For a few days, the school could talk of little but the attack on Mrs Norris, and who the supposed culprit had been. 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. He could be seen scrubbing the message on the wall with 'Mrs Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover', 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' or 'looking happy'. Y/N had already been victim to seventeen of these unjust punishments.
Speaking of which, Y/N had (to Harry, Ron and Hermione's relief) not spoken a word about what Hermione had said that night after she had profusely apologised, he simply pretended nothing had been said, however, Hermione had noticed that he was a lot quieter as of late and (much to her shock) stopped giving annoyed outbursts during Lockhart's lessons, and simply sat quietly and did what little relavant work was given, if work was given that he found to be unneeded or unimportant, he simply left it out and doodled on his notebooks. When she questioned him about it one morning, he had simply shrugged and went down to breakfast.
Ginny Weasley seemed very disturbed by Mrs Norris's fate. According to Ron, she was a great cat-lover.
"But you hadn't really got to know Mrs Norris," Ron told her bracingly. "Honestly, we're much better off without her." Ginny's lip trembled. "Stuff like this doesn't happen often at Hogwarts," Ron assured her. "They'll catch the nutter who did it and have him out of here in no time. I just hope he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only joking-" Ron added hastily, as Ginny blanched.
Y/N had noticed how upset the girl was, and Ron's pathetic attempt in trying to comfort her, it reminded him of Ellie, he imagined how she'd react in such a situation. And so, he had given instructions to his icy-white cat, Coconut, to play with Ginny and keep her company from time to time, hoping it would cheer the girl up. His plan was a success. Every now and then, he noticed her getting to her lessons, giggling with Coconut at her heels, the two if them even played together in the common room. Ginny wasn't actually aware that Coconut was Y/N's cat, if she did, she'd probably run screaming away from her instead of playing with her, and Y/N intended to keep it that way. He even strictly told Ron, Fred and George not to tell Ginny who Coconut belonged to, and Percy was too much of a stuck-up git to pay attention to who his sister was playing with.
When Fred and George had learned of Y/N's part in Ginny's sudden happiness one night in the library, they marched right up to Y/N and hugged him, pretending to cry.
"You're too kind Y/N!" Fred sobbed comically.
"Taking care of our little sister the way you are," cried George, "You are truly a glorified soul! A noble spirit! A brave-"
"Alright, shut up you two." Y/N grumbled as Harry and Ron burst out laughing.
Hermione and Y/N were spending most of their spare time in the library, much to Harry and Ron's bewilderment, but the two of them were both researching the same thing, the legend of the Chamber of Secrets.
Hermione had been certain she had read the legend before, and Y/N hadn't read it at all. Unfortunately the both of them had left their copies of Hogwarts: A History at home to make room for all the Lockhart books, and for some odd reason, the copy that Y/N had gotten Hermione for her birthday had no records of it.
Hermione had told Y/N that there was something in the story that could involve the reason for the Petrifications, and the message on the wall had said that a 'Chamber' had been opened.
When Harry and Y/N had entered the Library one day, they had found Ron measuring his History of Magic homework, and Hermione burst in a few minutes later from between the bookshelves, looking irritable.
When Harry and Ron questioned her for why she had Y/N had been so obsessed with finding a copy of Hogwarts: A History, they told them about the Chamber of Secrets.
"What's that?" asked Harry.
"That's just it. I can't remember," said Hermione. "And Y/N hasn't heard of the legend at all. We can't find the story anywhere else -"
"Hermione, let me read your composition," said Ron desperately, checking his watch. Y/N rolled his eyes.
"No, I won't," said Hermione, suddenly severe. "You've had ten days to finish it."
"I only need another two inches, go on..."
The bell rang. Ron and Hermione lead the way to History of Magic, bickering.
Today's lesson of History of Magic was as boring as ever, Professor Binns, Hogwarts only ghost teacher, opened his notes and began to read in a flat drone like an old vaccum cleaner until nearly everyone in the class was in a deep stupor, occasionally coming round long enough to copy a name or a date, then falling asleep again. He had been speaking for half and hour before something happened that had never happened before. Y/N out up his hand.
Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed.
"Mr - er -?"
"L/N, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," said Y/N in a clear voice, his face blank of any expression at all.
Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender Brown's head came up off her arms and Neville's elbow slipped off his desk.
Professor Binns blinked.
"My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "I deal with facts Mr L/N, not myths and legends." he cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk snapping and continued, "In September of that year, a sub-committee of Sardinian sorcerers -"
He stuttered to a halt. This time, Hermione's hand was waving in the air.
"Miss - er-?"
"Granger, Professor. Don't legends always have a basis in fact?"
Professor Binns was switching his amazed looks between Y/N and Hermione. It was clear that no student had ever interrupted him before, alive or dead.
"Well," said Professor Binns slowly, "yes, one could argue that I suppose." He peered at Hermione, then Y/N, as though he had never seen a student properly before. "However, the legend of which you two speak is a very sensational, even ludicrous tale..."
But the whole class was now hanging onto Professor Binns every word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his.
"Oh, very well," he said eventually. "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 the witches and wizards suffered much persecution."
He paused, glazed blearily around the room, and continued, "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."
Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled old turtoise.
"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."
There was a silence as he finished. There was an unease in the air as everyone continued to watch him, hoping for more. Professor Binns looked faintly annoyed.
"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."
Hermione's was back in the air.
"Sir - what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?"
"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the air of Slytherin can alone control," said Professor Binns.
The class exchanged nervous looks, some even stared worriedly at Y/N.
"I tell you, the thing does not exist." said Professor Binns, shuffling his notes. "There is no Chamber and no monster."
"But, sir," said Seamus Finnegan, still staring at Y/N accusingly, "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," said Professor Binns in an aggravated tone. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing -"
"But, Professor," piped up Parvati Patil, "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 Penny feather," snapped Professor Binns. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore -"
"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't -" began Dean Thomas, but Professor Binns had had enough.
"That will do," he said, surprisingly sharply for a man with such a croaky voice. "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!"
And within five minutes, the class had sunk back into its usual torpor.