Sitting beside Hermione, we talked quietly along with the rest of the class, waiting for our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher to show up, seeing as the teacher last year was the actual one trying to steal the Philosopher's stone. I had found that out after returning home for the summer and reading it in the paper.
Then, all of a sudden, the door at the top of the stairs swung open and a familiar man stepped out. "Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." he smiled wide. "Me. Gilderoy Lockhart...Order of Merlin, Third Class...honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League and five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award. But I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him."
Looking around the room, it seemed as though every single one of the girls was head over heels for this babbling buffoon. The boys, however, were the complete opposite.
"Now, be warned." Lockhart walked over to a small cage with a cloth over top. "It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind. You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. I must ask you not to scream. It might provoke them."
With one tug, Lockhart removed the cloth from the cage, revealing about twenty or so little purple creatures. "Cornish pixies?" I laughed, knowing full well what they were and knowing that after defeating a troll, they were nothing.
"Freshly caught Cornish pixies." he corrected. "Laugh if you will, Miss Rookwood...but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters. Let's see what you make of them."
Then, without warning, Lockhart opened the cage door and let the little pixies out into the room, where they flew around tugging on people's hair and ripping out pages from books. "Come on now, round them up," Lockhart told us. "They're only pixies."
However, no matter how small they were, Cornish pixies were cheeky little devils, and they proved that by lifting Neville up and hanging him from the chandelier by his robe.
"Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" Lockhart tried to stop the situation after noticing it getting out of control, but before he could finish the spell, one of the pixies stole his wand.
Soon after, the large skeleton that had once been hanging from the ceiling came crashing down, nearly squashing me as I slid over to the others.
"I'll ask you four to just nip the rest of them back into their cage," Lockhart told us as he ran up the stairs and out of the room, leaving us there to deal with the pixies ourselves.
"Screw this." I huffed and pulled out my wand. "Immobulus!"
After casting the spell, the pixies stopped moving and started slowly floating through the air, causing no harm now. "Why is it always me?" Neville sighed as he hung from the chandelier, swaying slightly.
After rounding the pixies back up and settling them safely back in their cage, we all headed out of class, not really expecting our wussy teacher to show back up any time soon.
Sitting in the courtyard with Ron and Hermione, I started reading one of the 'extra' books that my parents had bought for me while the other two studied. The book was good so far, and I had to admit, my parents did buy books mostly based on Mythical Creatures, which was my favourite subject.
Glancing up for a moment to give my eyes a break, I spotted the Slytherin and Gryffindor Quidditch teams standing in the middle of the grass. "I smell trouble." Ron gulped, noticing it too.
Standing up, we walked over just in time to hear Wood, the Gryffindor captain, read out a note. "'I, Professor Severus Snape, do hereby give the Slytherin team permission to practice today, owing to the need to train their new Seeker.' You've got a new Seeker. Who?"
Grinning, Draco stepped out. "Malfoy?" Harry eyed him.
"That's right. And that's not all that's new this year." Draco smirked, showing off his, and all the other team members', new brooms.
"Those are Nimbus 2001s." Ron gasped. "How did you get those?"
"A gift from Draco's father." Flint, the Slytherin captain, answered.
Draco nodded, proving that his father had bribed the team so he could play. "You see, Weasley, unlike some, my father can afford the best."
"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in." Hermione shot back. "They got in on pure talent."
"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood."
"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy." Ron pulled out his wand. "Eat slugs!"
After casting the spell, something went horribly wrong since Ron's wand was broken and Ron was knocked back. Rushing over to him, we noticed his face turn pale as he turned over.
"You okay, Ron?" Hermione asked as Fred and George stared down at their brother. "Say something."
As Ron opened his mouth, a slug fell out, causing everyone to step back a little. "Wow!" Colin walked over and snapped a photo with his camera. "Can you turn him around, Harry?"
"No, Colin, get out of the way." Harry helped Ron stand up as he puked up another slug. "Let's take him to Hagrid's. He'll know what to do."
After arriving at Hagrid's place, he sat us down on the couch and went off to get some supplies. "This calls for a specialist's equipment." he came back and set a bucket down in front of Ron, "Nothing to do but wait till it stops, I'm afraid. Better out than in. Who was Ron trying to curse, anyway?"
"Malfoy." Harry turned his attention from Ron to Hagrid. "He called Hermione...well, I don't know exactly what it means."
Standing up, Hermione crossed her arms. "He called me a Mudblood."
Hagrid gasped. "He did not."
"What's a Mudblood?" Harry asked, still dressed in his red and gold Quidditch uniform.
"It means 'dirty blood.'" Hermione explained. "Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who's Muggle-born. Someone with non-magic parents. Someone like me. It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation."
Hagrid nodded. "See, the thing is, Harry, there are some wizards, like the Malfoy family...who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call 'pure-blood.'"
"That's horrible," Harry replied as Ron threw up another slug.
Wiping his mouth, Ron spat out some slug goo into the bucket. "It's disgusting."
"And it's codswallop to boot," Hagrid added, truly appalled by the language Draco had used against Hermione. "Dirty blood. Why, there isn't a wizard alive today that's not half-blood or less. More to the point, they've yet to think of a spell that our Hermione can't do. Come here. Don't you think on it, Hermione. Don't you think on it for one minute."
Taking her hand in his, Hagrid smiled at her, causing her to smile back and wipe the tears from her eyes.
After Harry's detention that night with Lockhart, Hermione, Ron and I set out to find him, but it didn't take long until we ran into him in the hallway. "Harry!" I called his name as we walked over.
Looking up at us, there was fear in Harry's eyes. "Did you hear it?" he asked.
The three of us looked to each other, confused as to what it was that we were supposed to be hearing. "Hear what?" Ron cocked a brow.
"That voice."
"Voice? What voice?"
"I heard it first in Lockhart's office," Harry explained. "And then again just...it's moving. I think it's going to kill."
"Kill?" I repeated as Harry ran after the voice that only he could hear. "Harry, no way! After a deadly game of chess last year, haven't we learned our lesson?"
Reluctantly, the three of us chased after Harry, as we found ourselves doing more often than not. When we finally caught up to him, Harry was walking down a hallway with wet floors towards something on the ground. "Strange." Harry stopped and stared at a line of spiders crawling out one of the windows. "I've never seen spiders act like that."
"I don't like spiders," Ron admitted before spotting something in the reflection of one of the water puddles. "What's that?"
Glancing up, I felt my heart jump into my throat at the sight of the message on the wall written in what looked like blood. "'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware.'" Hermione read it out loud. "It's written in blood."
"Oh, no." I spotted the feline hanging from one of the torches on the wall. "It's Filch's cat. It's Mrs. Norris."
Seconds later, we were trapped in by the Gryffindor house approaching from one end of the hall and the Slytherin house from the other.
"'Enemies of the Heir, beware.'" Draco read aloud. "You'll be next, Mudbloods."
"What's going on here?" Filch pushed his way through the crowd. "Go on. Make way, make way. Potter? What are you...? Mrs. Norris? You've murdered my cat."
Harry shook his head. "No. No."
"I'll kill you." Filch grabbed onto Harry's robe. "I'll kill you!"
"Argus! Argus, I..." Dumbledore spoke as he and a few teachers joined us, pausing when they saw what was written on the wall. "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately. Everyone except...you four." Dumbledore pointed to us.
Of course, we couldn't go. Why was it always us that got messed up in all the scary business of Hogwarts?
"She's not dead, Argus." Lockhart inspected the cat as soon as he arrived on the scene.
Dumbledore nodded. "She has been Petrified."
"Thought so." Lockhart smiled. "So unlucky I wasn't there. I know exactly the countercurse that could've spared her."
"But how she has been Petrified, I cannot say," Dumbledore added.
"Ask him." Filch pointed directly at Harry, quick to throw him under the bus. "It's him that's done it. You saw what he wrote on the wall."
Harry shook his head, ready to defend himself. "It's not true, sir. I swear. I never touched Mrs. Norris."
"Rubbish."
"If I might, headmaster?" Snape stepped up. "Perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. However...the circumstances are suspicious. I, for one, don't recall seeing Potter at dinner."
"I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus," Lockhart said. "You see, Harry was helping me answer my fan mail."
I nodded, glad that the evidence thus far was in our favour. "That's why Ron, Hermione, and I went looking for him, professor. We'd just found him when he said..."
"Yes, Miss Rookwood?" Snape eyed me, willing me to spit out the words with his dark pupils.
"When I said I wasn't hungry." Harry blurted out. "We were heading back to the common room when we found Mrs. Norris."
"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus." Dumbledore reminded the head of Slytherin house.
"My cat has been Petrified," Filch spoke, sounding anything but mean for the first time. "I want to see some punishment!"
Turning to him, Dumbledore remained calm. "We will be able to cure her, Argus. As I understand it, Madam Sprout has a very healthy growth of Mandrake. When matured, a potion will be made which will revive Mrs. Norris. And in the meantime...I strongly recommend caution to all."