In the days to come, the attack on Mrs Norris was the talk of the school. Filch made sure to not let anyone forget about the incident by hanging around the spot where the cat was Petrified, as though he thought the attacker may come back. y/n saw him trying to scrub the blood message off the wall but to no avail. The blood looked as fresh as it was the night it was discovered. Ginny seemed very shaken up about it all. y/n hung around with her during lunch a few times reassuring her that Mrs Norris was the foulest cat to walk the earth.
"Honestly, we're better off without her," the Slytherin said to the young girl as the strolled through the west courtyard. "Stuff like this doesn't normally happen at Hogwarts," y/n tried to reassure her despite her not really experiencing anything normal herself.
y/n also noticed that the attack had affected Hermione too. She spent more time than usual reading and neither Harry, Ron, nor herself could get a response out of her. But y/n found out why eventually.
After her double potions lesson with the fourth years and a hurried lunch, y/n headed up to the library to finish her Charms essay which she had only a few hours before it was to be handed up. As she approached the grand doors, she saw Justin Finch-Fletchly, the Hufflepuff boy from DADA, coming towards her. y/n was about to greet him when he made eye contact and turned on his heel and sped away in the opposite direction. y/n wished she could have been surprised, but ever since the attack on Mrs Norris, she had caught people giving her odd looks and then turning to whisper to their friends. Harry was copping his fair share too. Everyone was suspicious of them since they were caught at the scene of the attack.
y/n found a spot where it was relatively empty and sat down, opening her spell book and beginning to write her conclusion on the "Theory of Transportation Charms." she had only dipped her quill in ink twice before she heard Harry and Ron sit down in front of her. "Hey guys," she said not looking up from her work, "Where's Hermione?"
"Somewhere over there," Ron replied waving his hand towards some shelves, "looking for another book. I swear she's trying to read the entire library before Christmas. Oh, you're doing the essay? Can I look? I'm still eight inches short,"
"Once I'm done, but change it up a bit so it doesn't look obvious you copied." y/n said. She then told the two boys about Justin running away from her.
"Yeah, he did the same for me on the way here," Harry said.
"Dunno why you two care, I thought he was a bit of an idiot," Ron said, trying to peer over y/n's hand to copy her writing. y/n was about to give Ron a spray for talking about her friend like that (though she didn't think that they were really friends anymore) when Hermione stomped up to the table they were sat at, looking irritable.
"All the copies of Hogwarts: A History have been borrowed already," she said slumping into a seat next to y/n. "And there's a two-week waiting list, Oh I wish I packed my own copy, but it didn't fit in my trunk with all of Lockhart's books..."
"Why do you want to read it? You've practically memorised it," y/n said, finishing the final line on her parchment and handing it to a grateful Ron.
"The same reason everyone else wants it, to read up on the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione replied resting her head on hands leaning on the table.
"As in the Chamber of secrets that was written on the wall,." Harry asked, leaning in closer so he didn't have to speak so loudly.
"Yes, but I can't remember anything about it, and it's not in any other texts." Hermione huffed, now a defeated frown on her face. Just then, the bell went, signalling the beginning of the next period: Transfiguration.
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"Right. Now, today we will be transforming animals into water goblets," Professor McGonagall announced from the front of the class. y/n was sat next to Draco, just behind Ron and Harry. Nimbus was sat in front of her quite happily flicking its tail, and there was a small lizard perched on a log in front of Draco. McGonagall took out her wand, "Like so. One, two, three. Vera Verto. after tapping the end of her wand on a very exotic looking bird, it transformed into a glistening glass goblet. The whole class awed at the spell. "Now it's your turn. Who would like to go first?" she asked as she began walking between desks. "Ah, Mr Weasley. One, two, three. Vera Verto."
The professor stopped in front of Harry and Ron's desk and so Ron cleared is throat and tapped his dodgy, broken wand on his rat, Scabbers, three times before chanting, "Vera Verto!" A green spark flew from the tip of his wand and the rat began to transform. But instead of the elegant glass that McGonagall had conjured, a hairy cup with Scabbers' tail still waving around was left on Ron's desk. The class laughed at his failure as he inspected what was once his rat in disgust.
"That wand needs replacing, Mr Weasley." McGonagall declared as she began to stride back to the front of the class. y/n knew that Ron wasn't going to send his mum a letter asking for a new wand. Wands were expensive, period. And after the howler that Ron had received, Molly wasn't ready to fork out that much money. y/n guessed she could pay for it, but she didn't want to seem that she was pitying the Weasley's, but she didn't want them to think she was being selfish and greedy by not offering. She'll have to think on it. Or ask Hermione, she always knows what to do.
Speaking of Hermione, the Gryffindor girl raised her hand high in the air, wanting to ask the Professor something. "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Professor..." Hermione began, looking down, "I was wondering of you could tell us about... about the Chamber of Secrets."
The class went quiet, all waiting for Profesor McGonagall's reply. y/n felt a few pairs of eyes on her and saw a couple of Ravenclaws eyeing Harry. "Very well," the professor sighed. "You all know of course that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Now, three of the founders co-existed quite harmoniously. One, however, did not."
"Three guesses who" y/n heard Ron whisper to Harry and the boys chuckling.
McGonagall paid no attention to the comment and continued. "Salazar wished to be more selective of the students admitted to Hogwarts, He believed that magical learning was to be kept within all-magic families. In other words, pure-bloods." At this, Draco nudged y/n and gave her smirk. y/n just smiled weakly back. "Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school. Now according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle known as the Chamber of Secrets. Though shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true Heir returned to the school. The Heir alone would be able to open the Chamber and unleash the horror within, and by so doing, purge the school of all those who in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."
"Muggle-borns," Hermione spoke up and McGonagall nodded in approval.
"Well. Naturally, the school has been searched many times, no such Chamber has ever been found.
"Professor?" Hermione continued, "What exactly does legend tell us lies within the Chamber?"
"The Chamber is said to be home to something that only the Heir of Slytherin can control. It is said to be the home of a monster."
y/n felt a chill go around the whole room. The hairs on her back stood up the silence that followed was unbearable. If McGonagall was worried, that meant that Dumbledore was worried and if Dumbledore was worried that meant there was a real danger at Hogwarts.
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y/n had a free period next and so she decided to head back to the library to try and find anything about the Chamber of Secrets, Salazar Slytherin, monsters, anything that could provide an explanation to recent events. As her hands ran along the leather spines of the books, she searched for anything that could contain a mention to Slytherin. Hermione said earlier that all the Hogwarts: A History copies had been borrowed, so she had been forced to go through every aisle in the History of Magic section.
Soon, y/n found a text titled, Witches and Wizards of the Ages. Surely Slytherin was notable enough to be mentioned in this. She pulled the book out of the shelf and began to flip through the pages until she got to the "S" section.
"Newt Scamander... Oliver Sergunford... Slytherin where are you..." y/n muttered as she scanned the page, "Ah ha!" she exclaimed once she found the very man she was looking for. Salazar Slytherin had a large portion of the book dedicated to him and y/n wasted no time beginning to read it. "Salazar Slytherin was one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was a pure-blood wizard, a Parselmouth (a wizard with the rare ability to speak to snakes) and skilled at Legilimency. After expressing his distaste towards Muggle-borns and proposing that the school should not accept them as students, his former best friend, Godric Gryffindor, and the two other witches who co-founded the school...." y/n read in her head and tried to find anything that Professor McGonagall didn't mention. She had gone through almost 20 pages once she found the "Family" paragraph. It was rather short but still, there could be information that could lead to some answers.
y/n began to read in her head, "Most connections to the Slytherin family have been lost due to the lack of documentation, but some links have been made to the Guant, and Perveral families but no definite ties have been discovered. History suggests that any living descendants of Slytherin would be of pure-blood looking at the blood supremacy ideals which have been known to be present in all mentioned families." y/n racked her brain for anyone she knew of with the last name Perveral or Guant, but no one came to mind. After reading up on the names, she found that they had supposedly died out over 50 years ago.
Out of frustration, y/n slammed the book shut and let out a huff. There was no way that she could go through every single book in the library and expect to find something of use before she died. y/n was getting her bag to leave and return to her common room for the day when she heard some familiar voices on the other side of the shelf.
"...why do we need this Polyjuice potion, we have y/n! We could just ask her to listen in on Malfoy a bit." It was Harry. What were they doing with Polyjuice potion, and how were they going to make it? It was difficult for experienced brewers alone but second years?
"I don't think that's the best idea, Harry," Hermione spoke next.
"Why not? She's our friend, isn't she?" Harry defended y/n.
"Well that's just it mate, is she?" Ron said. Why wouldn't I be their friend? "With all this Chamber of Secrets business and the Heir of Slytherin..."
"You think y/n's the Heir of Slytherin?!" Harry exclaimed but was hushed by both the librarian and Hermione and Ron. y/n pressed her ear further against the shelf. She knew that it was bad eavesdropping but she felt like it was justified in this instance.
"Well she was there the night Mrs Norris was attacked, and her excuse was a bit suspicious," Ron explained.
"And we don't know much about her family either..." Hermione added.
"Well, I don't think she has a much better idea!" Harry countered.
"Look Harry. Until we talk to Malfoy, we won't know anything for sure."
"Well, how long will this potion take?" Ron asked.
"A month," Hermione said, grimacing at Harry's reaction.
"A month? But Hermione-" Harry stopped because he realised he was yelling and didn't want people hearing his conversation. A bit late for that. "If Malfoy really is the Heir of Slytherin, he could attack half the Muggle-borns in the school by then. And what are we supposed to do? Ignore y/n until then?"
"I know it's not the best plan, but it's the only one we've got," Hermione said frowning. She didn't want to ignore y/n, in fact, she wanted her help with the research on Slytherin, but with her close ties to Malfoy, it was just too risky.
y/n wanted to march up to those two and convince them that she wasn't the Heir of Slytherin and that she didn't attack Mrs Norris and she didn't open the Chamber of Secrets. But then a famous Slytherin quote popped into her head: "Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" It was told to her by a Prefect one sleepless night the previous year. The two stayed up in the common room and he told y/n all about the house and what it stands for. He said to remember that quote whenever faced with an enemy. y/n didn't want to think of Harry, Ron and Hermione as enemies, but at the moment, they certainly weren't friends.
y/n walked around the corner and acted surprised to see them, "Oh hello! I didn't see you guys come in! I would have come over." She saw them all stiffen at her kindness, she knew that they felt guilty about what they had just said. "What are we reading now Hermione?" she asked pretending to have no idea what she was reading and peered over to see the page, but Hermione slammed the book shut.
"Oh, nothing really. Just you know, a book," Hermione tried to act casual but failed triumphantly. y/n saw the cover of the book, however.
"Most Potent Potions, eh? If you needed help with Potions you should have just come to me!" y/n flashed an exaggerated smile. "I am two years ahead after all."
"Oh I was just interested is all," Hermione replied, twiddling her thumbs.
"There are some really advanced brews in there," y/n began, "Veritaserum, Amortentia, Polyjuice Potion." y/n saw them all flinch and quickly look at each other all wondering if she had overheard them or not. "Well happy reading. I'll see you all later." And so, y/n left with a smirk that Draco Malfoy would be proud of. Just another example of why she was put in Slytherin.
But her feeling of victory began to fade as she descended down to the common room. "They really did think that I would attack that cat!" step, "They thought that I was going to purge the school of Muggle-borns!" step, "They don't trust me..."
y/n caught her throat beginning to close up and could sense the liquid behind her eyes threatening to spill. No. I'm not going to let this break me. She thought as she took a deep breath. She knew from the day she was sorted into Slytherin she was going to experience crap like this. The prefect told her so.
"We Slytherin's only seem cold and mean because if we weren't, people would step all over us. It's the only way we can guard ourselves."
She remembered him saying. y/n opened her eyes after recollecting herself and pushed open the door to join her fellow Slytherins. Her dorm mates invited her over to share some sweets and Draco came over wishing her luck for the Quidditch game the following day. She returned the gesture and continued her feast with the other girls. She didn't think anyone in the room was a completely bad person. Most of us are just misunderstood.
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Oh shit, your friends are beginning to turn against you. That ain't good, but it's great for the plot. Vote, comment, and follow me/add this story to your reading lists as to not miss an update!
Have a good day loves ❤
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