The next two months at Hogwarts went rapidly. Harry had started Quidditch practice with the Ravenclaw team and it was going quite well. He finished the OWL syllabus and had started on NEWT material. Daphne had also taken to studying at a furious pace; while she knew she couldn't keep up with Harry, she was still quite ahead of her peers and had started on Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Pretty soon, Halloween approached. As it was a Saturday, Harry and Daphne spent their time in the Room of Requirement.
They were on their way to dinner when a storm began outside. Harry's heart started beating faster as he knew what that meant and just as he had suspected, he heard Aquila's voice in his mind warning him about danger. Harry swallowed and gripped Daphne' hand tighter, hoping nothing bad happened.
The feast carried on as normal and nothing strange happened. Just as he was finishing dessert, he heard the voice again. It was the same, cold, murderous voice as before.
". . . rip . . .tear . . . kill . . ."
Harry dropped his spoon on the table, but no one noticed. He closed his eyes and extended his senses, but didn't detect anything. Whatever it was, he couldn't sense it. He seemed to hear a distant echo; he didn't know where it was coming from.
". . . so hungry . . . kill. . . kill this time . . ." Harry's hands were shaking badly.
". . . I smell blood . . . I SMELL BLOOD!" His face was pale and white as a sheet. It was going to kill someone. Was he the only one who had heard that voice? People started getting up and going back to their dormitories. Harry silently walked towards Ravenclaw Tower along with the rest of them, but people suddenly stopped and started whispering.
"What's with the hold up?" Harry asked.
He went forward and saw Mrs Norris frozen and on the ground, unmoving. Harry's breath was caught in his throat. Was the cat dead? He looked at the wall where people were pointing and whispering.
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
Harry suddenly got the image of an enormous room with statues of snakes on either side, but the memory ended just as quickly as it began. The Chamber of Secrets sounded so familiar, but he felt the information was just beyond his reach.
"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods" shouted Draco Malfoy gleefully.
Red hot anger erupted inside Harry. While he hated Muggles, he deeply cared about the lives and treatment of muggleborns. So when the ponce shouted out that insult, he took his wand and cursed him. Draco screamed as painful boils erupted on his face.
"DON'T USE THAT DISGUSTING WORD IS FRONT OF ME!" said Harry in a quiet voice, but with a furious expression on his face. A few people around him stepped back as his aura flared.
"Move aside! What is going on here?" asked Professor McGonagall as she stepped forward along with the rest of the teachers and Filch.
"What is wrong with Mr Malfoy? Why is he shrieking like a harpy?" she asked crossly.
"That would be my fault, Professor McGonagall. He used the derogatory M-word so I hexed him" said Harry, keeping his face calm.
McGonagall pursed her lips. "Thank you for your confession Mr Potter, but it will be ten points from Ravenclaw for attacking another student. Mr Malfoy, if I ever catch you uttering that word it will be detention" she said.
That was when she noticed the frozen cat on the ground and the message on the wall. She gasped as she realised the meaning behind the words. Filch came up and saw that his cat was petrified.
"My cat! My cat! What happened to Mrs Norris?" he shouted.
Filch looked at Harry, who was standing directly opposite to him. He needed a person to blame and he never liked James Potter. So he shouted "You! You murdered my cat! I'll kill you!"
Harry's eyes narrowed as he got angry. "Argus" said a voice and Dumbledore made his dramatic entrance. The Headmaster picked up the cat and said, "Come with me Argus, you too Mr Potter"
"May I know why, Headmaster?" asked Harry in a calm voice, not revealing his intense anger at the moment. He knew just what had happened. Filch needed to blame someone and had chosen him. Dumbledore was taking his revenge on Harry; by calling him aside, the Hogwarts rumour mill will think the Headmaster suspected Harry having something to do with the attacks. The sheep would eat it up and Harry's credibility would take a beating.
"Do as you're told Mr Potter" said Dumbledore in a commanding voice. Harry mutely followed him, and just as he had suspected, the people forgot all about Draco Malfoy and instead started painting a target on his back. He looked at Professor Flitwick for support and the diminutive teacher nodded back to Harry with a determined expression on his face. But Harry knew that Flitwick couldn't do much. The Charms master was a half-goblin, and while many of them respected him for his accomplishments, he didn't really have any power at Hogwarts except the Head of House position.
"My office is nearest, Headmaster – just upstairs. Please feel free -" said Lockhart.
"Thank you Gilderoy" said Dumbledore. They entered the classroom and McGonagall flicked her wand and the lighting charms and torches came alive, bathing the office in bright light. Dumbledore examined the cat closely, his nose almost touching its fur. Filch was crying loudly and Lockhart was boasting loudly about his accomplishments.
"She's not dead Argus" said Dumbledore finally, cutting across Lockhart's monologue.
"Not dead? Then why is she all stiff and frozen?" he asked in a watery voice.
"She has been petrified. Although how, I cannot say - "
"Ask him!" interrupted Filch. "He did it! He did it! I know it!" he screeched.
"Enough!" said Harry in a soft voice, but the power the words were laced with were enough to shut Filch up. The caretaker looked at the furious expression on Harry's face and paled. Maybe he should have chosen someone else to blame for his cat's condition. The expression on Harry's face was nothing like the James Potter he remembered. Harry was flaring his aura around and bolts of lightning could be seen around his body.
"I would like to remind everyone in this room that I was at the feast along with the rest of the students and staff, and not once did I leave the Great Hall. I was on my way to Ravenclaw Tower along with the rest of the students when we encountered the spectacle. Since no one at the back knew what was going on I stepped forward to see what the holdup was about. It was then that I saw Mrs Norris frozen and heard Draco Malfoy sprout off insulting muggleborns with the M-word, for which I hexed him. Immediately Professor McGonagall came to the scene. The rest of the students would be able to confirm this. May I ask why I am being singled out Headmaster?" asked Harry.
Dumbledore stared into Harry's eyes, but he did not try a Legilimency probe. "Innocent until proven guilty, Argus" he said softly.
"Guilty of what?" asked Harry in a dangerous voice.
"My cat has been petrified! I expect to see some punishment!" said Filch.
Harry turned to face him and said in his cold voice "In that case punish yourself for getting careless with your pet. I will not be made a scapegoat just because you demand it. Get that inside the thick head of yours."
"Mr Potter" reprimanded McGonagall.
"You may go" said Dumbledore. He was mentally dancing a jig of joy. Harry had walked right into his trap. He probably should send a box of chocolates to Lucius Malfoy for inadvertently helping him. By the end of the year, he would have Harry back under his thumb and his plan could proceed as he desired. He would ensure that in a few months, Harry would be the most hated person in the castle, if not the country.
Harry quickly made his way to Ravenclaw Tower and his room; his housemates were giving him weird looks. As soon as he entered, he locked the door and hissed "Open" at his trunk. The multi-compartment trunk opened and Harry stepped into the library compartment.
There were tomes of books Harry had copied from the Potter Library; they did not last long as they disappeared in a year but it was better than taking them out of Potter Castle and risking their accidental destruction. He browsed through the books until he took out the thick volume of Hogwarts: A History. He came to the part about the founders and struck gold.
" – story goes that Slytherin built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.
Slytherin, according to 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, and unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all those who were unworthy to study magic."
" – believed to be some sort of monster that only the heir of Slytherin can control."
Harry closed his eyes and fell into a nearby armchair. It looked like he had underestimated Lucius Malfoy's plot. He would never have thought that the man was stupid enough to commit genocide inside a school that his own son attended! He concentrated on the words 'Chamber of Secrets' hoping he would get some information from Voldemort's memories. Nothing. He could feel that he knew it, but the information about the chamber was just out of his reach. It was frustrating! What sort of creature petrifies its victims? It didn't make any sense!
HP*LIGHTNING LORD*HP
The next few days, the school could talk about nothing else but the attack on Mrs Norris and about the Chamber of Secrets. Just as Harry predicted, him being singled out by Dumbledore caused the Hogwarts rumour mill to run wild. When Harry and Daphne were walking to class the next week, they saw Justin Finch-Fletchley take one look at Harry, turn abruptly and sped off in the opposite direction.
Daphne snorted. "These people really are stupid. Have they forgotten that your own mother was a muggleborn?" she said. She took her wand and cast a privacy charm around them.
"You think they care?" replied Harry. "You were absolutely right when you described them as sheep. Dumbledore is a bastard who's trying his best to make my life miserable and these people are lapping it up. What I wouldn't give to torture Filch right now . . ."
"The Dursleys would probably appreciate the additional company in your dungeon. How are they anyway? I'm disappointed that you still haven't introduced me to them" she said smirking.
"Oh, they're fine. It looks like they still haven't learnt their lesson yet. Petunia had the gall to call me a freak who deserves to be burned at the stake. She also threatened that the police would soon find them and then I would be arrested and publicly executed for holding them prisoner and for Dudley's death. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she was staying in one of the most heavily warded castles in the world. Why my parents didn't move in there, I do not know. That's why I suspect foul play was involved" said Harry.
"Wow, talk about misplaced bravery. You don't threaten a Lord in his own castle. Did - "
"Hiya Harry!" said Colin Creevey, interrupting her.
"Hello Mr Creevey, how may I help you?" he asked the shorter boy.
"Harry – Harry – a boy in my class is saying that you're - " said Colin. But he couldn't finish his sentence because of the tide of people heading towards the Great Hall. "See you Harry!" he said and disappeared.
"What was a boy in his class saying about you?" asked Daphne in wonder.
"That I'm the heir of Slytherin, I guess. Well played Dumbledore. Oh, I should warn you; the mob may target you as well because you're my fiancé and not to mention a Slytherin. Add to the fact how cold we appear to other people, it's quite easy to pin us as Lord and Lady Slytherin, the bane of all muggleborns" said Harry.
Daphne shook her head. "Do you really think there is a Chamber of Secrets?" she asked.
"Yes. I'm sure of it. I know you feel I'm still keeping secrets from you, but I promise I'll come fully clean by Yule. I don't want to reveal some of my most prized secrets at Hogwarts. There's no telling what could happen if Dumbledore were to find out" he promised.
Daphne slowly nodded. They had started revealing their secrets to each other and she was getting miffed that he still hadn't told her the important stuff. But she could wait till Yule.
"Ah Harry!" shouted a voice. "Oh no" whispered Daphne.
Lockhart was walking towards them, wearing the most horrible neon robes. "I heard you're playing seeker in the first Quidditch game of the season? Ravenclaw vs Slytherin, eh? If you want any pointers you know where to find me. I was a fine seeker in my day, England's National team wanted me to play for them, you know. But I decided to use my talents by helping people defend against the dark forces. Good luck!" he said and left.
"I'd rather go naked than wear those ugly robes. Was he blind when he bought that contraption?" asked Daphne, disgusted.
"Probably. And what does he know about Quidditch anyway? I bet Tango can fly on a broom better than him" said Harry, grinning slightly. His grin slowly disappeared when he saw Daphne roll her eyes. "Oh come on! That was my best one yet! Can you imagine? Tango on a broomstick?" he asked, trying to make puppy dog eyes at her.
"Harry, I'm sure that Tango playing Quidditch would be funny, but there is no way that is a joke" said Daphne with amusement showing on her face. "But it was a lot better than the previous ones" she whispered to herself. "You're talented at many things Harry, but cracking jokes isn't one of them. When are you going to let it go? I mean, you've been trying to make me laugh for the past 5 months!"
"Only five months. I will crack a good joke one day that will make you laugh. I mean, we have our whole lives. I'm bound to get lucky sometime" replied Harry.
Daphne mentally groaned. 'Merlin save me' was the thought running through her mind.
HP*LIGHTNING LORD*HP
Harry woke up early on Saturday morning and practiced his Occlumency exercises to reduce his nervousness and stay calm. After an hour of intense meditation, he took a bath, dressed in his blue and bronze Quidditch robes and entered the Great Hall carrying his broomstick.
At eleven, the entire school proceeded to the Quidditch pitch. Daphne hugged him, wished him luck and sat in the stands along with Tracy. He entered the locker room where their captain, Abigail Turner gave them a pep talk. "Okay guys, we know that Slytherin has better brooms than us. All I'm going to say is do your absolute best. Use whatever trick comes to mind. Potter, do your best to catch the snitch early, we don't know how long we can last there. Good luck" she said.
Harry took a deep breath but had a small smirk on his face. His teammates were not very confident because of the Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones Lucius Malfoy had donated to the Slytherin team. But Harry had a plan, and he would ensure that Ravenclaw won today.
They flew off into the air and Madam Hooch said "Three . . . two . . . one . . ." and blew her whistle. The chasers moved to get the Quaffle and the game began.
"All right there Potty?" asked Malfoy. Harry mentally snorted at the name. Really, did Malfoy have no creativity what so ever? He smirked when he saw that Flint had the Quaffle. Harry dived to the ground, with Malfoy hot on his heels. He intercepted Flint, stole the Quaffle and passed it on to Turner, who while shocked, took it and scored.
"Ten-zero to Ravenclaw! Did you see that? It looks like Potter is playing an interfering seeker! And the tactic worked! There you go, you slimy snake" shouted Lee Jordan from the magical microphone.
"Jordan!" yelled McGonagall.
Harry smirked again as a bludger came towards him. He repeated his maneuver of twisting 360 degrees in mid-air and hit the bludger with his tail end of the broom towards one of the Slytherin chaser carrying the Quaffle. It hit him in the back and he dropped the Quaffle, which was taken by Roger Davies who scored.
"Twenty-zero to Ravenclaw! What a move by Potter! Never seen anything like it!" said Jordan, as the crowd roared. They seemed to have forgotten about the heir of Slytherin business.
Suddenly, a bludger came right at Harry. He effortlessly dodged it, but to his immense surprise, it came right back at him. He dived out of the way, but the bludger was relentless. "Keep playing!" he shouted to the Ravenclaw beaters who were trying to help him. "I'll never be able to play if you're in the way. Let me catch the snitch!" he yelled.
He kept diving and spinning and hanging upside down to avoid the bludger. The crowd was laughing, but he didn't care. "Training for the ballet, Potter?" asked Malfoy, laughing at him.
Just as he was about to dive again, he saw it. The golden snitch was hovering above Malfoy's ear and he suddenly accelerated, but in that fraction of a second before he had left, WHAM.
The bludger hit him at last, smashing his elbow and arm to pieces. He winced in pain, but this was nothing compared to what the Dursleys had done to him years ago. He extended his left hand and felt his fingers close around the snitch. He raised his fist to the air to signify that Ravenclaw had won, but then, the bludger came back. WHAM!
Harry was thrown from his broom and he fell to the ground. He could feel intense pain in his back and legs and blanked out.
HP*LIGHTNING LORD*HP
Harry woke up feeling a searing pain all over his body and could also hear someone shouting.
"He should have brought him straight to me! Lockhart is not a healer! Who authorized him to try and heal Potter?" screamed a voice.
"Lockhart tried to heal me?" asked Harry from his bed.
He looked around to see the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and Daphne around his bed. "That was awesome Potter!" said Turner. "I never expected you to play an interfering seeker!" she said grinning at him. The rest of them complimented him as well.
"Yes well, all of you please leave. Potter will have to stay overnight in the Hospital wing because of his injuries" said Madam Pomfrey.
"Overnight? I'm pretty sure my injuries aren't that serious" said Harry looking at her.
"Your original injuries could have been treated fairly quickly. Unfortunately, our dear Defence professor decided to heal your arm while you were unconscious. That man vanished the bones in your arm! You're in for a rough night Potter. Regrowing bones is a painful experience" she said, handing him a goblet containing Skele-Gro.
"Oh, that tastes horrible" said Harry grimacing. "What happened after I got hit?" he asked Daphne, as she was the only one still there.
"You should have seen Malfoy's face after you caught the snitch" she said, snickering. "But you were amazing Harry. I saw Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy too; something about having the snitch right above his head and not seeing it. He didn't seem happy" explained Daphne.
Harry chucked. They spent a few hours talking to each other until Madam Pomfrey chased her out. Harry sighed when he realised that he was alone with nothing to distract him from the stabbing pains in his limp arm.
Hours later, he woke up in the pitch darkness and could sense a presence right next to his face. He yelped at the close contact and fired a wandless banishing charm and immediately summoned his wand to his hand. "Lumos" he whispered and a soft glow appeared at the tip of his wand. "Dobby!" he said looking at the elf that was getting up from where he had fallen on the floor.
Dobby looked at Harry with teary eyes. "Hadrian Potter came back to school" he said miserably. "Dobby warned Hadrian Potter not to come to school. You should have stayed at home when you couldn't get onto the platform sir" said the elf.
Harry snorted despite himself. "It takes more than simply blocking the floo to stop me Dobby. But thank you. Because of that attempt, I had the wards around the castle modified so that no one else can do that again" he said.
"Hadrian Potter must go home!" said the elf, not listening to a word Harry had said. "Dobby thought his bludger would be enough to make - "
"Ah" said Harry cutting him off. "I should have known that it was you. What is it with me and bludgers anyway?" he said shaking his head.
"Please sir, go home. Dark deeds are planned at Hogwarts this year. Hadrian Potter is in terrible danger now that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened once more" said Dobby. The elf's eyes went wide and disappeared with a crack.
Harry looked into the distance and his eyes went wide. The chamber had been opened before? Voldemort had probably opened the chamber when he was at school! But there was no way that Voldemort could actually be inside Hogwarts attacking the students, could he? If the man had indeed returned, the first thing he would have done was murder Harry, the cause for his disembodiment. That was how he had gotten the flash of a large chamber with snakes on that Halloween night. Voldemort had been to the chamber long ago, so he knew what creature lived there. But if it was Voldemort, what did Lucius Malfoy have to do with this at all? Harry felt like pulling his hair out trying to figure out what was going on when he heard footsteps. He quickly flicked his wand, extinguishing the light and went back to bed.
Dumbledore barged into the infirmary levitating what looked like a statue with McGonagall in tow. The two, along with Madam Pomfrey were discussing the attack on Colin Creevey in hushed tones. When the old man tried to open the camera, Harry could immediately smell the burnt plastic.
"Melted" whispered Madam Pomfrey.
"What does this mean, Albus?" asked McGonagall, in a shaky voice.
"It means it is what I had feared" said Dumbledore gravely. "The Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened again."
"But Albus . . . surely . . . who?" asked McGonagall.
"The question is not who" said Dumbledore, looking directly at Harry's sleeping form. "The question is how."
Harry fumed at Dumbledore pinning the blame on him again. He knew McGonagall was useless; she blindly followed Dumbledore like a lost puppy. There would be no use expecting her support. He also realised that Dumbledore also had figured out that it was Voldemort who was behind this and like him didn't know how it was possible.