Percy vanished under his sea green cap and followed Harry and Ron towards the dungeons.
"Did Piper ever tell you where the common room was?" Harry asked Percy under his breath. Percy shook his head, then realized they couldn't see him. "No," he said. "Maybe we could just ask a prefect or something? I know it's in the dungeons though."
They descended down the stairs and almost crashed into Piper.
"Woah!" she steadied herself. "Oh, Crabbe, Goyle, there you are. Draco's been looking for you."
Harry and Ron glanced at each other before following her down a corridor into a solid stone wall. "We had a new password, didn't we?" Piper asked as they faced the wall. "What was it again?"
"Uh..." Ron stammered.
"Oh yeah, I don't really like this one. Pureblood!" she called and the wall slid open to reveal the Slytherin common room.
They walked into the dark, fancy room filled with a flickering green light from the lime colored fire.
Percy suddenly had a sudden thought. Piper was the daughter of one of the best actors in the world, of course she'll know if someone's faking or not. How many people has she seen act?
"Do your best," Percy whispered to Harry and Ron, before slipping into a corner. Malfoy entered the common room and spotted them.
"Crabbe, Goyle, there you are." he sat down on the couch and they glanced at each other before following suit. Piper narrowed her eyes at them and stopped walking to the girls dormitories. Percy mentally facepalmed again. Daughter of emotions, she'll be able to tell they're nervous.
Draco reached into his robes and pulled out what appeared to be an article clipping.
"That'll give you a laugh," he said, eyes glinting in amusement. Percy slipped over as quietly as he could, craning his neck to read the slip of paper.
Inquiry at the Ministry of Magic
Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle Car.
Mr. Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr. Weasley's resignation.
"Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute," Mr. Malfoy told our reporter. "He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection act should be scrapped immediately.
Mr. Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wife told reporters to clear off or she'd set the family ghoul on them.
"Well?" Malfoy said impatiently as Harry handed the clipping back to him. "Don't you think it's funny?"
"Ha, ha," Harry said bleakly. Piper had moved closer, her eyes calculating. It was a look that only Annabeth usually wore. Malfoy turned to Piper and grinned. "I showed you this already, right? Imagine, the 'Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office'! Bewitching a useless car!"
With a jolt, Percy remembered that Piper herself had actually arrived to Hogwarts on the flying car with Harry and Ron. He watched Piper's reaction.
She shrugged. "It does seem ironic," she said carefully, offering no other opinion. Her eyes still cast around the room, as if expecting someone to pop out of the shadows suddenly.
"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much, he should snap his wand in half and go join them," Malfoy said scornfully. "You'd never know the Weasleys were purebloods, the way they behave."
Crabbe/Ron's face was contorted with fury.
"What's up with you, Crabbe?" Malfoy snapped.
"Stomachache," Ron grunted unconvincingly.
"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me." Malfoy snickered. Piper scowled at his word choice— Frank and Hazel were up there. "You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet," he added. "I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would've never let a slime like that Creevey in, or those imbeciles, Zhang and Levesque."
Percy glared at Malfoy, though to her credit, Piper remained controlled.
"They all just worship Potter, don't they. Even those Americans, that Jackson and Chase. Creatures of filth, they are. And imagine, they think Potter's the heir of Slytherin!" Malfoy glared at the ceiling again, as if it was at fault. "I wish I knew who it was," He continued. "I could help them."
Harry and Ron looked dumbfounded. "You must have some idea who's behind it all!" Harry started, but was cut off by Malfoy's irritated response.
"You know I haven't, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you? And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course it was fifty years ago, well before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'l look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I do know one thing— the last time the Chamber was opened, a mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them's killed this time... I hope it's Granger."
Percy's vision tinted red, using all his willpower not to take down Malfoy then and there. Harry and Ron, as Crabbe and Goyle, looked equally outraged, Ron's fist clenching very visibly. Piper eyed them, then a look of understanding crossed over her face and she shook her head before going up to the girls dormitories.
"D'you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?" Harry asked through clenched teeth, taking in a few deep breaths.
"Oh, yeah... whoever it was was expelled," said Malfoy, unaware of the sudden rage of emotions. "They're probably still in Azkaban."
"Azkaban?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"Azkaban— the wizard prison, Goyle." Malfoy shook his head in disbelief. "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward."
"Father's warned me about keeping my head low about it, of course. He says he can't handle more on his plate right now— did you know the MInistry raided our manor last week?" Malfoy said. "Yeah... Luckily they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor—"
"Ho!" Ron cried out suddenly.
Percy, Malfoy, and Harry looked at him. Ron blushed. Even his hair was turning red. His nse was slowly lengthening— their time was up. Percy glanced at Harry; a thin line was visible on his forehead beneath the receding bristles.
"Medicine for my stomach," Ron grunted as they jumped to their feet, sprinting towards the exit. Percy followed them, glancing back to see Malfoy looking extremely puzzled.
"Almost there," Percy breathed as they ran into the bathroom. "And... safe!"
He whipped off his hat, only to see Harry and Ron, back as their normal selves, breathing hard from the running.
"I can't believe it!" Ron pulled off Crabbe's robes and slipped into his own. "Malfoy? Not the Heir?"
"Believe it!" Harry said, gasping for breath. "He just told us."
"Yeah. Annabeth, did you hear that? Annabeth? Hermione?" Percy looked in the stall where they last were. Nothing. He pulled his head back out, only to be doused in a freezing air bubble.
"Myrtle!" Goosebumps appeared on his skin as he stumbled out of the ghost. "What are you doing here?"
"This is my toilet," the Myrtle responded, sounding annoyed. "Annabeth and Hermione aren't here, the potion went extremely wrong." she cackled.
"Wrong?" Harry eyed the girl. "Did you do anything?"
"I believe it was all Hermione's fault on this one, Harry," Myrtle said dreamily. "Oh, just wait until you see her sorry yellow eyes! And that tail! Oh, the tail." She laughed, her face brightening.
"A tail?" Ron backed away from the stall cautiously. "What happened when we were gone?"
"You should go check on her," Myrtle said, ignoring Ron's question. "I imagine she's very lonely in the hospital wing."
Percy turned and ran down the hall, Harry and Ron in hot pursuit. They left the musky bathroom, Myrtle giggling as they sprinted down the hall.