Chapter 9
The school was in an uproar. Graham Montague had been found outside the second-floor girl's bathroom, Petrified. Next to him, written in blood, were the words: The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.
Apparently, Montague had left the Great Hall early, telling his friends that he wasn't feeling too well. People assumed that he'd stopped to use the boys' bathroom, which was opposite the girls', and had been attacked before he could return to the common room. Slytherins weren't supposed to travel the school alone, but as most people had been enjoying the Halloween feast, Montague probably thought he'd be fine on his own.
Harrison and his friends hadn't been with the rest of the school when they had discovered Montague. They weren't under suspicion yet, as most people knew them as polite and courteous, albeit aloof. Dumbledore had questioned them about their whereabouts during the feast, and Severus had told the man about the Death Day party.
Hermione then pointed out that Petrification was beyond a second-year's skills anyway, making Flitwick praise her on her knowledge and give Ravenclaw ten points (Severus rolled his eyes at this).
Lockhart then piped up, offering to help Madam Pomfrey brew a Mandrake Restorative Draught. Severus coldly reminded him who the Potions Master was at the school, and that Pomfrey had two assistants to help her anyway.
They were sent back to their common room shortly after that.
"Harrison," Blaise said quietly a few days later.
They were in the library. It was packed to the brim; apparently everyone wanted to know what the Chamber of Secrets was. Every copy of any book that would have mentioned the Chamber had been checked out. Hermione had her face buried in her own copy of Hogwarts, a History, because they didn't want anyone to know that they already knew about the Chamber.
"Yes?" Harrison said softly without looking up from his own book.
"Some Slytherins think you're the one who attacked Montague."
"Why?"
"You're the only person he had beef with that could possibly be the heir. And they know he was at least scared of you."
Harrison rolled his eyes. "Idiots. Have they told anyone else?"
"Yes. It'll be through the school by dinner, I think," Blaise said tiredly.
"We're going to be late for History of Magic," Ron interjected.
Neville yelped and darted away, obviously not wanting to miss Transfiguration. The rest of them got up at a more leisurely pace and headed towards the classroom that once held a ghost.
Remus and Sirius were very popular teachers. When Sirius was teaching, he would act out the lesson with the drama of a gay Black, leaving every class in hysterics. Remus was calm, patient, and warm, and would occasionally make clever, funny puns in his lectures.
Today, Remus was the one teaching. Blaise was relieved later; Sirius would have messed up Hermione's plan.
The Ravenclaw and Slytherin second years filed into the classroom and sat down, buzzing with anticipation. Remus smiled at them and nodded to Harrison and Harley.
"I think you're going to like today's lesson," Remus said with a grin. "We've finally gotten around to Merlin and King Arthur."
Excited whispers swept through the class before falling silent. Before Remus could begin, however, Hermione raised her hand.
Remus blinked. "Miss Granger?"
"I wanted to ask a question before you start your lesson, Professor," she said. "About the Chamber of Secrets."
Silence fell. Blaise noticed that several of the Slytherin girls shot Harrison a suspicious look. Parkinson also sneered at Hermione.
"Ah," Remus sighed. "Yes, I thought you would ask that.
"I suppose I can take a minute to explain what the Chamber of Secrets is."
Several students sat up. Every eye was fixed on Remus, even though the Slytherins already knew about the Chamber. Blaise assumed that those who weren't friends with Harrison wanted to know how much Remus knew.
"We'll start with what we know to be fact," Remus began, sitting cross-legged on his desk as usual. There were a few muffled snorts from the Ravenclaw side.
"Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin founded this school over a thousand years ago, as a safe haven for young wixen," Remus said. He continued with a grim tone. "At that time, the magical community was being persecuted by Muggles, and several of our kind ended up executed or banished. The four founders wanted a safe place to teach children how to control their magic.
"The school was successful for several years. Then, an argument rose between Salazar Slytherin and the other three founders. I know most people claim that Professor Slytherin wanted to keep Muggleborn children out of Hogwarts, as they were not as 'pure' as some other wixen, but that's not true. According to Professor Slytherin's diary, which was only just discovered, he wanted to keep them out of the Muggle world entirely. Apparently, two Muggleborn students who had been sorted into his House were found murdered -- by their own parents."
Quiet gasps. Even Parkinson looked shocked.
"Professor Gryffindor didn't believe that the students were killed by their parents. Professor Ravenclaw pointed out that if they let the Muggleborn students stay in Hogwarts, other students would ask to stay as well. Professor Hufflepuff took a neutral position, suggesting that they find out whether the other Muggleborns' parents would accept their children and find somewhere else for the Muggleborns to live if they didn't accept them. The argument escalated, and Professor Slytherin left the school in anger.
"That," Remus continued, "is what we know as fact. Professor Slytherin's diary's last entry was the day before the argument happened, so we don't know whether the Chamber actually exists or not. However, many people believe that, before Professor Slytherin left the school, he created a secret chamber that houses a creature, whose job is to 'cleanse' the school of Muggleborns. However, due to the fact that Professor Slytherin didn't want to keep the Muggleborns out of Hogwarts, I believe the Chamber was actually created to protect the school."
"You don't know that, though," Goldstein pointed out.
"No," Remus agreed. "But it seems redundant for Professor Slytherin to want to get rid of the Muggleborns after arguing the opposite."
"Why did the Heir attack a student, then?" asked Terry Boot.
"Montague is a pureblood, Boot," Nott snapped. Blaise cast the boy a surprised look; he didn't think Nott would support Remus' claim.
"Let's calm down, shall we?" Remus said gently, and the two boys turned back to him, scowling. "We don't know for sure if the Chamber of Secrets exists. This could be just a horrible prank."
"A prank?" Goldstein scoffed.
Remus' lips thinned. "Pranks don't have to be lighthearted fun, Mr. Goldstein. I was witness to several terrible pranks in my school years, one of which bordered on sexual assault."
Shudders swept through the room.
"Depending on the reaction and the severity of a prank," Remus continued sharply, "the perpetrators will either be put in several months of detention or expelled. If you are going to prank someone, ask permission first.
"Now, let's get back to our lesson."
"Hiya, Harrison!"
"Hello, Colin," Harrison replied, lips twitching with fond amusement.
"A boy in my class thinks you're the heir of Slytherin," Colin told him excitedly as he followed them down the second-floor corridor.
"What do you think?" Harrison asked. Ron stifled a snort.
"I don't think you'd hurt anybody," Colin decided. "You're very nice. And you're friends with Hermione!"
Ron didn't notice Blaise's subtle twitch, and a flash of delighted insanity in Harley's eyes.
"People seem to forget that my mother was a Muggleborn, too," Harrison said calmly.
"Harrison!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed. "There's scorch marks on the wall! And look-"
Ron stopped when he saw several spiders scurrying up the wall and out the window, single file. He gulped and backed away quickly, paling.
"Ron, what's up?" Draco asked with a frown. "They're just spiders."
"Don't -- like -- spiders," he responded jerkily.
"I didn't know that," Neville said in surprise.
"You use the spiders in potions just fine," Hermione agreed.
"I don't mind them dead," Ron said, after swallowing. The last spider disappeared, and he relaxed. "I just don't like the way they move."
Colin tilted his head. "Why?"
That kid was adorable. Ron sighed. "If you must know, my brothers played a prank on me, back when they were too young to know what pranks you shouldn't play. They turned my teddy bear into a spider while I was holding it. A tarantula, actually. I was four."
"They were transfiguring objects into living creatures when they were six years old?" Harrison said with interest.
"And they use their talents for pranks?" Hermione said in disbelief.
"What else would they use it for?" Harley asked innocently, over the snickers from Blaise and Draco and the giggles from Neville and Colin.
Ron suddenly didn't feel so scared.
"Wasn't water on the floor?" Blaise asked suddenly. "When they found Montague?"
"Yeah," Ron mused. "Someone's mopped it up."
Harrison frowned. "Hermione, is that the bathroom that Miss Pevensie haunts?"
"What? Oh," Hermione said, eyes widening in realization. "Yes, it is."
"Interesting," Harrison said to himself. Ron frowned.
"What's interesting?" Colin chirped. "And who's Miss Pevensie?"
"A lot of people call her Moaning Myrtle," Harrison explained, "but that's not how you're supposed to address wixen. If you don't have permission to use their first name, you call them Ms., Mrs., Mr., or Mx. and then their last name."
"Oh, I know her," Colin said, eyes lighting up even more than usual. "I don't know why they call her 'Moaning' Myrtle, though, she's nice to me."
Harrison raised an eyebrow. "Really? Do you think she'd tell you if she saw anything suspicious on the night of Halloween?"
"Ooh! Yeah, maybe!" and Colin darted into the bathroom without another word.
"He's so fucking adorable," Blaise declared.
"Language," Hermione scolded.
"Russian!" Harley exclaimed. Ron and Draco snorted.
"Come on," Harrison ordered, rolling his eyes. They all entered.
Colin was chatting with the unusually-happy ghost, explaining what happened on Halloween.
"-and we were wondering if you saw anything cool -- I mean suspicious!"
Ron coughed.
"Oh, hello," said the girl, smile faltering slightly. "No, I didn't see anything. Peeves upset me so much that I came back here to try to kill myself, but then I remembered that I -- that I-"
"That you're already dead," Ron said helpfully. Hermione elbowed him and he yelped.
To everyone's surprise, Colin glared at him, then turned back to the distraught ghost and chirped, "You can talk to me every time you're sad, Myrtle! I'm a good listener!"
The girl blinked down at him, silent for a moment. Then she whispered, "Okay."
"Who's in here?"
Percy Weasley stuck his head inside, then blinked when he saw the group. "Ron? What are you doing in a girls' bathroom?"
Myrtle Pevensie squawked in surprise and shot into the cubicle at the end of the row. A moment later, they heard a splash, and water spilled out onto the floor. Ron quickly backed away from it, and Draco followed suit, wrinkling his nose.
"Hiya, Per -- uh, Mr. Weasley," Colin said brightly, ignoring his now-soaking trainers. "Myrtle's my friend, and nobody uses this bathroom, anyway. It's out-of-order, see?" He pointed at the sign on the bathroom door.
Percy blinked again. "Erm." He shook his head. "You should head down to the Great Hall, you don't want to miss dinner." He cast Harrison a worried look, then began waving them out into the hallway.
Ron paused when he saw Percy take Harrison aside and whisper something to him. Harrison's lips thinned, and spoke quietly enough that Ron didn't hear the response. He glanced at Blaise, who had uncanny hearing, and was worried when he saw the alarm on the boy's face.
"What's up?" Draco asked quietly as they all headed down to dinner. Colin was chattering to Hermione about his Transfiguration class, so Harrison was able to respond.
"A lot of Gryffindors are starting to believe that I'm Slytherin's heir," said Harrison softly. "Fred and George are vehemently -- and dramatically -- defending me, but they haven't been able to sway many people. Percy is worried they might do something... drastic."
"Not if we can help it," Ron insisted. "If they want to get to you, they'll have to go through us. And Harley," he added wryly, glancing at the redhead, who was bouncing along with a mischievous grin.
Harrison rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Ron, but I can take care of myself."
Ron shivered at the menace that was hidden beneath the calm tone. "Do you want people to know that you can, though?"
"Point," Harrison agreed.