anxiously, her heart flooded with despair. Her conscience wouldn't let her abandon injured people when she could help - yes, even that deranged man over there - but her brother...
"Just stay safe!" she eventually allowed. "And bring Ginny back!" She turned to look at her brother.
Hadrian had already left.