Summer was creeping into the grounds. The weather was getting warmer, the skies were much clearer, and the students of Hogwarts were preparing themselves for their exams. Three days before, however, Professor McGonagall announced at breakfast.
"I have good news," she said, and the Great Hall, instead of falling silent, erupted.
"Dumbledore's coming back!" several people yelled joyfully.
"You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!" squealed a girl on the Ravenclaw table.
"Not bloody likely," Adrian said, stabbing his fried egg with a fork. "She's not easily caught." He grinned across the table at Teddie.
The second-year gave a weak smile.
"Quidditch matches are back on!" roared Oliver Wood from the Gryffindor table.
Theo rolled his eyes. "And they say Slytherin's have no feelings," he said.
His friends smirked.
Once the hubbub had subsided, Professor McGonagall said, "Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit."
There was an explosion of cheers.
Teddie swallowed hard and her body trembled. She was twelve hours away from being caught out. She had to do something to salvage her involvement. Without actual proof that she had been blacking out, no one was going to believe that her involvement was purely against her will.
After the last attack on Sierra Waterstone, Madam Pomfrey had closed the doors to the Hospital Wing in fear that the Heir of Slytherin would come and finish her patients off, even the teachers were sticking by the rules and escorting students two and from classes.
Every morning, after breakfast, the teachers would separate their houses into groups assigned by years, and walk them to their respective classrooms. Teddie and her second-year companions were usually always headed by Professor Snape, but this morning they had Professor Lockhart.
For someone who had so often assured them that all danger had passed, only to be proven wrong straight away, Lockhart was now wholeheartedly convinced that it was hardly worth the trouble to see the students down corridors.
"Mark my words," Lockhart said, ushering them around a corner, "the first words out of those poor Petrified people's mouths will be, 'It was Hagrid'. Frankly, I'm astonished that Professor McGonagall thinks all these security measures are necessary."
"I agree, sir," said Harry Potter. From beside him, Ron Weasley dropped his books, clearly in surprise.
Teddie exchanged an unsure glance with Theo. What was Harry playing at?
But Lockhart didn't seem to have noticed Ron's reaction, or maybe he just didn't care. He was too busy mumbling to himself about being up all night patrolling the corridors. "Thank you, Harry," he said.
So he had heard Harry, at the very least.
"We teachers have quite enough to be getting on with, without walking students to classes and standing guard all night," Lockhart continued.
"That's right," said Ron, nodding a little too enthusiastically. "Why don't you leave us here, Professor? We've only got one more corridor to go."
"You know, Weasley, I think I will," said Lockhart. "I really should go and prepare for my next class."
He hurried off.
"Prepare his class," Ron scoffed. "Gone to curl his hair, more like."
"Ron!" Hermione said, sounding affronted.
Teddie glanced back to see the bookworm slap Ron on the shoulder with her History of Magic book. The trio then darted off down a side corridor. Without a second thought, Teddie grabbed Theo's hand and pulled him after them, leaving Daphne and Blaise to continue ahead.
"What are we -?" Theo started.
"Harry!" Teddie called, catching up to the three Gryffindors.
"What do you want?" Ron snapped.
Hermione nudged him in the ribs.
Teddie ignored him and fixed her gaze upon Harry's. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"You're going back to the scene were Mrs Norris was attacked," said Theo, noticing the side passage led to the second-floor corridor. "Why? What do you possibly hope to find?"
Ron opened his mouth, probably to spew his usual prejudice slander, but Harry beat him to it by saying, "We think we know that the Chamber of Secrets was opened once before."
"Yeah, we figured that out months ago," Teddie said. "We also know that there was an incident involving a student, but we don't know if the student died or was just Petrified."
"She died," Harry confirmed.
"She?" Theo and Teddie repeated.
Harry nodded. "We've been told that the girl was Moaning Myrtle."
Theo and Teddie exchanged confused looks.
"She haunts the second-floor girls' bathroom," Hermione answered. "That's where we're going. We're going to talk to her, or at least try too."
"Do you think she'll remember anything?" Teddie asked. "I mean, it was fifty years ago, wasn't it?"
Harry shrugged. "It's worth a shot," he said. "If she can remember how she died then maybe she can tell us where the entrance to Chamber is," he said.
"That seems like a long shot," said Theo.
"At least it's a shot," Ron snapped. "What exactly have you done to figure out this mystery? You only probably care now because the last attack was on a Pureblood Slytherin."
Teddie felt Theo's hand tighten around her own. "If you didn't already realise, Weasley," she snapped before Theo had a chance. "Slytherin have their problems, namely me. I'm not a Pureblood, I'm a Muggleborn, and the main focus of the Basilisk's attacks. Theo has done nothing but worry about me since the first attack happened last Halloween, so don't accuse him, or any other Slytherin for that matter, for not caring until Sierra was Petrified."
Ron made a scoffing sound and turned to Harry. "We should get going before a Professor comes along and catches us," he said. He strode away without so much as a backwards glance.
"Your friend's a prat, Potter," Theo said, glaring after the red-headed.
Hermione offered both Theo and Teddie an apologetic look and hurried after Ron.
Teddie squeezed Theo's hand and turned back to Harry. "I'm sorry about Colin," she said.
"Thanks," Harry said with a small nod. "But Ron's right. I should go, so should you. We don't want to get caught."
Teddie nodded and turned away from Harry. "Wait, Harry, if you do happen to find the entrance to the Chamber, you'll let me know, right?" she asked.
Harry smiled and nodded. "Sure, Teddie," he agreed.
They separated.
~X~
"It's in the girls' bathroom on the second floor," said Teddie, "It has to be."
"Why does it have to be?" Theo asked. "Just because the one person the Basilisk killed resides there, doesn't mean that the entrance is there, too."
"Theo, think about it," said Teddie, lowering her voice and glancing around. They were sitting in the back of History of Magic with Daphne and Blaise. The pair had been disgruntled that Teddie and Theo had run off without them, but they were willing to let it go given the information Teddie had.
"I am thinking about, Ted," Theo protested.
Teddie sighed and rubbed her forehead. "The Basilisk must've killed Myrtle in that bathroom, which is why she haunts its. It's her place of residence," she explained. "Most places that ghosts haunt are their places of death."
"But why didn't she just move on?" Blaise asked. "Surely the afterlife is a better place than sticking around the living?"
"Maybe she can't move on," Daphne suggested. "Maybe she's bound to stay here until this whole Chamber business is dealt with completely. Potter may be right, Ted, she could know where the entrance is. Maybe that's what she is waiting for."
"What, for someone to figure out the mystery of how she died so that she can move on?" Theo asked.
Daphne nodded.
"That's a little far-fetched, don't you think?" Blaise asked.
"I don't see you coming up with any good ideas," Daphne snapped.
Blaise narrowed his eyes.
Teddie glanced up at the front of the class. Professor Binns was still droning on and on about 18th-century magic, while most of the class was dozing in their seats, or scribbling on spare parchment. She turned back to her friends, just as Blaise was about to speak.
"How exactly are we going to prove any of this, anyway?" Blaise asked. "I know Potter said that he would tell Teddie if he managed to find the Chamber, although I don't understand why you want to know, Ted," he turned to his friend.
Teddie shrugged. "I just want to know where I go when I blackout," she said. "I want to go there, see if I can remember anything. You know, like maybe something seeped into my subconscious and can only be retrieved with a trigger."
"We could do our investigation into the bathroom," said Daphne.
Teddie looked quickly at her friend.
"You want to go talk to Myrtle yourself?" Theo asked.
"Not by myself, no," said Daphne. "If the entrance is in that bathroom, I'd rather not take the risk of it opening and the Basilisk getting me."
"Then what do you suggest?" Blaise asked.
Daphne met Teddie's gaze and smirked. "Buddy system," she said. "What do say, Ted, up for a little recon?"
Teddie laughed loudly.
"Is everything alright, Miss Fairweather?" Professor Binns asked, looking up from his book with a startled expression.
Teddie smiled, sheepishly and shook her head. "Sorry, Professor," she apologised. From the corner of her eye, Teddie saw Theo, Blaise, and Daphne snigger. She glared at them.
Professor Binns eyed her curiously, and then returned to his reading.
Sighing heavily, Teddie turned back to her friends. "You've been hanging around Mason for too long," she said to Daphne. "You're starting to sound like a right proper Muggle."
Daphne shrugged. "Regardless, what do you say?" she asked.
"I say let's do it," Teddie agreed. "We have a break next. Let's do it then."
Blaise and Theo exchanged looks.
"What about us?" Theo asked.
"Go find Marcus, Derrick, and Adrian," said Teddie. "Fill them in on what we're doing. Just so they don't get worried."
The boys nodded.
~X~
When History of Magic let out, the Slytherin quartet headed down a floor to the hallway where Mrs Norris was attacked. The bloody writing was still on the wall, despite the efforts of the Professors and Filch trying to remove it.
Checking the coast was clear, Daphne pushed open the door to the bathroom and looked back at Teddie. "Come on, before anyone sees us," she said, slipping silently inside.
Teddie turned to the Blaise and Theo. "We'll meet you in the common room later," she said, following Daphne. She closed the door on the two boys and they headed off to find the older Slytherins.
The second-floor bathroom was the same as all the rest. A large round plinth, split into four segments, stood in the centre of the room, just beside a large paned mosaic window. Each segment of marble had its own assigned basin with two taps, one for hot water and the other for cold.
Running along the walls, other either side, were eight wooden stalls. Inside each one was a basic toilet system with pipes leading up the walls to even more, and bigger pipes which lined the ceilings.
"It's very Muggle-esque," Teddie said, looking around.
Daphne nodded and walked over to the basins. She run her finger over one of the taps, tracing the outline of an Eagle etched into the metal. "This is new," she said, peering closer. "They don't have engravings on any other bathroom taps. Why are these so special?"
Teddie shrugged and walked around the plinth, running her hand over each of the taps in turn - a Lion, a Badger, a Snake.
"Who's there?" a voice asked.
Daphne looked around as a silvery-transparent girl rose high above one of the stalls nearest to her. The girl was had shoulder-length dark hair, which was probably brown when she was alive, an assortment of pimples and freckles over her face and nose, and thick glasses.
The ghost narrowed her eyes at Daphne. "What do you want?" she asked, unhappily. "Come to make fun of me?"
"Uh, no," Daphne said, shaking her head. She had come to talk with Myrtle, but having never seen her before, she was dumbfounded to learn that she only looked to be about seventeen. Eyeing her attire, Daphne gasped as she spotted the familiar Eagle on the ghost's robes. "You're a Ravenclaw!"
"I was a Ravenclaw," Myrtle said, her eyes dropped to Daphne's emblem. "You're a Slytherin."
Daphne nodded.
Myrtle seemed to bristle, angrily. "What do you want?" she repeated. "Why are you here?"
"We wanted to know if you remember anything from Halloween last year?" Daphne asked. "When the cat, Mrs Norris, was attacked just outside your door."
"I remember," Myrtle said. "But I don't recall anything... strange."
"Oh," said Daphne, defeated. "Well, um, do you - do you remember anything from, you know, when you... died?" She trailed off awkwardly. From stories, she was aware that asking certain ghosts how they died was fatal.
But, instead of looking offended, Myrtle seemed to look elated and excited. It only lasted a second, however. "Why do you care?" she asked, peering closer at Daphne. "It was one of you that killed me."
Daphne frowned and looked around at Teddie, but the second female was nowhere to be found. "Teddie?" she asked, her voice rebounding in the bathroom. Looking back at Myrtle, Daphne stepped towards the plinth but stopped at the sound of a faint 'hiss'
Following the hiss came a loud grinding sound. The whole plinth seemed to quake and Daphne looked back at Myrtle, quickly. The ghost's face, if possible, became whiter, and a look of sheer panic took hold.
"It comes! She calls it!" Myrtle wailed, tears sliding fast and thick, down her cheeks. "No one is safe now!"
"Teddie!" Daphne yelled, racing around the plinth. She stopped dead as she saw Teddie standing in front of a gaping black hole in the floor. This was it. This was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and Teddie had found it.
Tearing her gaze away from the floor, Daphne looked up at her friend and her blood ran cold. Teddie was staring at her, a twisted grin of pure enjoyment settled on her lips, and her eyes had turned from their usual friendly green to a deep dark brown.
"Teddie...?" Daphne asked, her voice trailing away.
The ground shifted and Daphne watched as a great scaly head rose out of the floor, it was followed by a black body with a pale green underside. Its eyes - Daphne averted her gaze before they could settle on her completely - this was the Basilisk that everyone was afraid of.
Hissss
Daphne kept her gaze low as the Basilisk slithered completely out of the floor, its bulky body taking up most of the room.
"No," Teddie answered. She was speaking English - human English - but still the Basilisk seemed to understand her. "I want her alive."
Her? Wait, she means me, Daphne thought. The Basilisk wanted to kill her, but Teddie was ordering it to spare her. Why?
Hisss...
"She's useful to me," Teddie replied. Her voice didn't sound monotone or different. She sounded like the same old Teddie Green that Daphne had grown close too.
Hiss...
"He'll get what he wants!" Teddie snapped. "But the last time you killed someone, the Professors didn't find her for hours. We can't afford to wait that long!"
Hisss....
"I don't care. You have one more job to finish before you return," said Teddie. "By which point I will have sent my message. Now, go!"
Yessss Missstresss...
Daphne closed her eyes and listened as the snake slithered past her. It's smooth scales brushed against her body once or twice, but she didn't dare open her eyes until she was sure it had gone. Peering through her lashes, Daphne watched as the great Basilisk slithered up into a hole in the wall, disappearing into the water system of Hogwarts.
Then a shadow fell over her, and Daphne looked up to see Teddie standing over her. Only, this time, it wasn't just her eyes that had changed - her entire appearance was different. Where Teddie Green usually supported red-hair and green eyes, the person before her now had long black hair and brown eyes.
But her face was the same.
It was still Teddie's face.
"Hello, Daphne," the girl said, holding out her hand. Daphne refused to take it and stood up herself. The girl nodded and stepped back.
"You didn't let it kill me," said Daphne, peering at the girl. "Why?"
"Didn't you hear me?" the girl asked. "I need you alive."
"But why?"
"Because you're important."
Daphne scoffed and the girl's smile grew.
"Don't worry, it's okay if you don't believe me," she said, shaking her head. "But the fact remains that I still need your help." There was a heavy silence, and then the mysterious girl started speaking again, "I need you to get a message to Harry Potter for me."
"Potter?" Daphne repeated. "What makes you think I know who he is?"
The girl smirked. "I assure you, Daphne, I know quite a lot about you and who you know," she said. "I'll make you a deal. You find deliver my message to Harry Potter, and I'll make sure you see your precious Mudblood again, how does that sound?"
Daphne's eyes widened. "Is this some kind of Polyjuice Potion, trick?" she asked, her voice quiet.
"No, Daphne, this isn't a Polyjuice Potion trick," the girl said. "The body you see before you does belong to the one you know as Teddie Green, but it also belongs to me. If anything, it belonged to me first and she's..." she paused, thinking of the appropriate term, "let's say...like a parasite, shall we? She feeds off me, or maybe, I feed off her, no one knows."
Daphne shook her head. This was all very confusing.
The mysterious girl laughed and placed her hand on Daphne's shoulder. "I assure you, Daphne, once you deliver my message, and this is all over, I'll bring Teddie back to you and your friends. To be honest, she's not the person my master is after."
"Your master?"
"That's not up for discussion," the girl said, shaking her head. "We don't have much time. So, what do you say? Will you accept my offer, or does Teddie not mean all that much to you?"
Daphne looked considerate. This mysterious girl was offering her a 'deal with the devil' offer - Teddie's life in place of Harry Potter's, or so it would seem.
But Harry has saved Teddie before.
You're right. Maybe he can do it again.
And if he can't?
Daphne sighed and pushed aside her internal voice. This wasn't a decision she should've made lightly, but she knew that she was on the clock. The Basilisk would be back soon, and maybe this mysterious girl would have it kill her for not picking aside.
"What's your message?"
The girl grinned, her eyes alight with amusement. "Good girl," she said, her voice smooth. "Tell Harry Potter he must come to the Chamber, tonight. Tell him that he must come alone and that if he does not, more than just his life will be taken."
Daphne swallowed and watched as the girl walked around her, back towards the gaping hole in the floor. "Wait, what's your name?" she asked.
"That's of no importance," said the girl. "What is important is my message, and that it is delivered promptly. Do not disappoint me, Daphne, you know the consequences if you do."