An Argument between friends and a Petrified Cat
,, What's going on here? What's going on?"
Attracted no doubt by Draco's shout, Argus Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd. Then he saw Mrs. Norris and fell back, clutching his face in horror.
"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked.
And his popping eyes fell on Harry.
"You!" he screeched. " You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll--"
"Argus!"
Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other Professors. In seconds, he had swept past Harry, Ronald, and Hermione and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket.
"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."
Lockhart stepped forward eagerly.
"My office is nearest, Headmaster - just upstairs - please feel free--"
"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.
The silent crowd parted to let them pass. Lockhart, looking excited and important, hurried after Dumbledore; so did Professors McGonagall and Snape.
,, 'Tia! Merlin are you all right !?" Aiden asked, looking at the girl, whose expression told them nothing, continuing to stare at the wall at the other end of the corridor.
,, H-How are you so fast....." panted Hunter, hands on his knees as he tried to regain his breath, the speed required to catch up to her not something he wanted to use again.
,, Celestia, can you hear me ?" Regulus asked her quietly, gently taking her hands in his.
Unfortunately, it did nothing, the girl's mind filled with thought upon thought about the beast...
And the blood on the wall...........
Motionless bodies laying on hospital beds...
A Petrified Ghost.......
Spiders crawling away from something unknown.............
A Staircase leading into a Chamber, its walls and floors covered in dust, webs and what was left of the dead.................
Fangs shooting forward, a pair of yellow eyes ominously glowing, as they bit down into human flesh.....
Two figures, fighting with each other........
Blood soaking through Robes.........
A cry of anguish could be heard ringing through the Chamber...... followed by thesweet song of a Phoenix.
And finally, the symbol the three Deathly Hallows, glowing as the sand of a Hourglass finally reached its bottom....
She went incredibly pale, Fenris gently nudging Celestia in hopes of snapping her out of it.
,, 'Tia..." Regulus tried once more, finally gaining her attention.
He frowned as he saw the look of horror in her eyes, carefully taking her into his arms as he let his fingers run along her back, trying to calm her down as her body froze up at an almost painful rate, her breathing becoming short.
,, Shhh............ Concentrate on my breathing, okay ?" He asked, their friends forming a barrier around them to make sure nobody would see Celestia in a state like that.
,, In and out....... good...... you're doing great...." He praised, the still-shaken girl trying to concentrate on anything that wasn't her Vision.
She did not want to have a seizure right in the middle of a corridor at Hogwarts.
Her body slightly slumped against Regulus, her hands still shaking, though her body finally relaxed.
--------------
,, ....So....." Aiden started, all of them sitting in Celestia's Chambers in Ravenclaw Tower. ,, Would you like to tell us what exactly the meaning of that was ?" He asked, looking at Celestia, who was calmly sitting on her bed, Fenris's head on her lap and Chrome on her shoulder.
,, The Chamber of Secrets has been opened once again." She replied, making him frown.
,, We know that Celestia, I meant the fact that you almost collapsed after having a vision!" He said, worried about the girl.
It wasn't even the first time it happened. There were several instances where she stopped whatever it was she was doing beforehand, staring off into space with an empty look in her eyes and her responses coming out short or several minutes later...
What wasn't she telling them?
,, Listen, I know you're keeping quiet about something from your past." He said, making all of the others nervously turn to him.
,, Aiden I don't think...."
,, No, Susan this can't go on." Aiden said, ignoring the Hufflepuff's protests.
,, Imagine if something like this happens again, I mean what should we go tell Madame Pomfrey? That she collapsed and we don't know why and then merrily continue our day like nothing happened?" He asked, making Hunter frown. ,, Aiden-"
,, We told you about our pasts, and our families, yet we never hear a thing from you when it comes to that subject. And I want to know why!" Aiden said, his blue eyes set on Celestia who had calmly listened to his rant, her hair covering her face.
,, So answer me this one question, did something happen at that Muggle orphanage you grew up in ?" He asked, desperate by that point.
Celestia's mind filled with flashes of her past.............
What did he want her to tell him?
That she was abused, tortured, and experimented on by Muggles?
That she watched the people that raised her die one by one, leaving her alone in the hands of those disgusting people?
Maybe even show him the numbers and scars forever carved into her skin because of them?
She didn't want their pity, nor did she want to dwell on the past or be treated like a delicate porcelain doll.
,, Is it so hard for you to open up to others that care about you!?" He finally asked, this time louder, his face red from anger.
, Yes it is....' She thought, finally showing them her face.
They widened their eyes when they saw that her Bi-colored eyes had turned Golden, swirling with Magic.................
,, Leave." She ordered, looking straight at him.
His eyes widened, hurt and surprise flashing in them before it was replaced with fury. ,, Fine.."
And with that he left her Chambers, quickly followed by Susan, Hannah, and Hunter, who wanted him to come back and apologize.
It was quiet for a few more moments after the doors had shut...............
Then the twins, Theo, Blaise, and Regulus turned to her.
They kept silent, unsure about how they should start a conversation in such a situation.....
Celestia let out a sigh, her eyes wandering to the ceiling of her room.......
Sometimes she asked herself why she was trying to make friends if they just left her in the end anyways.......
Suddenly she heard footsteps coming closer, stopping right in front of her....
Letting her gaze return back towards the front she opened her eyes slightly wider when she saw Fred and George each kneeling down on one knee in front of her, gentle smiles on their faces.
,, It's all right if you don't want to tell us just yet-"
,, We understand that some things from the past are hard to talk about." They said, making her blink in surprise.
,, We'll stand by your side-"
,, After all-"
,, You're our little sister in everything but blood!" They said, wearing matching grins.
Celestia simply continued to stare at them, her mind blank and unable to come up with anything to say....
They were honest................
Her lips curved slightly up, her eyes shining with unshed tears. ,, You realize that having me as your sister will bring you nothing but bad luck and danger, right ?"
,, What's life without a little adventure." They replied, shrugging.
One could never be too sure when their life would come to an end, and constantley living in fear of a day that might be decades away sounded boring to them.
So why not make the most of the time they had left on this earth?
She gave a small laugh at that, shaking her head in disbelief. ,, You two are unbelievable......."
,, Only for you, your highness." They chimed, slowly taking her into their arms in a long, warm and loving hug.......
The three Slytherins snapped out of their daze, walking up to the trio.
,, We'll stay with you as well." Theo said, the three of them kneeling down.
,, Yeah, after all, who'll listen to me when I need to rant about these two idiots." Blaise said, pointing at Regulus and Theo.
,, Watch it, Zabini." warned Regulus with no real malice in his voice.
Celestia smiled, her small frame sandwiched in between the twins.
,, And don't worry about Aiden, he'll come around." Theo assured.
,, We're friends after all."
,, A weird bunch of them-"
,, But still friends."
----------------
Sadly Aiden's hotheaded personality made him refuse to apologize to Celestia, instead ignoring the girl altogether as the following days passed.
Hunter, Hannah, and Susan were at their wit's end, having decided to stay neutral in this argument as they spend equal amounts of time with the both of them.
But because of their neutral stance, Celestia decided against telling them the severity of the current situation at Hogwarts, not wanting to risk anything.
Even if she could only get the opinions of the twins and three Slytherins, it was better than nothing.
All of them had turned as pale as the ghosts roaming the halls of Hogwartd when Celestia told them about her vision.
They didn't have to be Ravenclaws to guess that it meant death and despair.....
Mrs. Norris had obviously only been the beginning...........
Oh! Now that the Kneazle was being mentioned, For a few days, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. 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. Many had seen him 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" and "looking happy."
Celestia had pity on the man and gifted him a few things for Mrs.Norris, telling him they were for when she would come back out of her comatose state.
And for a few short moments, he actually looked thankful, even petting Fenris and telling her he was a very good familiar to have at one's side.
Though she knew it was probably because Fenris had snarled and growled at Harry and his two little friends when he had arrived and found Mrs. Norris....
History of Magic was the dullest subject on their schedule. Professor Binns, who taught it, was their only ghost teacher, and the most exciting thing that ever happened in his classes was his entering the room through the blackboard. Ancient and shriveled, many people said he hadn't noticed he was dead. He had simply got up to teach one day and left his body behind him in an armchair in front of the staff room fire; his routine had not varied in the slightest since.
Today was as boring as ever. Professor Binns opened his notes and began to read in a flat drone like an old vacuum cleaner until nearly everyone in the class was in a deep stupor, occasionally coming to long enough to copy down a name or date, then falling asleep again. He had been speaking for half an hour when something happened that had never happened before. Hermione put up her hand.
Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed.
"Miss - er -?"
"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione in a clear voice.
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 Longbottom'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, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk slipping and continued, "In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers--"
He stuttered to a halt. Hermione's hand was waving in the air again.
"Miss Grant?"
"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"
Professor Binns was looking at her in such amazement, Harry was sure 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 as though he had never seen a student properly before. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale--"
But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns's every word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his.
Everyone could tell he was completely thrown by such an unusual show of interest.
"Oh, very well," he said slowly. "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."
He paused, gazed 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 tortoise.
"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said. "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 silence as he finished telling the story, but it wasn't the usual, sleepy silence that filled Professor Binns's classes. There was 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 hand 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 Heir of Slytherin alone can control," said Professor Binns in his dry, reedy voice.
The class exchanged nervous looks.
"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 Finnigan, "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 Pennyfeather," 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 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 facts!"
And within five minutes, the class had sunk back into its usual torpor.
Though three certain Slytherins and a Ravenclaw shared a look......
They had to find out what Beast Salazar Slytherin sealed inside the Chamber before someone else did.