Chapter 13
"Can you do me a favour, Cassie?" Hermione asked as she cuddled up to me on the sofa I was sitting on in the Secret Library.
"What do you want, Cutie, and is this favour why you decided today was a great day to start cuddling me?" I asked and Hermione blushed. I chuckled. "This is why you would make a terrible Slytherin, Cutie. You're not good at hiding when you want something... Then again, you're trying to use the fact that I like you to your advantage, which is a total Slytherin move... We might make a good Slytherin out of you yet, Cutie."
"Er, before we found out you're the actual Slytherin Heir, Harry, Ron and I started making Polyjuice Potion to find out what your Brother knows... We stole the ingredients from Professor Snape's stores... Harry still wants us to use it to find out what Draco knows and--"
"Say no more, Cutie," I said with a chuckle. "Harry's so obvious about his crush on Draco and Draco's the same. He just wants to see what the Common Room looks like and to spend more time with Draco, and find out more about him, without it being obvious that that's what he's doing." Hermione laughed.
"I hadn't thought about it that way but you're totally right! Harry's obsession with Draco doing something wrong and Draco's obsession with teasing Harry is just to cover up that they like each other."
"Finally caught on, have you? Those of us in Slytherin, and the Weasley twins and a few other Gryffindors, have a running bet of when they're going to end up dating. Wanna join in?"
"Nope, no bets for me but... What's your bet?" I smirked.
"I have insider information and Ravenclaw intelligence on my side... My bet is the two of them and Cedric Diggory will end up in a relationship by Christmas in Harry and Draco's fifth year and Cedric's seventh year. I don't know how Cedric's feelings for Harry and Draco will develop but I know he's bisexual and Draco and Harry both act weirdly around him. Draco blushes heavily and keeps asking me if it's okay to think Cedric's hot while Harry does everything he can to impress Cedric during the matches against Hufflepuff and he roots for Hufflepuff whenever they play against anyone but Gryffindor." Hermione looked thoughtful.
"Interesting... And you think Cedric will date them?"
"It's the Boy Who Lived and a Malfoy... Who wouldn't when in Cedric's position? Besides, Draco has the Black genes going for him, there's hardly ever a Black that isn't stunning, and Harry's also got Black genes if a little more watered down than Draco's."
"Huh. So that's why you're attractive," Hermione said and I smirked. Hermione went bright red when she realised what she said, muttered something and ran to the other side of the room.
"You forgot to ask your favour!" I yelled and she sheepishly came back, asked for hairs from Crabbe, Goyle and Millie and if I could come up with some sort of distraction for them while they're in the Common Room and ran away again after I agreed. So cute.
...
"What!?" I yelled at Harry in the Secret Library after he told me all about finding a Diary belonging to Tom Marvolo Riddle, writing in it, being shown Hagrid letting loose a giant Spider and that the Diary is now gone. "You had a Diary that belonged to my Adoptive Father, someone I've never gotten to meet as he disappeared during the War and is presumed dead, and you lost it!?"
"We didn't lose it," Harry said. "It was stolen."
"It had to be a staff member or a Gryffindor. No one else knows the password," Hermione said.
"Other than those with a talent for Legilimency and a lot of proper Pureblood Parents try to teach their kids at least some Legilimency and Occlumency just as I'll start teaching all of you after our etiquette classes now... We know Hagrid had to have been framed. Acromantula can't kill without leaving a mark and they can't Petrify people. Not to mention for us both to have heard it, it had to have been a Snake and Acromantula are giant Spiders, not Snakes. However, if we could talk to Hagrid about it or... Aragog, did you say it was called? Then, we might be able to find out a little more," I said.
"I'm not going anywhere near that thing," Ron said in a terrified voice.
"I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave?"
"Acromantula eat Humans!"
...
Dumbledore and Fudge entered Hagrid's Hut and Harry, Ron and I stayed as quiet as we could under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. I still can't believe he has one of these. "That's Cornelius Fudge," I whispered to Harry. "The Minister of Magic. If he's here... It's not good for Hagrid."
"Bad business, Hagrid," Fudge said. "Very bad business. Had to come. Three attacks on Muggleborns. Things have gone far enough. The Ministry's got to act."
"But I never-" Hagrid cut himself off. "You know I never, Professor." Hagrid gestured to Dumbledore.
"I want it understood, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "That Hagrid... Has my full confidence."
"Albus, look, Hagrid's record's against him. I've got to take him," Fudge said and I quietly scoffed.
"More like he wants an excuse to cart a Half-Giant to Azkaban," I whispered.
"Take me?" Hagrid asked. "Take me where? Not Azkaban Prison!"
"I'm afraid we have no choice, Hagrid," Fudge said.
"But isn't it innocent until proven guilty?" Harry whispered as the door to Hagrid's Hut opened. "Surely he can't go to Prison without a trial first? As Hermione would put it if she wasn't Petrified 'that's totally barbaric!'"
"Hey, Cassie, what's your Dad doing here?" Ron whispered.
"Already here, Fudge? Good," Dad said before entering. Fang growled at Dad.
"What're you doing here? Get out of my house!" Hagrid demanded.
"Believe me, I take absolutely no pleasure being inside your..." Dad trailed off as he walked further into the Hut. "You call this a house?" Harry, Ron and I carefully but quickly backed away so he wouldn't walk into us but he stopped and turned around. "Hm. No, I simply called at the school and was told the Headmaster was here."
"Well, what exactly is it you want with me?" Dumbledore asked.
"The other governors and I have decided it's time for you to step aside. This is an order of suspension," Dad said, holding out a rolled-up piece of parchment towards Dumbledore as he walked over to him. Fudge went to take it but Dumbledore stopped him. "You'll find all 12 signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you've rather lost your touch. Well, what with all these attacks, there'll be no Muggleborns left at Hogwarts. I can only imagine what an awful loss that would be to the school."
"You can't take Professor Dumbledore away," Hagrid said. "Take him away and the Muggleborns won't stand a chance. You mark my words, there'll be killings next."
"You think so?" Dad asked.
"Calm yourself, Hagrid," Dumbledore said. "If the governors desire my removal, I will, of course, step aside." I felt Dumbledore reach out with Legilimency and he tried to breach my walls but my Occlumency wouldn't let him. However, my Legilimency tells me he succeeded in breaching Harry and Ron's walls. Dumbledore walked over to my Dad as he spoke. "However, you will find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." He shot a look at me, Harry and Ron, confusing my Dad who turned around for a moment, saw nothing and turned back to Dumbledore.
"Admirable sentiments," Dad said. "Shall we?" He walked over to the door and held it open. Dumbledore shot another look at us before leaving. "Fudge?" Fudge gestured for them to wait a moment.
"Come, Hagrid," Fudge said. "Well?" Hagrid coughed.
"If... If anybody was looking for some stuff, then all they'd have to do would be to follow the Spiders," Hagrid said and Ron paled a little. "Yep. That would lead them right. That's all I have to say." Hagrid walked over to the door and picked up his coat. "Oh, and someone'll need to feed Fang while I'm away." Fang growled as Fudge walked towards the door.
"Good boy," Fudge said before exiting after Hagrid and shutting the door behind him. We threw the cloak off of us.
"Okay, did either of you pick up on Dumbledore trying to use Legilimency on you? He tried on all three of us but he succeeded with you two," I said.
"Oh, I did sense something," Harry said. "But I didn't know that's what that was... Look." Harry gestured to the weirdly behaving Spiders crawling out of Hagrid's windows. We opened the door. "Come on, Fang."
I don't want to.
"Fang, stay here," I said with a small smile at Fang and then at Ron. "Ron, keep Fang company. Harry and I have got this. Right, Harry?"
"Yeah, mate. Stay here," Harry said and he passed the Invisibility Cloak to Ron. "In case you need it."
...
"'Of the many fearsome Beasts that roam our land, none is more deadly than the Basilisk'," Harry read and it all started to click in my head. "'Capable of living for hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet this giant Serpent's eye. Spiders flee before it...'"
"Harry, Colin had a camera, there was water on the floor on Halloween with Mrs Norris, Hermione had a mirror, Justin saw through Nearly Headless Nick and Nick's a Ghost, he can't die again," I said. "That's why they're Petrified and not dead... Wait... Aragog said a girl died in a bathroom, didn't he? What if she never left? You said you found my Adoptive Father's Diary after someone threw it through a female Ghost in a bathroom."
"Moaning Myrtle!" Harry and Ron exclaimed.
"Oh, I so want to kiss that cute, smart Witch when she wakes up," I said with a grin and Harry grimaced while Ron looked like he was going to be sick.
"Ew," Ron said.
"We heard it in the walls... It must be using the pipes!" I grinned when Harry showed me the word 'pipes' written on the crumpled-up page. "I'm so gonna tease her about ripping a page out of a book and then writing on it when she complains if you two dog-ear pages."
"Those pipes have to be huge for a Snake that big to fit in them," Ron said.
"Yep."
"All students are to return to their House dormitories at once," Professor McGonagall said over the loudspeakers. "All teachers to the second-floor corridor immediately."
"Fuck that, let's go to the corridor," I suggested. "I wanna know what's going on." Harry and Ron agreed and we quickly made our way to the second-floor corridor.
"As you can see," Professor McGonagall said as she gestured to the wall she was standing in front of. "The Heir of Slytherin has left another message."
"I can't read it," I whispered. "They're in the way."
"Me neither," Ron whispered.
"Same," Harry whispered.
"Our worst fear has been realised," Professor McGonagall said. "A student has been taken by the Monster into the Chamber itself. The students must be sent home. I'm afraid this is the end of Hogwarts." I zoned out as Lockhart showed up as I didn't want to listen to his bullshit. Then, I heard the staff leave.
"'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever'," Ron read with a shaky breath. "Ginny..."
"Seriously, skeleton shouldn't have a capital and Chamber should... I need to give this person grammar lessons, really. Come on you two. We're gonna go get Lockhart," I said.
"Lockhart?" They asked.
"He's clearly a fraud. We're gonna save Ginny and in doing so he'll die by the Basilisk or be exposed as a fraud through our memories when he acts like a coward. I'm done putting up with him."
...