LITTLE MISS MUDBLOOD – ACT 1 : SCENE 2 : CHAPTER 20
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For a few days, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might come back. Y/N had seen him scrubbing the message on the wall with Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover the day after she had been discharged from the Hospital Wing, but to no effect; the words still gleamed as brightly as ever on the stone. When Filch wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking red-eyed through the corridors, lunging out at unsuspecting students and trying to put them in detention for things like "breathing loudly" and "looking happy".
Ginny Weasley seemed very disturbed by Mrs. Norris's fate. According to Ron, she was a great cat lover, but Ginny had told Y/N she had preferred dogs over cats. So why was she acting all suspicious?
The attack had also had an effect on Hermione and Y/N. They were in the library in all of their free time, researching everything relating to what the attack had to offer. From 'petrification' to 'voices', they searched every crevice of the library for anything, but all of the copies that had anything to do with Hogwarts: A History had been checked out, and there was a two-month waiting list.
The following Wednesday, everyone was in the library except for Harry, who'd been held back in Potions, according to Ron and Hermione. Ron was measuring his History of Magic homework (a three-foot-long composition on "The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards.") and Theodore, Blaise, and Daphne were helping Hermione and Y/N look for anything on the Chamber of Secrets. Harry soon came in and sat at the table with Ron, panting.
"I don't believe it, I'm still eight inches short. . . ." said Ron furiously. "And Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's tiny."
"Where is she?" Harry asked.
"Somewhere over there," said Ron. "They're all looking for books. I think they're trying to read the whole library before Christmas."
Y/N tuned out of their conversation. She was missing something, she just knew it, but what? She huffed and joined Ron and Harry, pulling all of her books out of her bag, looking at their titles:
The Standard Book of Spells, grade 2, Break with a Banshee, Gadding with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, Travels with Trolls, Voyages with Vampires, Wanderings with Werewolves, Year with the Yeti, The Ultimate Book of Potions, Elixirs, and Concoctions . . .
The Standard Book of Spells, grade 2, Break with a Banshee, Gadding with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, Travels with Trolls, Voyages with Vampires, Wanderings with Werewolves, Year with the Yeti, The Ultimate Book of Potions, Elixirs, and Concoctions . . .
The Standard Book of Spells, grade 2, Break with a Banshee, Gadding with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, Travels with Trolls, Voyages with Vampires, Wanderings with Werewolves, Year with the Yeti, The Ultimate Book of Potions, Elixirs, and Concoctions . . .
What was she missing? Then it hit her.
"Hermione!" Y/N called and dug through her bag once again, high on adrenaline. She found what she was looking for and tapped the miniature-sized book with her wand, causing it to enlarge in her hands. Hermione came running over and spotted the book, eyes widening. "I'd totally forgotten about this! Maybe it has information about the Chamber of Secrets in it!"
"What is it?" asked Blaise as the three of them came over.
"Everything in Great Detail and More About the Wizarding World," said Y/N excitedly, flipping to the table of contents. "I got it for Christmas last year anonymously!"
"Wicked," said Theodore, his eyes gleaming.
Y/N looked through its contents, which was quite lengthy, but eventually she found it: The Chamber of Secrets. She had only just flipped to the page when the bell rang, causing both Ron and Hermione to burst out complaining.
"Oh, come on we were so close to finding it!" groaned Hermione as she helped Y/N pack up.
"I only need another two inches, come on –"
They split and Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to History of Magic while Theodore, Blaise, Daphne, and Y/N headed for Transfiguration, chatting about the Chamber of Secrets.
Miraculously, Professor McGonagall allowed them the class to catch up on work and to work ahead if they were already caught up (in Y/N's case). However, Y/N couldn't focus on anything except for the Chamber of Secrets.
"Miss Granger?" said Professor McGonagall, peering up at Y/N over her glasses. "Why aren't you working?"
"Professor McGonagall?" asked Y/N, putting her quill down and crossing her arms. "Could you tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets?"
The class seemed to stop. Millicent Bulstrode, who had been revising an essay, accidentally tore her parchment; Draco Malfoy, who was finishing up his composition for Potions, looked up and stared at Y/N, who'd been staring at Professor McGonagall.
"Miss Granger –"
"Please, Professor McGonagall. You know everything that goes on around here and – and – and I can't focus on my schoolwork while still wondering about the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets," said Y/N, and poked out her bottom lip for good measure.
Professor McGonagall sighed and stood, addressing the class, "Fine. You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded well over a thousand years ago – the precise date is uncertain – by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. Obviously, the four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."
She paused for any questions before continuing.
"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families– pure-blood families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."
"But Slytherin just wanted to protect them from persecution, right?" asked Adelaide Murton. "He just wanted to protect them from Muggles who might try to harm them, or Muggle-borns whose parents taught them that witches and wizards should be. . . persecuted."
"Perhaps," said Professor McGonagall. "We don't know exactly why he hated Muggles and Muggle-borns. But we do know about the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had 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, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were considered unworthy to study magic – in other words, Muggle-borns."
The class looked at Y/N and she clenched her jaw, looking directly at Professor McGonagall.
"What do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?" Y/N asked, rapping her fingernails against the desk.
"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control," said Professor McGonagall. "But, naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. Nothing has been found."
For some reason, that didn't seem to calm Y/N– at all. Instead, it only worried her even more.
"But, Professor," said Malfoy eagerly, "if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"
"Possibly," said Professor McGonagall, "but we have no way of knowing for sure. There have been no confirmed heirs of Slytherin in our world today, let alone heirs of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw."
"Do you think there's a Chamber of Secrets, Professor?" asked a girl named Zoe Accrington.
"I think there's no way of knowing without Slytherin's heir," she said grimly. "It could be right under our noses and we wouldn't know."
"Salazar Slytherin set every Slytherin up for disaster," Daphne complained to Theodore, Blaise, and Y/N as they fought their way through the teeming corridors at the end of the lesson to drop off their bags before dinner. The hallways cleared for them, as if each member of all the other houses subconsciously thought that every single Slytherin was the heir. "It's because of him that everyone hates Slytherin, because he influenced a lot of the pure-blood Slytherin families to hate Muggles and Muggle-borns. And now we have to pay the price for it because we're the ones with a bad reputation."
"At least we're not the ones being called Slytherin's heir," Theodore commented. "Lucky Daphne pulled Y/N out of that situation before anyone noticed. That would've been real suspicious."
"Speaking of the situation," said Blaise offhandedly, "I heard that Filch's down in the Quidditch lockers and not in the corridor where the attack happened."
Y/N stopped in her tracks. "What're we waiting for then? Let's go!"
They pushed and shoved through the crowd, ascending the stairs to the second-floor. They soon found themselves at the end of the very corridor where the attack had happened. The scene was just as it had been that night, except that there was no stiff cat hanging from the torch bracket, and an empty chair stood against the wall bearing the message "The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies of the Heir Beware."
A second later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione rounded the corner, chatting.
"– and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be – well – human," said Hermione.
"What're you three doing here?" Y/N asked. The three Gryffindors stopped in their tracks.
"We were on our way to the Gryffindor tower," answered Harry. "What're you four doing here?"
"We heard Mr. Filch was down at the Quidditch lockers so we came to investigate," said Y/N. "Since we have the chance to."
"Can't hurt to have a poke around. The more eyes the better," said Harry, dropping his bag and getting to his hands and knees to look around.
"Come and look at this!" said Hermione, also dropping her bag. Ron yelped as it hit his foot. "This is funny. . . ."
They all joined Hermione at the window. She was pointing at the topmost pane, where around twenty spiders were scuttling, apparently fighting to get through a small crack. A long, silvery thread was dangling like a rope, as though they had all climbed it in their hurry to get outside.
"Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" said Daphne wonderingly.
"No," said Harry, "have you, Ron? Ron?"
They looked around for Ron. Ron was standing well back and seemed to be fighting the impulse to run.
"What's up?" said Harry.
"I – don't – like – spiders," said Ron tensely.
"I never knew that," said Hermione, looking at Ron in surprise. "You've used spiders in Potions loads of times. . . ."
"I don't mind them dead," said Ron, who was carefully looking anywhere but at the window. "I just don't like the way they move. . . ."
Hermione, Daphne, and Y/N giggled.
"It's not funny," said Ron, fiercely. "If you must know, when I was three, Fred turned my – my teddy bear into a great big filthy spider because I broke his toy broomstick. . . . You wouldn't like them either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and. . ."
He broke off, shuddering. The girls were obviously still trying not to laugh.
"Remember all that water on the floor?" said Harry, changing the subject. "Where did that come from? Someone's mopped it up."
"It was about here," said Ron, recovering himself to walk a few paces past Filch's chair and pointing. "Level with this door."
He reached for the brass doorknob but suddenly withdrew his hand as though he'd been burned.
"What's the matter?" said Theodore, surging forward to investigate.
"Can't go in there," said Ron gruffly. "That's a girl's toilet."
"Oh, Ron, there won't be anyone in there," said Hermione, standing up and going over to where he was standing. "That's Moaning Myrtle's place. Come on, let's have a look."
And ignoring the large OUT OF ORDER sign, she opened the door.
Y/N had never been in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom before, but boy was it madly depressing. Under a large, cracked, and spotted mirror were a row of chipped sinks. The floor was damp and reflected the dull light given off by the stubs of a few candles, burning low in their holders; the wooden doors to the stalls were flaking and scratched and one of them was dangling off its hinges.
The seven of them explored the bathroom, careful not to disturb anything or make too much sound.
Hermione put her fingers to her lips and set off toward the end stall. When she reached it she said, "Hello, Moaning Myrtle, how are you?"
The rest of them went to look. Moaning Myrtle was floating above the tank of the toilet, picking a spot on her chin.
"This is a girls' bathroom," she said, eyeing Ron, Harry, Theodore, and Blaise suspiciously. "They're not girls."
"They sure act like them," muttered Y/N. "Honestly, 'I don't like spiders!'"
Ron rolled his eyes.
"No," said Hermione. "I just wanted to show them how – er – nice it is in here."
She waved vaguely at the dirty old mirror and the damp floor.
"Ask her if she saw anything," Harry mouthed at Hermione.
"What are you whispering?" said Myrtle, staring at him.
"Nothing," said Harry quickly. "We wanted to ask –"
"I wish people would stop talking behind my back!" said Myrtle, in a voice choked with (ghost) tears. "I do have feelings, you know, even if I am dead –"
"Myrtle, no one wants to upset you," said Hermione tenderly. "Harry only –"
"No one wants to upset me! That's a good one!" howled Myrtle. "My life was nothing but misery at this place and now people come along ruining my death!"
"We wanted to ask you if you've seen anything funny lately," said Y/N quickly. "Because a cat was attacked right outside your front door on Halloween."
"Did you see anyone near here that night?" said Harry.
"I wasn't paying attention," said Myrtle dramatically. "Peeves upset me so much I came in here and tried to kill myself. Then, of course, I remembered that I'm – that I'm –"
"Already dead," said Ron and Theodore helpfully. They looked at each other and high-fived, in a Fred and George manner.
Myrtle gave a tragic sob, rose up in the air, turned over, and dived headfirst into the toilet, splashing water all over them and vanishing from sight, although from the direction of her muffled sobs, she had come to rest somewhere in the U-bend.
"Honestly, that was almost cheerful for Myrtle. . . . Come on, let's go."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione went out first, but a loud voice made the four Slytherins stop before following.
"RON!"
Blaise and Theodore snorted and listened at the door, despite Y/N and Daphne calling it rude.
"That's a girl's bathroom!" he gasped. "What were you – ?"
"Just having a look around," came Ron's voice. "Clues, you know –"
"Get – away – from – there –" said Percy angrily, and his voice started drawing nearer. "Don't you care what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner –"
"Why shouldn't we be here?" said Ron hotly. Blaise and Theodore sniggered. "Listen, we never laid a finger on that cat!"
"That's what I told Ginny," said Percy fiercely, "but she still seems to think you're going to be expelled, I've never seen her so upset, crying her eyes out, you might think of her, of all the first years are thoroughly overexcited by this business –"
"You don't care about Ginny," said Ron meanly. "You're just worried I'm going to mess up your chances of being Head Boy –"
"Five points from Gryffindor!" Percy said tersely. "And I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more detective work, or I'll write to Mum!"
The four of them exited the bathroom, and Theodore and Blaise snickered at how red Ron's ears had gotten.
"Oh, shut it," said Ron, who crossed his arms and went even redder than ever.
Theodore, Blaise, Daphne, and Y/N chose seats as far as possible from everybody else in the common room that night. Theodore, who always had troubles with Charms, was trying to ask Y/N for help, but to no avail; she was far too focused on the lake out the window, thinking.
"Y/N!" Theodore whisper-yelled.
A few Slytherins looked over but no eyes lingered, minding their own business.
"Who can it be, though?" she said in a quiet voice, as though continuing a conversation they had just been having. She reluctantly tore her eyes away from the window. "Who'd want to frighten all the Squibs and Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts?"
"I don't know, Flint?" said Theodore impatiently. "Listen, can you help me –"
"Flint's weaker than a flobberworm, so no," said Y/N. "What about Malfoy? He's always boasting about his whole family being pureblood and in Slytherin."
"I don't know, we've only been to Malfoy Manor a couple of times– and that was when we were younger," said Blaise. "But I suppose it's possible. . . ."
"We should ask Harry, Ron, and Hermione what they think– I'm sure they've already come up with a plan," said Daphne. "After all, they are Gryffindors."
"Y/N!" Theodore barked sharply, and she rolled her eyes, shooing off her fellow Slytherins and helping him.
Late the next day, during Study Hall, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat with the four Slytherins, quietly explaining their plan.
"We want to sneak into your common rooms," whispered Hermione bluntly.
Y/N blinked. They wanted to sneak into their common rooms?
Sensing her sister's confusion, Hermione explained further, "We want to ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us. And we know it'd be all-too-suspicious for you four to question him, so we thought we could disguise ourselves as Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson."
"You want to make Polyjuice Potion?" said Y/N, realizing. She shook her head. "Good luck finding a teacher daft enough to sign a note for that book. It's in the Restricted Section –"
"Professor Lockhart, obviously," said Ron. "He's the only one thick enough."
The seven all looked at each other in contained excitement.