QUAINT
(adj.) attractively unusual or old-fashioned
TESSA WAS WORRIED AFTER HARRY TOLD HER WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY. A month had already gone by since school started, and it was already October. That night that she, Harry, and Ron had detention, she'd gone back to the common room to find Harry pacing in front of the fireplace. He'd asked her relentlessly if she'd heard a voice saying it wanted to rip and kill, but she hadn't. And she's been worried ever since.
She didn't even want to celebrate her birthday when the day came. She was too busy with Quidditch training to bother doing something else. Uncle Kasi had sent her a present, and Philip did so as well. Her friends gave her some gifts and hung around her in the Great Hall during dinner, but that was basically it. No celebrations, no parties, no fun and games.
Except for another strange present from someone who apparently doesn't matter.
That night of her birthday, Tessa walked in her dorm room to have Lavender, Parvati, and Rhea squeal and shove a box into her arms. Apparently, they found it in the common room and looked at the note to see it was for her. True enough, the note read:
Happy Birthday
I hope you still have some sunshine despite the rain.
From: doesn't matter
Tessa bit back a smile, finding the greeting rather interesting because it was, indeed, raining these past few days. Setting the note aside, she turned her attention to the box and opened it. Inside the quaint, white box lay a single sunflower.
She was perplexed with who this person was and why they were so adamant on keeping their identity a secret. With a small, defeated sigh, Tessa slid the flower into a vase filled with water and set it on the nightstand beside her carved stag and tiger, and the moving photo Harry had given her of her mother and James Potter.
It was a few days before Halloween, and Oliver called the team out for training despite the massive storm brewing outside. He'd been working them hard in all the practice sessions, especially after knowing just how fast the Slytherin team's new brooms were.
Training was now over, and Harry and Tessa were making their way back to the castle. Flinging open the front doors, Tessa stepped in and started to talk about how excited she was for all the candy and chocolate on Halloween, when she found herself walking in the common room instead of the main hallway. She blinked in surprise, swiveling around to see if Harry had followed her from the front doors to the common room, but found no trace of him. "What the hell is happening?" she muttered bewilderedly, shutting the door and slowly making her way upstairs to shower and wait for Harry.
Now that she was clean, Tessa skipped the stairs by two as she entered the common room again. She sidled next to Hermione who was bickering with Ron about studies as she propped a book on her lap and started to read. She'd finished Wuthering Heights a week ago, and was starting on Great Expectations. She was really enjoying all these classic Muggle books.
Harry finally slipped in the room, eyes falling on Tessa as he said, "Where did you go? One second we were stepping in the main hall, and the next you disappeared."
Tessa frowned and shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's this strange thing that's been happening lately. But I'm starting to hate doors."
Harry gave her a weird look before shaking his head and launching into a story about agreeing to go to a party.
"A deathday party?" Hermione repeated. "I bet there aren't many living people who can say they've been to one of those — it'll be fascinating!"
Tessa shrugged. "I suppose it'll be interesting to go to one. Can't say I'd be . . . dying to get into one."
Ron snickered with her, being the only one who understood her pun. "Why would anyone want to celebrate the day they died? Sounds dead depressing to me . . . "
The two wheezed in laughter again, bumping fists as they tried to catch their breaths.
By Halloween, Tessa was deeply regretting the fact that she agreed to go with Harry to the party. Harry himself even seemed to want to change his mind. One look at the Great Hall and Tessa was instantly moaning and going on and on about how much fudge she could've been enjoying.
"That's what you get for agreeing to go to the party," Ron told her sassily.
"A promise is a promise," Hermione said to Harry who was wistfully staring at the pile of delicious food. "You said you'd go to the deathday party."
With a deep sigh, they all headed to the dungeons to Nearly Headless Nick's party. The hallway was freezing cold and lined with candles, and there was a strange scratching sound of fingernails dragging against a blackboard that made Tessa shudder and flinch.
"Is that supposed to be music?" Ron whispered.
Turning the corridor, they finally caught sight of Nearly Headless Nick as he said, "My dear friends. Welcome, welcome . . . so pleased you could come . . . " He led them inside the dungeon that was filled with hundreds of translucent ghosts dancing throughout the place as an orchestra played on a dais.
"Shall we have a look around?" Harry asked, his breath fogging up in front of him as Tessa nodded fervently. She was shivering like a twig in this ridiculously freezing place.
"Careful not to walk through anyone," Ron warned.
Tessa said, "Never thought I'd hear that sentence in my life but okay."
"Oh, no," Hermione suddenly said, stopping abruptly. "Turn back, turn back, I don't want to talk to Moaning Myrtle —"
"Who?" Harry asked as they turned and walked the other way.
"She haunts one of the toilets in the girls' bathroom on the first floor."
"She haunts a toilet?"
"Yes. It's been out-of-order all year because she keeps having tantrums and flooding the place."
Tessa added, "See — this is why you don't go to the bathroom alone."
Hermione nodded and said, "I never went in there anyway if I could avoid it; it's awful trying to have a pee with her wailing at you —"
"Look, food!" Ron said and Tessa's head perked up as they quickly rushed over the long table. To their horror, there were rotten fish and maggots with moldy cheese being served. They made a face of disgust as a ghost came over with his mouth open to pass through a salmon.
"Can you taste it if you walk through it?" Harry asked.
"Almost," the ghost replied before floating away.
"I expect they've let it rot to give it a stronger flavor," Hermione said as Tessa suppressed the urge to gag at the smell of the rotten food.
"Can we move? I feel sick," Ron said but another ghost had intercepted them.
"Hello, Peeves," Harry said to the ghost wearing a bright orange hat.
"You're looking rather festive today," Tessa pointed out amusedly.
"Nibbles?" he said, offering them a bowl of peanuts covered in fungus.
"No thanks," Hermione turned down.
"Heard you talking about poor Myrtle. Rude you was about poor Myrtle." Out of nowhere, Peeves suddenly bellowed, "OY! MYRTLE!"
"Oh, no, Peeves, don't tell her what I said, she'll be really upset," Hermione whispered. "I didn't mean it, I don't mind her — er, hello, Myrtle."
A female ghost with the most melancholic face floated over. She had on thick glasses the exact same round frame as Harry's. "What?" she said with a sad frown.
"How are you, Myrtle?" Hermione said in faux happiness. "It's nice to see you out of the toilet."
Myrtle sniffed.
Peeves grinned slyly and said, "Miss Granger was just talking about you —"
"Just saying — saying — how nice you look tonight," Hermione blurted out.
"You're making fun of me," Myrtle said, tearing up as she accused Hermione.
"No — honestly — didn't I just say how nice Myrtle's looking?" Hermione elbowed the other three who wheezed.
"Oh, yeah —"
"She did —"
"Said you were the most beautiful ghost in here — "
"Don't lie to me," Myrtle said angrily, crying even harder now. "D'you think I don't know what people call me behind my back? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!"
"You've forgotten pimply," Peeves added and Myrtle bursted into tears before floating away from the party as Peeves went after her yelling, "Pimply! Pimply!"
Just when Tessa thought the party couldn't get any worse, there was an incident with Sir Patrick, another ghost. "I can't stand much more of this," Ron finally muttered as they all agreed to leave. "Pudding might not be finished yet," Ron said as they rounded the corridor when something strange happened.
Tessa hissed as a sharp pain throbbed in her scar on her wrist the same time Harry stumbled on his feet and looked around.
"Tessa, are you okay — ?"
"Harry, what're you — ?"
"It's that voice again — shut up a minute," Harry snapped at them as Tessa pulled her arm against her chest and cradled it. "Listen!" Harry said but none of the three could hear anything, just that Tessa's scar was a numbing pain. "This way," he shouted and ran up the steps of the first floor and down the hall with Tessa, Ron, and Hermione following after him.
"Harry, what're we —"
"SHH!" Harry stayed quiet for a second, listening to something before shouting, "It's going to kill someone!" He shot up the next flight of stairs as they sprinted down the hallway of the second floor.
"Harry, what was that all about?" Ron said, panting. "I couldn't hear anything . . . "
Just then Hermione gasped in horror and pointed at something on the wall ahead. "Look!"
Tessa turned to see what she was pointing to. Up there, written in shining red were the words:
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
"What's that thing — hanging underneath?" Ron asked and Tessa was almost afraid to look. Going closer, they nearly slipped on the large puddle of water on the floor as they realized it was Mrs. Norris, Filch's ugly cat, hanging by her tail on the torch bracket. Her body was stiff, hairs standing on the end as she stared with her eyes open and unseeing.
"We need to go," Tessa blurted out, eyes wide and fixed on the cat, "get someone to do something."
"Let's just get out of here," Ron said instead.
"Shouldn't we try and help —" Harry started.
"Trust me," Ron said. "We don't want to be found here."
At that exact moment, there was a loud noise as the feast ended and students clambered up the steps. The sound died as everyone took sight of Harry, Tessa, Ron, and Hermione standing next to the sketchy message and Mrs. Norris.
Tessa gulped loudly. "This is not good."
Then a familiar voice rang throughout the silent corridor, "Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"
Tessa's head whipped to the side to see Malfoy pushing his way to the front and she scowled at him. The past few days after he apologized in that odd way of his, she was back to her usual hating-yet-tolerating bickering with him, but now she's switched to loathing him.
To make things worse, Filch was stomping his way through the crowd. "What's going on here? What's going on?" His eyes fell on the cat hanging by her tail and his face contorted to one of horror. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" He slid his gaze to Harry as he seethed, "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll —"
"Argus!" came the voice of Dumbledore and Tessa wanted to shrink into nothingness as the professors arrived. "Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch who had claimed his cat back in his arms. "You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, and Miss Valentine."
Lockhart piped up eagerly, "My office is nearest, Headmaster — just upstairs — please feel free —"
"Thank you, Gilderoy," the headmaster said simply as the four of them along with Lockhart, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Filch entered the office. Lockhart lit the candles on his desk as Dumbledore laid Mrs. Norris on the polished surface and began to examine her.
Tessa's heart was pounding in fear as she willed herself to stay calm. The professors silently inspected the cat as Lockhart proudly said, "It was definitely a curse that killed her — probably the Transmogrifian Torture — I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very countercurse that would have saved her . . . "
Filch started to sob terribly as Lockhart went on talking.
". . . I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadogou. A series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography, I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets, which cleared the matter up at once . . . "
Finally, Dumbledore straightened his posture and said, "She's not dead, Argus."
Lockhart finally shut his mouth as Filch repeated, "Not dead? But why's she all — all stiff and frozen?"
"She has been Petrified. But how, I cannot say . . . "
"Ask him!" Filch accused Harry and Tessa frowned, wondering why he was so set on pointing fingers at Harry.
"No second year could have done this," Dumbledore said. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced —"
"He did it, he did it!" Filch insisted. "You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found — in my office — he knows I'm a — I'm a — he knows
I'm a Squib!"
Tessa's jaw dropped at the confession and she shared a wild look with Ron.
"I never touched Mrs. Norris!" Harry denied. "And I don't even know what a Squib is."
"Rubbish! He saw my Kwikspell letter!"
"If I might speak, Headmaster," Snape said in that sneering tone of his. "Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why was he in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't he at the Halloween feast?"
All at once, the four them explained they were at a deathday party. Surely they wouldn't be in trouble when they had an alibi . . . right? Tessa thought to herself.
"But why not join the feast afterward?" Snape said, and that's when Tessa knew they messed up. "Why go up to that corridor?"
Tessa, Hermione, and Ron all looked to Harry who stammered, "Because — because — because we were tired and wanted to go to bed."
"Without any supper? I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."
"We weren't hungry," Ron said, in contradiction to his loud, rumbling stomach.
Snape had a greasy smile on his face. "I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful. It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest. He and Valentine both — "
"Really, Severus," McGonagall snapped, "I see no reason to stop them from playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong, and there's no reason to include Valentine in that accusation."
Dumbledore was silent, surveying Harry until he said, "Innocent until proven guilty, Severus."
"My cat has been Petrified!" Filch protested. "I
want to see some punishment!"
"We will be able to cure her, Argus. Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris."
"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in and Tessa did everything in her power to refrain from rolling her eyes. "I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep —"
"Excuse me," Snape drawled in an icy tone. "But I believe I am the Potions master at this school."
There was an awkward pause that followed and Tessa's mouth twitched as she tried not to laugh.
"You may go," Dumbledore finally said to the four of them and they scrambled to leave the room and into the empty classroom outside of Lockhart's office.
"D'you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?" Harry asked glumly.
"No," Ron and Tessa said at once as he explained, "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."
Harry hesitated before saying, "You do believe me, don't you?"
" 'Course I do," Ron said as Hermione and Tessa nodded in agreement. "But — you must admit it's weird . . . "
"I know it's weird. The whole thing's weird. What was that writing on the wall about? 'The Chamber Has Been Opened'. . . What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know, it rings a sort of bell," Ron said. "I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once . . . might've been Bill . . . "
"And what on earth's a Squib?" Harry asked as Ron snickered and explained, "Well — it's not funny really — but as it's Filch. A Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any magic powers. Kind of the opposite of Muggleborn wizards, but Squibs are quite unusual. If Filch's trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a Squib. It would explain a lot. Like why he hates students so much. He's bitter."
The clock chimed and Harry sighed. "Midnight. We'd better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else."
As they made their way to the common room, Tessa reached over and took his hand comfortingly and said, "Hey — we'll be okay."
The tightness in Harry's chest lessened as he let himself believe the girl and repeated, "We'll be okay."
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
The next few days, word still spread about the incident with Mrs. Norris. Tessa knew how much Ginny loved cats, so she wasn't all that surprised when the redhead looked very upset about what happened. Hermione was also very withdrawn these days, spending most of the time reading and reading. Tessa couldn't remember the last time she had a decent conversation with her that wasn't clipped and short.
Tessa and Ron were at the back of the library doing their homework on History of Magic. Hermione was somewhere roaming the shelves for a book, Merlin knows what. She looked up to see Harry coming over and Tessa waved at him.
Ron has been measuring the length of his paper, needing it to reach the required number. "I don't believe it, I'm still eight inches short . . . And Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's tiny."
Tessa patted his back consolingly. "Don't worry, I only did what was asked. I didn't bother going extra."
"Speaking of Hermione — where is she?" Harry asked and began to measure his own homework.
"Somewhere over there," Ron said with a nod towards the shelves. "Looking for another book. I think she's trying to read the whole library before Christmas."
Tessa eyed Harry and asked, "Are you alright? You seem a little off."
Harry told them about Justin Finch-Fletchley running away from him when they met in the corridor. Tessa rolled her eyes, grumbling under her breath about the noisy boy from Herbology.
"Dunno why you care. I thought he was a bit of an idiot," Ron added. "All that junk about Lockhart being so great —"
Hermione finally came out from one of the aisles, walking over to them with an irritated expression. "All the copies of Hogwarts, A History have been taken out," she said, sitting next to Tessa. "And there's a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."
"Why do you want it?" Harry asked.
"The same reason everyone else wants it — to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."
Tessa paused, her ears perking up. She honestly did want to read it as well, but when she'd come scouring the library at midnight, the copies were all gone.
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"That's just it. I can't remember," Hermione said, biting her lip. "And I can't find the story anywhere else —"
"Hermione, let me read your composition," Ron said, attempting to reach for it.
"No, I won't," she said sternly. "You've had ten days to finish it —"
"I only need another two inches, come on —"
Tessa slid her homework over to him. "Here, just change some words to its synonyms and make it sound different."
Ron thanked her profusely, trying his best to copy down as fast as he could. Eventually, the bell rang and the four made their way to History of Magic where Professor Binns, the most boring teacher in the whole school, taught.
As class started, Binns droned on and on about some warlock convention and Tessa snuggled in her arms and fell asleep. She had been having a nice dream of going to the beach when she had that sudden feeling that she was falling down. Jumping in her seat in shock, Tessa blinked rapidly as she calmed her thundering heart. Seamus and Dean laughed quietly next to her as she playfully glared at them.
Just then, someone's hand shot up in the middle of Binns's lecture and everyone turned in surprise. It was Hermione, and she had a determined look on her face.
Tessa coughed awkwardly from next to her. "What — What are you doing?"
Binns looked amazed at the fact that a student was participating. "Miss — er — ?"
"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said firmly and Tessa's jaw dropped.
Binns blinked slowly before saying, "My subject is History of Magic. I deal with, facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat and continued his lecture, "In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers —"
Hermione's hand was back up in the air again.
"Miss Grant?"
"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"
Tessa could see the struggle in Binns's face before he finally gave in. "Well, yes, one could argue that, I suppose. However, the legend of which you speak
is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale —"
Every single person in the class was awake and hanging onto his every word.
Binns backtracked and said slowly, "Oh, very well. Let me see . . . the Chamber of Secrets . . . You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago — the precise date is uncertain — by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. 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.
"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. 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."
Binns paused to take a short breather and Tessa shared a look with Ron, rolling their eyes as they made a point to mouth "of course — Slytherin" to each other.
Binns went on, "Reliable historical sources tell us this much. But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of 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 the 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 unworthy to study magic."
Everyone stayed quiet with unease, a frown on their faces as they waited for more. Binns's eyebrows drew together in annoyance as he realized they were all hoping for more.
"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."
It was Tessa this time who raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Van der Weiss." Binns and his problem with not calling everyone's last names correctly was something they all got used to.
"Sir — what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?"
"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control." As the class exchanged nervous looks, Binns added, "I tell you, the thing does not exist. There is no Chamber and no monster."
"But, sir," Seamus interjected, "if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"
"Nonsense, O'Flaherty," Binns said in a voice that Tessa knew he was getting aggravated. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing —"
"But, Professor," Parvati Patil added, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it —"
"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic doesn't mean he can't, Miss Pennyfeather," snapped Professor Binns. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore —"
Dean Thomas had something to say as well, "But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't —"
"That will do," Binns interrupted sharply. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to history, to solid, believable, verifiable fact!"
Class was finally over, and Tessa was walking down the heavily packed corridors with Harry, Hermione, and Ron.
"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony," Ron told them with a knowing look. "But I never knew he started all this pureblood stuff. I wouldn't be in his House if you paid me. Honestly, if the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd've got the train straight back home . . . "
Hermione nodded fervently as Tessa agreed and raised her hand to say, "I would've been upset if I was placed in Slytherin as well. That means I'd have to deal with Malfoy and spend nights in their common room. I'd have to see him every single day — what an absolute horror that would be! Whoever his future wife is — I already feel sorry for her." Tessa laughed to herself and said, "Just kidding." She paused and pursed her lips. "Unless . . . "
She noticed none of the other three were listening to her, like always. She put her hand back down to the side.
"Hiya, Harry! Tessa!" a voice called out and Tessa could see the small Gryffindor boy amidst the swarming crowd.
"Hullo, Colin," Harry and Tessa called out in unison.
"Harry — Harry — a boy in my class has been saying you're —" Before any of them could hear what he was trying to say, the poor boy got swept by the crowd into the Great Hall.
"What's a boy in his class saying about you?" Hermione wondered.
"That I'm Slytherin's heir, I expect," Harry said glumly.
"People here'll believe anything," Ron said in disgust.
"They thrive on gossip and rumors — don't give them the satisfaction of falling into their trap," Tessa said warningly.
They escaped the flood of people and climbed up the staircase. "D'you really think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked Hermione and Tessa.
Tessa shrugged full-bodily. "It's possible, I suppose."
"I don't know," Hermione pointed out with a frown. "Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs. Norris, and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be — well — human."
They turned a corner and found themselves at the end of the very corridor where the attack had happened. Not much has changed except for the cat that was no longer there and the water pooling on the floor.
"That's where Filch has been keeping guard," Ron muttered.
"Can't hurt to have a poke around," Harry said and dropped to his knees to search for clues.
Tessa sighed deeply through her nose and pinched the bridge momentarily and said, "This is exactly why we're always in trouble — we keep playing Sherlock."
"Scorch marks!" Harry cried out. "Here — and here —"
"Come and look at this!" Hermione said by the window. "This is funny . . . "
Tessa and Ron shared a look and walked over as Harry got up and crossed to the window. Hermione was pointing at the topmost pane, where around twenty spiders were scuttling 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.
A shudder ran a tossed Tessa's spine as she eyed the spiders warily, not very fond of the arachnids.
"Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" Hermione said.
"No," Harry said, "have you, Ron? Ron?" Harry and Hermione turned to look at Ron who was standing far away from the window and at Tessa who had shuddered once more, trying not to imagine them crawling up her neck.
"What's up?" Harry asked them.
"I — don't — like — spiders," Ron said tensely.
"I never knew that," Hermione said in surprise. "You've used spiders in Potions loads of times . . . "
"I don't mind them dead. I just don't like the way they move . . . "
Hermione giggled and Ron frowned.
"It's not funny. 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 . . ."
Tessa was laughing softly, slapping a hand to her mouth as Ron glared at her. She remembered that story — Fred has told it to her a few weeks ago as George laughed at that memory.
Harry changed the subject and said, "Remember all that water on the floor? Where did that come from? Someone's mopped it up."
"It was about here," Ron said and walked over to point. "Level with this door." He reached for the handle before instantly withdrawing his hand. Tessa bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"What's the matter?" Harry asked, eyebrows draw together in confusion.
"Can't go in there." Ron sent a look to a snickering Tessa and said, "That's a girls' toilet."
"Oh, Ron, there won't be anyone in there," Hermione said as though the redhead was being silly. "That's Moaning Myrtle's place. Come on, let's have a look."
Tessa pushed open the door as the two girls walked in first and led the way for the nervous boys. Inside, the floor was damp and there were a tow of chipped sinks. The wooden doors of the stalls were scratched and one of them was dangling off its edges.
Hermione and Tessa walked over to the end of the stalls as the latter gently called out, "Hello, Myrtle, how are you?"
There floated Moaning Myrtle above the tank of the toilet, picking a spot on her chin. "This is a girls' bathroom," she said, eyeing Ron and Harry. "They're not girls."
"No," Hermione agreed. "I just wanted to show them how — er — nice it is in here."
"Ask her if she saw anything," Harry mouthed at Hermione.
"What are you whispering?" Myrtle said suddenly.
"Nothing. We wanted to ask —"
"I wish people would stop talking behind my back!" Myrtle whined through choked tears. "I do have feelings, you know, even if I am dead —"
"Of course," Tessa quickly said. "We would never try to undermine your feelings."
"Myrtle, no one wants to upset you," Hermione added. "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," Hermione cut to the chase. "Because a cat was attacked right outside your front door on Halloween."
"Did you see anyone near here that night?" Harry added.
"I wasn't paying attention," Myrtle said 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," Ron tried to help but Myrtle gave a tragic wail and dived headfirst into a toilet. Tessa shot Ron a look, although her lips twitched as she tried not to laugh.
Hermione sighed and said, "Honestly, that was almost cheerful for Myrtle . . . Come on, let's go."
The four finally slipped out of the bathrooms, the door clicking shut behind them at the exact moment someone angrily shouted, "RON!"
Tessa whipped around in surprise to see Percy Weasley at the head of the stairs, his prefect badge glinting as a look of utter shock and horror painted on his face.
"That's a girls' bathroom!" he gasped. "What were you — ?"
"Just having a look around." Ron shrugged nonchalantly. "Clues, you know —"
Tessa slapped a palm to her forehead.
Percy's face turned as red as a tomato. He stomped over and pushed them along the corridor. "Get — away — from — there — ! Don't you care what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner —"
"Why shouldn't we be here?" Ron said defensively. "Listen, we never laid a finger on that cat!"
"That's what I told Ginny, 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, all the first years are thoroughly overexcited by this business —"
"You don't care about Ginny. You're just worried I'm going to mess up your chances of being Head Boy —"
"Five points from Gryffindor!" Percy said heatedly. "And I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more detective work, or I'll write to Mum!"
With that said, he spun on his heel and stalked off. Tessa frowned, not liking Percy's attitude as she reached over to give Ron a comforting hug with one arm. That night, the four of them sat on the couch furthest away from Percy. Ron was still in a bad temper, constantly blotting his Charms homework. Hermione was doing some reading on her homework, Harry was flipping through the pages, while Tessa was trying to take a nap.
Ron had enough — he slammed his book shut as Hermione followed suit, effectively jolting Tessa awake. She jumped, her eyes searching around in alarm before calming down, a slightly irked expression on her face from being woken up. She wasn't the most sunshine person in the world when being roused from sleep.
"Who can it be, though?" Hermione said thoughtfully. "Who'd want to frighten all the Squibs and Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts?"
As they dived deep in conversation, Tessa wrapped her throw blanket around her shoulders and body as she snuggled. Her mouth was set in a slight pout as she listened well to her best friends, drowsily commenting every now and then. That was until Ron said something that woke Tessa up a little bit more.
"Let's think," Ron said in mock puzzlement. "Who do we know who thinks Muggleborns are scum?"
Tessa was frowning as she said, "If you're talking about Malfoy —"
"Of course I am! You heard him — 'You'll be next,
Mudbloods!' — come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him —"
"Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?" Hermione said skeptically.
"Look at his family," Harry joined in. "The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin; he's always boasting about it. They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough."
Tessa shook her head. "As much as I loathe Malfoy — there's absolutely no way he's the Heir of Slytherin."
"No, Tessa, listen — they could've had the key to the Chamber of Secrets for centuries!" Ron insisted. "Handing it down, father to son . . . "
Tessa scowled. "It's ridiculous. I know Malfoy, and I know for certain that he's not the heir." She turned to Hermione. "Mione, help me out here."
"Well," Hermione said slowly, "I suppose it's possible . . . "
Tessa made a strangled noise of protest as she said out loud, "Of all the things you three never listen to me say — this is the one thing I'm begging you to consider. Malfoy is not the heir."
Harry was eyeing her strangely as he said, "I didn't think you were one to defend Malfoy of all people, Tessa — "
"I'm not defending him!" she said exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of her nose before sighing. "Whatever — forget I even said anything." Tessa truly wasn't defending that ferret devil — especially not after he once again called Hermione a Mudblood. But there was something genuinely off about him being the heir. Perhaps it would be a debatable joke for him to be called the Slytherin Prince with how spoiled and utterly cunning he is.
But the Heir of Slytherin who opened the Chamber of Secrets? Absolutely no way.
"How do we prove it?" Harry asked Hermione.
"There might be a way," Hermione said slowly, her voice dropping. "Of course, it would be difficult. And dangerous, very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect —"
Tessa's ears perked up at that. The rebellious side of her bubbled eagerly as she listened intently on Hermione's plan.
"If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" Ron said impatiently.
"All right. What we'd need to do is to get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us."
Understanding flashed in Tessa's eyes as her mouth hollowed to an 'O' shape. "I see where this is heading."
"I'm lost," Harry said, shaking his head at what Tessa said. "But, Hermione, that's impossible," Harry said.
"No, it's not," Tessa countered in a singsong voice. "All we'd need would be some," she paused and mimicked a drum roll before pointing at the other girl.
"Polyjuice Potion," Hermione said with a mischievous grin.
Tessa clicked her tongue. "I still don't think Malfoy is the heir, but I'd never miss a chance to fool him with Polyjuice Potion."
"What's that?" Ron and Harry asked together.
Hermione said, "Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago —"
"D'you think we've got nothing better to do in Potions than listen to Snape?" Ron grumbled.
"It transforms you into somebody else. Think about it! We could change into four of the Slytherins. No one would know it was us. Malfoy would probably tell us anything. He's probably boasting about it in the Slytherin common room right now, if only we could hear him."
Tessa beamed. "I claim Parkinson!" she blurted out, cackling inwardly as a plan made its way to her head to get back at Malfoy for all the stupid things he's done lately.
Hermione rolled her eyes but nodded at her in agreement.
"This Polyjuice stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me," Ron said, frowning a bit. "What if we were stuck looking like four of the Slytherins forever?" He glanced at Tessa. "Imagine looking as Pansy — your poor nose would be stuck as a pug's."
"It wears off after a while," Hermione assured, waving a hand impatiently. "But getting hold of the recipe will be very difficult. Snape said it was in a book called Moste Potente Potions and it's bound to be in the Restricted Section of the library."
A devious grin pulled Tessa's lips upwards at the words "Restricted Section".
There was only one way to get out a book from the Restricted Section: You needed a signed note of permission from a teacher.
"Hard to see why we'd want the book, really," Ron said, "if we weren't going to try and make one of the potions."
"I think," Hermione offered, "that if we made it sound as though we were just interested in the theory, we might stand a chance . . . "
"Oh, come on, no teacher's going to fall for that," Ron said. "They'd have to be really thick . . . "
The four paused, the gears in their minds turning as Tessa raised a hand and said, "I think it's safe to say we're all thinking of the same teacher."
Ron put her hand down as Harry said, "Yes, yes we are."
A/N
Who is/are your favorite ship/s so far? Any possible scenes you're looking forward to with a certain ship?