The next morning, just like all the reading days before, everyone slowly made their way down to the Great Hall and took their seats with their plates and bowls of different breakfast meals.

"So what happened yesterday, in the last chapter?" said Sirius yawning and running a hand through his scraggy hair and stabbing his scrambled eggs with the other.

"The Chamber of Secrets was opened." said Hermione.

Sirius blinked hard and the tiredness was removed forcibly from his body. "Crap, that's right."

"So, who wants to get the ball rolling this morning?" said Madam Bones loudly.

Everyone looked around at each other, not many people wanted to volunteer to read that morning, not with a starting chapter like that.

"I will." said Hermione speaking clearly.

"Very well, Miss Granger." said Professor McGonagall, levitating the book over to her.

"The Writing on the Wall," said Hermione loudly.

"You mean the words that say 'Chamber of Secrets?'" asked Fudge.

"No, the house passwords on the bathroom walls ." said Sirius rolling his eyes. Some of the boys laughed, but they were all silenced by the glare that McGonagall and the other female teachers and adult women sent them.

"What's going on here? What's going on?" Attracted no doubt by Malfoy's shout, Argus Filch

"Oh, damn. That's his cat." said Tonks.

"He won't take kindly to his cat being like that." said Charlie.

came shouldering his way through the crowd. Then he saw Mrs. Norris and fell back, clutching his face in horror.

"Seeing your pet like that, I don't think I could stand it." said Dr. Clark sadly. "I lost my dog like that, had him for nine years. The day after I asked the prettiest girl in the school to the Sunset Dance, I got home and my dog was…" he shivered.

"All because you asked a girl out?" said Ron in shock.

"It turns out that that girl was being admired from afar, by one of the football team's lead forwards. He didn't take kindly to me asking her out and getting a 'yes' in return." said Dr. Clark bitterly.

"Were you a nerd?" asked Sirius, trying to cheer him up, though the death of a dog shook him. Dr. Clark smiled and laughed.

"Yeah, but I was a good-looking nerd." said Dr. Clark. "The other ones in secondary school didn't look all that great."

"Do you miss your dog?" asked Harry quietly, making a quiet mental note.

"I do, not a day goes by that I don't miss Max." said Dr. Clark.

"Your dog was named Max?" asked Charlie with a sympathetic smile.

"Maxine, actually. I thought she was a boy for the longest time, scared the daylights out of me when she had her first litter, right under my bed too." said Dr. Clark with a fond smile. "Guess that's why I became a doctor, I liked helping people and it being her first litter, she needed help too."

"Dogs aren't people." said Ron pointing out the obvious.

"I'm also a Vet. I care for people's animals in my free time, for charity, or at least I used to." said Dr. Clark with a smile.

"You'll be able to do that again. You can bet on that." said Remus supportively.

"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?"

"Good question, and not one of them knows, I'll bet. Seeing as how they're children!" screeched Mrs. Weasley.

"It'll be alright honey." said Mr. Weasley soothingly.

he shrieked. And his popping eyes fell on Harry.

"Every time something bad happens, I swear people look at me first. " said Harry.

"Kinda hard to sound bitter, you asked for trouble the moment you came." said Zacharias.

Zacharias had to duck down and cover his ears from all the shouting that was sent his way. Not to mention all the hexes and curses, mostly sent by Sirius, and Ginny, also Remus and Dr. Clark shouted furiously over to the boy.

"You!" he screeched. "You! You've murdered my cat!

"What proof did he have?" screeched Mrs. Weasley. She didn't want Harry to get hurt, not like what had happened all those weeks ago.

"No proof but psychotic anguish." said Kingsley calmly. "And that can get people killed."

"I think I would have snapped if someone had hurt Crookshanks." said Hermione honestly.

"Nothing would be left of whoever would hurt Hedwig." said Harry bitterly, stroking his precious owl's feathers as she came fluttering down.

"I swear, she knows right when we're going to talk about her." said Dr. Clark with large smile.

You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll -"

The little balls of light, that represented the Scattered Shots, emerged rapidly from the book and spun quickly around and buried themselves in each person.

They found themselves in a darkened corridor with a large gathering of students. Each student had a look of intense confusion mixed with a heavy load of fear. Some students were standing on tiptoe and others were whispering hurriedly to the others.

The adults could easily see over the heads of all the children and see the horrible words written on the wall. They saw Filch and heard his terrible screech

"You! You murdered my cat!"

The Harry of the past stammered. "I-I didn't…I wouldn't…."

Ginny hurried over to Harry and engulfed him in a hug. Harry held onto her tightly and made quiet 'shhh.' sounds to calm her.

The adults watched in horror as Filch lifted Harry off the ground by the collar of his shirt and raised a first to strike him, just like from the scroll the night before. And before the strike fell, the lights left their bodies. Ginny and Harry found themselves holding onto nothing but air.

"That's a deal breaker." said Harry good-naturedly. Ginny gave a nervous giggle.

"Argus!"

"Thank Merlin, a teacher." said Lionus heaving a sigh.

"You're worried?" said Dr. Nicodemus.

"I'm human, though I may not act like one, all the time." said Lionus shortly.

"You act like a baby when you come to me for healing." said Dr. Nicodemus with a smirk.

Dumbledore had arrived on the scene,

"What took you so long to get there?" asked Remus angrily.

"Being the Headmaster, does not mean you get to shove students out of the way just to make way for yourself. Manners apply to us as well." said Dumbledore calmly. "It was hard time trying to get through the throng of students."

followed by a number of other teachers.

"Number? Weren't all of them there?" asked Bill.

"No, some had papers to grade and they stayed in the Teacher's Lounge, after dinner to finish." said McGonagall.

In seconds, he had swept past Harry, Ron and Hermione

"He ripped Filch off me first." said Harry patting Remus' arm, who stared angrily at the old man. "You promised you'd settle down."

"That was before all the dangerous stuff happened." said Remus in a hoarse whisper.

"I can sit elsewhere." warned Harry.

Remus looked at Harry quickly, swiped a Calming draught off of Dumbledore's table and drank it down in one gulp.

"That's better." said Harry with a smile.

and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket.

"Poor kitty." said Luna sadly.

"You were the only one who felt sorry for her." said Neville seriously.

"She didn't ask to be petrified and hung from a torch bracket." said Luna as serious as she could.

"Come with me Argus," he said to Filch. "You too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."

"Why ask them?" said Charlie.

"For several reasons: I noticed everyone was looking over to the three of them every other second, they were soaking wet from the water on the floor. They weren't at dinner, and they didn't look quite as shocked as the rest of the students." said Dumbledore.

"Oh." said Charlie quietly.

Lockhart stepped forward eagerly.

"Who could be eager, in that corridor?" asked Fred.

"Someone who doesn't have a clue." said Sirius.

"My office is nearest, Headmaster - just upstairs - please feel free -"

"There had to be a better office to use. A spare room or something!" said Remus anxiously.

"Plenty of empty classrooms and unused rooms, but I didn't want to risk taking the three students into a room that might hold whatever attacked Mrs. Norris." said Dumbledore. "And I needed to find out what had happened immediately."

"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.

"Why? Take them up to your office! It's the safest place in the whole castle for them to be!" cried Remus.

As I just said, I needed somewhere quickly, and I heard no other options voiced from my staff." said Dumbledore calmly. Professor McGonagall shifted uneasily.

The silent crowd parted to let them pass.

"So who escorted the students back to their dormitories?" asked Mr. Weasley curiously.

"Well, in the case of Severus and myself, other teachers houses both house to the opening of their Common Rooms." said McGonagall. "Pamona, and Filius took care of their own houses."

"I was shocked when they didn't allow the Prefects to do it." said Percy indignantly.

"You were still children, and if we didn't know what it was, we weren't about to let you go on your own." scolded McGonagall.

Lockhart, looking excited and important,

"Stupid ass. How can you feel excited when the Chamber of Secrets is opened? The same chamber that's supposed to hold a monster in it?" said Sirius.

"What?" squeaked Dr. Clark and Remus.

"You don't know about it?" said Sirius to Remus.

"I don't remember reading about it." said Remus quietly. "So there's a monster in there?"

"Yeah." said Sirius slowly.

Remus and Dr. Clark gulped loudly.

hurried after Dumbledore; so did Professors McGonagall and Snape.

"Why is Snape going with you?" asked Bill.

"I am the potion master of the school. If there is a potion that is needed to restore Mrs. Norris, than I am the one to brew it." drawled Snape.

As they entered Lockhart's darkened office there was a flurry of movement across the walls;

Several people looked about nervously. What was happening now?

Harry saw several of the Lockhart's in the pictures dodging out of sight, their hair in rollers.

Despite the fear flooding from book, a flurry of laughter danced about the Great Hall, until everyone was clutching their sides.

"And the twit always said that his curls and waves were all natural." gasped Remus holding his stomach.

The real Lockhart lit the candles on his desk and stood back.

"Good. Let the people who know what they're doing to take charge." said Moody gruffly.

Dumbledore laid Mrs. Norris on the polished surface and began to examine her.

"Tell me you found a cure for her." said Emmeline Vance earnestly. "Tell me she isn't dead!"

"She loves cats, she can't get enough of them." said Remus.

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged tense looks and sank into chairs outside the pool of candlelight, watching.

"We didn't know what they were going to ask, or if they thought we did it." said Ron quietly.

"And of course, don't reassure the children that they have nothing to worry about." grumbled Bathilda bitterly.

"I don't think that worrying about three nervous second years was at the top of anyone's priority list. I'm pretty sure that worrying about the welfare of the entire school is more important." said Harry sternly.

"He's got a point." said Sirius with a smirk.

The tip of Dumbledore's long, crooked nose was barely an inch from Mrs. Norris's fur.

"Why were you so close?" asked Bill.

"I could smell singed fur." said Dumbledore. "And her eyes were looking quite odd."

He was looking at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking.

Zacharias was about to open his mouth, but the looks he received from every member of his house and all the adults silenced him instantly.

"I think we'll leave the questions on what Dumbledore is doing for another time." said Professor McGonagall sternly, knowing what Zacharias was going to ask.

Professor McGonagall was bent almost as close, her eyes narrowed.

"Could either of you two figure out what had happened to her?" asked Luna dreamily.

"No dear, we couldn't." said McGonagall gently.

"Sure, she can ask, but not anyone else." muttered Zacharias.

"You are on very thin ice, Mr. Smith." said Professor Flitwick.

"I will find something else for you to do, while the readings take place if you are not careful." said Professor Sprout.

Snape loomed behind them, half in shadow, wearing a most peculiar expression: it was as though he was trying hard not to smile.

Sirius snorted and covered his mouth to hide the fact he was grinning.

"Hey! I had never seen him look like that." said Harry, sending a small smile over to Snape quickly. "It was frightening."

As other people laughed loudly, Snape covered his mouth to hide a smirk.

And Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestions.

"Dear lord, just what we don't need." said Remus putting a hand to his face.

"It was definitely a curse that killed her –

"He's not even close enough to see if she's dead or not!" said Bathilda sharply.

probably the Transmogrifian Torture –

"Oh he's got to be kidding me." said Lionus rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"What is that?" said Draco.

"It's a curse that changes your body, constantly, bones grow, lung shrinks, blood constricts, and it doesn't happen gently either. If that cat doesn't have an injured eye, than it wasn't the Transmogrifian Torture." said Dr. Nicodemus.

"Injured eye?" said Harry slowly, sending a quick look to Dr. Clark in his eye patch.

"Very good, lad." said Dr. Nicodemus approvingly. "Your Dr. Clark did have that particular curse placed on him."

Unexpectantly, Harry leapt over Sirius' lap and embraced Dr. Clark tightly. Dr. Clark blinked and looked over at the Rangers.

"I don't remember that happening." he said weakly, patting the back of the young man, who was silently crying into his chest.

"We removed that memory from you. It was for the best." said Lionus kindly. "That memory would only have sent you to the mental ward and kept you there."

"Then I can definitely live without it." said Dr. Clark hugging Harry back. Sirius looked at the two of them, despite his hard work to get along and be happy for Harry; he couldn't help but feel slightly jealous from time to time.

"He won't ever remember it, will he?" asked Dumbledore quickly.

"No, we removed it completely." said Dr. Nicodemus.

I've seen it used many times,

"If that was true, we'd have arrested him before he even saw his third one." said Lionus angrily.

"That particular spell only lasts for as long as the caster is standing there, and no one else can be in the room." explained Nighstrike to the confused students. "It infects everyone in the room, exceptthe caster."

so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very counter-curse that would have saved her ..."

The Rangers blinked hard. "What?" said Tempest in confusion.

"I wasn't aware that there was a counter-curse for that." said Nightstrike.

"Isn't there?" asked Remus questioningly.

"No, the only cure is multiple, powerful potions." said Dr. Nicodemus. "The constant changing ceases when the caster stops, but the pain remains."

"What could a wizard want with Dr. Clark?" whispered Tonks to Dumbledore.

"I not sure." said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "But I think we should try and find out."

"Could it have something to do with how close Harry is to him?" asked Moody quietly, walking over and looking at the man and the teen, still holding onto each other.

"That is entirely possible." said Dumbledore. "But I wasn't even aware that Dr. Clark even existed. I suppose that goes to show just how observant I was about Harry's life." Dumbledore buried his face in his hands. Tonks patted his back consolingly.

"You're making it up to him now, that's all you can do." said Tonks.

Lockhart's comments were punctuated by Filch's dry, raking sobs.

"Much as I dislike him, gotta feel sorry for him just a bit. Not too much, just a little bit." said Sirius.

He was slumped in a chair by the desk, unable to look at Mrs. Norris,

The school stayed respectively silent. Even Dumbledore, who was utterly furious with the man and still wished to rip him limb from limb, stayed quiet, but he did drum his fingers on his purple, plush armchair.

his face in his hands. Much as he detested Filch, Harry couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for him,

Remus smiled at Harry who had crawled back to sit between Sirius and himself and patted his head fondly.

though not nearly as sorry as he felt for himself.

Remus stopped patting Harry's head and looked down at him with weak smile. "Nice."

Sirius couldn't help but laugh.

If Dumbledore believed Filch, he would be expelled for sure.

"There aren't many times that I listen to him in the ways of discipline." said Dumbledore grimly.

"Which is a very good thing." said Mrs. Weasley.

Dumbledore was now muttering strange words under his breath and tapping Mrs. Norris with his wand,

"Alright!" shouted a small first year Hufflepuff. "Dumbledore will fix her up!"

but nothing happened:

"Or not." he said sadly.

she continued to look as though she had recently been stuffed.

"I love my rabbits, but I wouldn't want my pets stuffed." said Lavender with a pale face.

"... I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadougou," said Lockhart,

"Couldn't someone put a silence charm on him?" said Dr. Clark covering his ears.

"Someone's been reading magical books!" said Fred in a singsong voice.

"I making myself hoarse asking all the questions I have." said Dr. Clark with a smile. "So I thought I'd just read up on some things."

"a series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography,

"More of a reason not to pay attention to him." said Sirius.

I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets which cleared the matter up at once ..."

"Amulets don't do crap, not against the Transmogrifian Torture. Or is he changing the diagnosis?" said Nightstrike.

"He changed his mind." said Snape with a sneer. "He couldn't elaborate on that story, not with the Headmaster there, to possibly correct him."

The photographs of Lockhart of the walls were all nodding in agreement as he talked.

"Go figure, they would agree with him, no one else would." said Remus shaking his head.

One of them had forgotten to remove his hairnet.

More snorts of laughter sprang up from all over the Great Hall.

"You're right, he is as good as a witch." said Ron to Fred.

At last Dumbledore straightened up. "She's not dead, Argus," he said softly.

"Nice of you to reassure him." said Professor Sprout.

Lockhart stopped abruptly in the middle of counting the number of murders he had prevented.

"I'll count them for you." said Remus nastily, people waited for him to speak, but he said nothing.

"Aww! After all these years, James and my bad influence finally broke through." said Sirius laughing loudly.

"Not dead?" choked Filch, looking through his fingers at Mrs. Norris. "But why's she all - all stiff and frozen?"

"Freezer burn." said Fred in a whisper to George.

"She had been Petrified," said Dumbledore

"Petrified?" said most of the adults in the room.

"How?" asked Sirius stunned

"At the time, we didn't know." said Dumbledore.

"And you aren't going to tell us what caused it, are you? I didn't think so." said Remus miserably.

("Ah! I thought so!" said Lockhart).

"Bullshit." said Sirius bitterly.

"But how, I cannot say ..."

"Ask him!" shrieked Filch, turning his blotched and tear-stained face to Harry.

"He still thought you did it?" said Remus.

"He still thinks I did it." said Harry rubbing his back absently.

Remus and Sirius both caught his hand and said, "Don't try."

"No second-year could have done this," said Dumbledore firmly. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced -"

"Even more so, if Dumbledore can't cure her." said Dennis.

"He did it, he did it!" Filch spat, his pouchy face purpling.

"Hermione shot out of her chair, she was so scared." said Ron with a laugh.

"I did not jump!" she said angrily.

"Hermione I had a bruise on my legs from where you landed." said Harry with a smile.

" You saw what he wrote on the wall!

"He didn't write that on the wall!" said Dean.

He found - in my office - he knows I'm a - I'm a -" Filch's face worked horribly. "He knows I'm a squib!" he finished.

"Dear lord, the entire school knew what he was!" said Kingsley.

"Except for maybe Harry." said Seamus with a grin.

Several people laughed good-naturedly, even Harry joined in.

"I never touched Mrs. Norris!" Harry said loudly, uncomfortably aware of everyone looking at him, including all the Lockharts on the walls.

"Made me think that you all thought I was guilty." said Harry quietly.

"Only an idiot would think you did it." said Sirius soothingly.

The fourth years and older Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students all shuffled their feet.

Remus looked around noticed their discomforts. But he noticed that Slytherin students were unmoved by it.

"And I don't even know what a Squib is."

"Ron never told you?" asked Bill.

"We never got around to cultural enrichment lessons." said Ron with a broad smile. "We were working on fundamentals of magic."

"Rubbish!" snarled Filch. "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"

"And he didn't tell anyone! Which means, he don't really give a damn what you are." said Sirius.

"If I might speak, Headmaster," said Snape from the shadows,

"Oh this won't be good." said George.

and Harry's sense of foreboding increased; he was sure nothing Snape had to say was going to do him any good.

"Right on." said George.

"Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said,

"Wow, he's actually on your side." said Sirius brightly.

a slight sneer curling his mouth as though he doubted it,

"Well, that was shot all to hell." said Sirius shaking his head.

"but we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why were they in the upstairs corridor at all?

"Why not just freaking ask them?" said Charlie loudly. "Honestly! Even children can see things too!"

Why weren't they at the Halloween feast?"

"How about saying 'Why weren't you at the feast?'" said Bill.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all launched into an explanation about the Deathday Party, "... there were hundreds of ghosts, they'll tell you we were there -"

"Knowing Snape, he won't check the facts." said George quietly.

"I did, actually." said Snape sharply, hearing Georges words. "The Bloody Baron told me."

"But why not join the feast afterwards?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight. "Why go up to that corridor?"

"Good luck answering that question without incriminating yourself." said Tonks with a small smile.

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry. "Because - because -" Harry said, his heart thumping very fast; something told him it would sound very far-fetched if he told them he had been led there by a bodiless voice no one but he could hear,

"Yeah, I can see that." said Sirius smileing.

"because we were tired and wanted to go to bed," he said.

"Half right, we were tired, but we were hungry too." said Ron.

"Without any supper?" said Snape, a triumphant smile flickering across his gaunt face.

"He knew Ron's weakness." said Hermione with a beaming grin.

"I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."

"They don't" said the three young fifth years together.

"We weren't hungry," said Ron loudly, as his stomach gave a huge rumble.

"If your surname is Weasley and you're a male, you're always hungry." said Mr. Weasley with a broad smile.

Snape's nasty smile widened.

"Crap, he heard it." said Ron with a mock groan.

"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful,"

"Well, to be honest, you weren't being honest." said Remus carefully.

Harry held in a laugh.

"Still doesn't mean he can pick on my cub. Dumbledore even said that a kid couldn't do that sort of damage." said Sirius angrily.

"That is true." Dr. Clark.

he said. "It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story.

"You jerk!" shouted Sirius.

"Now, I can sort of see where he's coming from." said Remus quietly.

"WHAT?" said Sirius and Dr. Clark loudly.

"If a student was withholding information that might be pertinent of to an incident, they should be restricted with their privileges." said Remus carefully.

"BUT HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!" yelled Sirius

I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest."

"Okay, that's pushing it too far. Don't tell me he succeeded in that." said Remus.

"He didn't, I would not allow that." said McGonagall sternly.

"And neither would I." said Dumbledore twice as stern as she was.

"Really, Severus," said Professor McGonagall sharply, "I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick.

"Good reasoning." said Tonks.

"The punishment should fit the crime, and in this case, there was no crime committed by the boy." said Moody.

There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong."

"Good thing Minerva is on the ball." said Moody with a smirk.

Dumbledore was giving Harry a searching look. His twinkling light-blue gaze made Harry feel as though he was being X-rayed.

"Oh, come on, Dumbledore! You need to use legimency to see if he's lying to you?" said Sirius clapping a hand to his forehead. "Harry would never lie to you, especially if something bad had just happened."

Harry squirmed slightly.

"He did last year." said Fudge loudly.

"Can we get a gag for him too?" asked Remus tiredly.

"It has crossed our minds to use one." threatened Lionus looking up to the Minister.

"What is legi…man…see?" asked Dr. Clark.

"It's where you can force your way into a person's mind and see if they are lying to you or not." said Sirius.

"It has other uses as well…" said Dumbledore, looking over to Harry briefly.

"That sounds very…invasive." said Dr. Clark.

"But necessary against a castle full of mischievous students." said Snape quietly.

"That is not what it was created for." said McGonagall with a snarl.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said firmly.

"I swear, he forgets that the second after he hears it." said McGonagall sharply looking over at Snape.

Snape looked furious. So did Filch.

"They both wanted bloodshed." said Ernie. When the school looked over to him and stared. Ernie quickly began to stammer.

"I-I-I meant tha-that that they w-wanted t-to see H-H-Harry given de-detention for someth-something he didn't do!" stuttered Ernie.

"Thank you for clarifying that." growled Snape.

"My cat has been Petrified!" he shrieked, his eyes popping. "I want to see some punishment!"

"No, he wants to see Harry get the snot beaten out of him." said Ron angrily.

"While he watches." said Hermione gritting her teeth.

"We'll be able to cure her, Argus," said Dumbledore patiently. "Madam Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes.

"Really Albus, you call last year, recently?" said Professor Sprout with a smile.

"When you are one hundred and fourteen years old, a year is as good as a week." said Dumbledore with a broad smile.

Dr. Clark spat out his tea that he had been drinking. Sirius thumped him hard on his back as Dr. Clark began to cough., while Dumbledore happily waved his wand and magicked away the tea that had been sprayed on the floor.

"You are how old?" asked Dr. Clark weakly.

"One hundred and fourteen." said Dumbledore brightly. "at the time anyway."

"How old did you think he was?" asked Remus.

"No more than seventy." said Dr. Clark faintly.

"Hagrid's sixty-three this year." said Harry.

Dr. Clark looked over to the half giant so quickly that it seemed that his neck would have most surely would have snapped if Hagrid was any further to the right.

"I was thinking….you were…nevermind." said Dr. Clark throwing his hands into the air.

As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made which will revive Mrs. Norris."

"If the Mandrakes are still babies…you have a long time to go." said Kingsley.

"We did, it was a very long wait, but nonetheless, all the victims were restored." said Madam Pomfrey, she squeaked and covered her mouth.

"Victims! There were more than one?" said most of the guests in shock.

"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in.

"Why do that, when you've got the youngest Potion Master the school's ever had." said Sirius.

Snape and Remus both stared at the man, as well as every Gryffindor in the room.

"What? He is." said Sirius shrugging.

"I must have done it a hundred times,

"He couldn't even make a first year potion when he was in school." said Remus rolling his eyes.

I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep -"

"Yeah, in your dreams." said Sirius with a smirk.

"Excuse me," said Snape icily, "but I believe I am the potions master at this school." There was a very awkward pause.

"It was very awkward. Lockhart couldn't' come up with a single thing to say, I almost said 'Thank goodness.'" said Harry with a smile.

"You may go," Dumbledore said to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Finally, time for them to get to bed, they had one rough day." said Sirius.

They went, as quickly as they could without actually running.

"I had never seen a student vault over a chair before." said Dumbledore with a smile.

When they were a floor up from Lockhart's office, they turned into an empty classroom and closed the door quietly behind them.

"Why aren't you going to the dorms, where it's safe?" said Bathilda worriedly. "Even Albus wasn't secure enough to take you to an empty classroom, don't you be going inside."

Harry squinted at his friends' darkened faces. "D'you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?"

"Yes!" said the teachers.

"Would you really have believed me?" asked Harry seriously.

They all exchanged pained expressions and each shook their head slowly.

"Didn't think so." said Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"No," said Ron, without hesitation. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."

"Sure tell sign you've gone off your chump." said Fred with a snicker.

Something in Ron's voice made Harry ask, "You do believe me, don't you?"

Ron blushed slightly.

"I knew you didn't believe me." said Harry with a sad smile.

"Well, I wasn't too sure what to make of it." said Ron.

"It's alright." said Harry smiled.

"Course I do," said Ron quickly.

"Liar." said Harry, Fred and George.

"But - you must admit it's weird ..."

"Can't argue with that, especially if Ron didn't know you were a Parselmouth." said Remus.

"I know it's weird," said Harry. "The whole thing's weird. What was that writing on the wall about? The Chamber has been opened ... what's that supposed to mean?"

"Were you just withholding your intellect again?" asked Hermione.

"I read about the Chamber the year before. But I thought it was just a legend and just skimmed over it. When we got to bed that night, I read it again and this time I paid a little bit more attention." said Harry sheepishly.

"You had a copy of Hogwarts A History? Why didn't you let me borrow it!" said Hermione angrily.

"You didn't ask." said Harry. "I thought you brought your copy to school." sad Harry. "And when you said that you didn't have it, we were already heading to class."

"You know, it rings a sort of bell," said Ron slowly. "I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once ... might've been Bill ..."

"I didn't tell you any story about the Chamber of Secrets." said Bill looking confused.

"That was me." said Charlie.

"And what on earth's a Squib?" said Harry.

"All that knowledge and you don't know what it is?" said Zacharias.

"Squib is a slang term, it's not written down in any book. That comes from an old childhood taunt many, many decades ago." said Dumbledore. "Squibbly, Squibby, can't do diddly. Can't work magic, ain't life tragic."

"Children under ten aren't known to have much sense in the ways of poetry." said Bathilda with a smirk.

"I can't even say it was catchy." said Dumbledore, "then again, I might have forgotten a line or two."

To his surprise, Ron stifled a snigger.

"Ronald." said Mrs. Weasley warningly.

"Sorry." said Ron quickly.

"Well - it's not funny really - but as it's Filch ..." he said.

"Nothings all that funny, unless it happens to Filch, or Umbridge." said Sirius.

"A squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any magic powers. Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but Squibs are quite unusual.

Umbridge strained against her bonds even more fiercely than before, finally the gag slipped away from her mouth and she sneered.

"Squibs come from Muggleborns who steal their wands from Purebloods and use it for themselves." she said to the entire group that was there.

Everyone stared at her, even Fudge.

"Stuff and nonsense." growled Dr. Nicodemus, Tempest replaced the gag while the Muggleborns screamed out in indignation and fury over her implications.

"You stupid woman!" shouted McGonagall furiously. "How dare you?"

"That notion died about hundred years ago and, was squashed two minutes after someone brought that idea to light." said Bathilda angrily.

"Does she have to stay here?" asked a third year Ravenclaw.

"He's got a point, I'm getting tired of watching her, Sir, and she's a strain on the eyes. Especially when I could be keeping an eye on someone else." said Nightstrike sending a wink over to Emmeline Vance who looked at Nightstrike and blushed heavily and gave a girlish giggle.

Sirius gave a loud wolf-whistle and laughed loudly. "Finally, I didn't think anyone would break through that tough exterior!"

Emmeline glared at him, though joined in Nightstrike as he laughed.

"Normally, I would agree, she should be taken to Devil's Garden, days ago, but if I take her now, I don't have a viable reason to come back here." said Tempest looking at Firenze longingly.

"Hmm…we'll have to come up with something." said Lionus.

"Can't she just come back, for like a vacation?" said George.

"I'm not due for my seven year furlough." said Tempest.

"Seven years?" said the students stunned.

"We work tirelessly for seven years and after that comes around, we take the next seven off." said Lionus. "It's an old system."

"But wait, what about, you know, days off during the week?" asked Hermione.

"We do have shifts, when you are in training, and when you aren't in a squad. But when you are in a squad, you only get time off when there is no cases that need investigating." said Nightstrike.

If Filch's trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a Squib.

"Have you heard of Kwikspell?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"I heard of it, but nothing much." said Ron. "Uncle Martin talked about it once."

It would explain a lot. Like why he hates students so much." Ron gave a satisfied smile. "He's bitter."

"Why were you happy about that?" said Dr. Clark.

"Cause I won the Foul Filch pool." said Ron excitedly. "Hermione and Harry had to be witnesses, I ended up winning about fifty galleons!"

"Who started this pool?" asked McGonagall angrily. "And what do you mean by 'The Foul Filch?'"

"It's a challenge to find out why he hates the students and to get proof." said Bill excitedly

"It's been around for a long time actually." said Charlie with a bright smile. "Even before Bill and my's time."

"We had the same pool as well." said Sirius, Remus nodded.

"But, shouldn't the amount be much higher if that was the case?" said McGongall confusedly.

"Not when the bet is a knut a person." said Bill with a smile.

"So that means, that it has been a long time, a very long time." said Dumbledore beaming.

"Yeah, almost every Gryffindor puts money in the pot." Fred smiled. "Harry was the only one not to."

"And when someone finally comes up with the proof of why he hates students, they win!" said George.

"For so long, there was no proof, his word doesn't count." said Sirius. "Or I'd of won a long time ago."

"So did anyone come up with a new pool?" asked Remus with a small smile.

"Yeah, the challenge was to find out how old Dumbledore is." said Fred. "We update that every year."

"Who won it?" asked Dumbledore his eyes twinkling madly.

"We're still trying to find that part out." said George. "Whoever wins, they get about thirty sickles." said George.

"I had a hundred even." said Harry. "But I think I remember someone putting down on hundred and thirteen."

"That was me!" said Dennis eagerly.

"We'll get you your money later." said Fred quietly to Dennis.

"You mean you guys were the chosen Keepers of the Challenge?" said Charlie impressed. "I didn't get to be that."

"That's right!" said George importantly. "We were something you weren't."

"And I won the challenge, something no one else in our family did." said Ron importantly.

A clock chimed somewhere. "Midnight," said Harry. "We'd better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else."

"Nice choice of words." said Sirius with a smirk.

"I don't frame anyone." said Snape angrily.

"Never stopped you during our school days." said Sirius. "There wasn't a week you didn't try and pin the blame on us for something we didn't do."

For a few days, the school could talk of little but the attack on Mrs. Norris.

"There was nothing else to talk about." said Harry. "Nothing else happened at all that month."

Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked,

"That couldn't have helped his mental state." said Mrs. Weasley.

as though he thought the attacker might come back. Harry had seen him scrubbing the message on the wall with "Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover",

"Mum loves that stuff." said Charlie with a smile.

but to no effect; the words still gleamed as brightly as ever on the stone.

"What can't be taken off with that stuff." said Bill questioningly.

"Blood or paint." said Harry matter-of-factly.

"Blood?" said Sirius turning pale.

When Filch wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking red-eyed through the corridors,

"Poor Filch." said Luna sorrowfully.

"You're the only one to feel sorry for him." growled George.

"While he doesn't treat others right, it doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve some sympathy for losing his most precious treasure." said Luna dreamily

"Treasure? A cat isn't treasure!" sneered Pansy.

"Treasure can be whatever you hold dear to you. My brother, Aberforth, treasures a beautiful portrait of our dear sister, Ariana." said Dumbledore with a small smile. "It is quite a beautiful painting."

"Your sister?" asked Ron quickly. Hermione nudged him hard in the ribs.

"We lost her many years ago." said Dumbledore sadly. "I go to down to visit him when I'm feeling particularly, out of normal character, I gaze at her picture and I feel myself reverting back into the brother she always knew and admired."

People looked at Dumbledore sadly, not even Remus could look at him skeptically.

"Wow, treasure, that's not treasure huh?" said Dr. Clark.

"My bunnies are my treasure." said Lavender happily.

"My broom." said Draco.

"I'd have to say, my treasure would have to be, my family." said Mr. Weasley with a smile. The Weasleys all beamed.

"What's yours, Sir?" asked Dennis eagerly looking up to Dumbledore.

"Mr. Creevey!" scolded McGonagall.

"Quite alright, Minerva. I am here to answer any student's questions. My treasure would have to be my students." said Dumbledore brightly, but sending a swift, pointed look over to Harry.

"I don't think I have one, now that I think about it." said Sirius pretending to think hard. He slowly moved his hand over to Harry's neck, brought him into a choke hold and pulled him in close. "I don't think I like anything in particular. What about you, Harry? Notice anything I'm particularly fond of?"

"Nope, not a clue." gasped Harry, who smiled largely. Remus and Dr. Clark laughed loudly.

unging at unsuspecting students and trying to put them in detention for things like "breathing loudly" and "looking happy".

"Did he succeed in giving someone detention for that." asked Remus with a snarl.

"He tried, and if they were sent to detention for that, they were just sent to their dorms." said McGonagall. "I had to send a dozen or so to their houses."

Ginny Weasley seemed very disturbed by Mrs. Norris's fate. According to Ron, she was a great cat-lover.

"She always tried bringing stray cats into the house." said Ron with a smile towards his little sister.

"Stray cats don't do well in houses with a pet rat and an ancient owl." said Mr. Weasley, giving his daughter a hug, knowing full well why she wasn't happy, in the book.

"But you hadn't really got to know Mrs. Norris," Ron told her bracingly. "Honestly, we're much better off without her."

"Didn't make her feel any better." said Harry shaking his head.

Ginny's lip trembled. "Stuff like this doesn't often happen at Hogwarts," Ron assured her.

"That didn't help either." said Ginny sadly.

"They'll catch the nutter who did it and have him out of here in no time.

"Hey, I didn't know!" whispered Ron after Hermione sent him a glowering look.

I just hope he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only joking -" Ron added hastily, as Ginny blanched.

"You always knew what to say to brighten a person's mood." said Bill with a smile.

"Gee thanks." said Ron sourly.

"Don't worry about it, Ron. I was just like that, I got better when I turned seventeen." said Bill. "I was book smart, but when it came to talking to girls, I was lousy. I had no sensitivity towards women."

Ron brightened slightly.

The attack had also had an effect on Hermione.

"Were you nervous too?" asked Sirius quickly.

"When she gets nervous, she reads even more than normal." said Harry.

"How can you tell? She's always reading." said Ernie.

"Not two books at once." said Harry fond smile.

It was quite usual for Hermione to spend a lot of time reading, but she was now doing almost nothing else.

"She wasn't talking, or eating, it was getting scary." said Ron.

"She was getting as small as I was." said Harry.

Nor could Harry and Ron get much response from her when they asked what she was up to,

"Oh, we're you asking?" said Hermione stunned.

"Umm…YEAH!" said Harry and Ron.

"We tried everything we could think of that wouldn't blow Harry's cover to try and get you to look and talk to us." said Ron.

"We even tried one of Ron's ideas." said Harry with smile.

"What was that?" asked George.

"Fall down and pretend to have a broken leg." said Harry with a laugh. "Dead depressing when she wouldn't even look up from the book."

and not until the following Wednesday did they find out.

"If it was the year before, silence would have been a good thing, now it distresses you guys?" said Tonks with a smirk.

"Before, we weren't used to her, now it's a bit much to swallow." said Ron.

Harry had been held back in Potions,

"Go figure, he couldn't get you off the team, so he has to do what he can." said Sirius with a low growl.

where Snape had made him stay behind to scrape tubeworms off the desks.

"Oh come on! That is supposed to be a designated detention chore!" said Sirius angrily. "You can't do all the tubeworms that a class uses in one free period."

"He has a point, Severus." said Professor Flitwick, "You shouldn't have had him do that on his lunch period."

"He was messing around." said Professor Snape defensively.

"What did you do?" said Remus sternly.

"Someone made a jar of tubeworms explode, and it wasn't me." said Harry.

"I told you I accidentally did it!" squeaked Neville to Snape.

The staff looked at Neville and turned and stared at Snape slowly.

"Stupid, petty…" mumbled McGonagall. Snape looked uncomfortable he fingered the locket in his pocket.

After a hurried lunch, he went upstairs to meet Ron in the library,

"Gah!" said Fred grabbing his hair.

"You don't even have a good enough excuse to go!" said George.

"Homework is a good excuse!" said Hermione shortly

"But it's not like they're looking for Nicolas Flamel or something!" said Fred.

and saw Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Hufflepuff boy from Herbology coming towards him. Harry had just opened his mouth to say hello when Justin caught sight of him, turned abruptly and sped off in the opposite direction.

"Fine, be that way." said Tonks turning her nose up. "Why did you just up and run like that?"

Justin looked down and scratched the back of his head.

Harry found Ron at the back of the library, measuring his History of Magic homework.

"What is the point of having a certain length for essay questions, people can write as big as they can get away with?" said Emmeline Vance, she was still trying not to meet Nightstrike's eyes for fear of blushing nonstop.

"Despite how big people write Emmeline, it is still the challenge of making sure you stay on topic and to explain what you learned." said Dumbledore brightly.

Professor Binns had asked for a three-foot long composition on "The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards".

"It really must've sucked to be Harry." said Ron with a smile.

"What do you mean?" asked Zacharias. "It sucked for everybody, not just him."

"Yeah, but Harry went through several drafts. He went all out on the first one, and then dumbed down the second one, had me read it, changed it again; read it again, then dragged out the sentences."

"So how many feet did you write?" asked Anthony with shock in his voice.

"About twelve." said Harry. "It's hard to get it right so Ron could understand it."

The teachers stared at Harry. "Mr. Potter, the next assignment you have, write to the fullest capacity you have." said Professor McGonagall.

"Yes ma'am." said Harry shrinking slightly.

"It will be good practice for the W.A.N.D.S test." said Dumbledore with a smile.

"I don't believe it, I'm still eight inches short ..." said Ron furiously, letting go of his parchment, which sprang back into a roll,

"Wow, how did you get self-rolling parchment? That's quality stuff." said George jealously.

"I borrowed some from Harry." said Ron.

"If you read Harry's so many times, how the hell can you be short?" said Fred.

"I already covered what he wrote. I didn't copy!" said Ron quickly looking over to the teachers. "Just wrote in my own words the common sense stuff he wrote down. But I was wishing I took a better look at his second revision."

"If it's for Binns. just turn in what you have, he's not going to notice any difference." said Sirius nonchalantly.

"and Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's tiny."

"How else am I going to write down all I want to." said Hermione.

"Dumb it down." said Harry and Ron together.

"Where is she?" asked Harry, grabbing the tape measure and unrolling his own homework.

"Harry wanted it exactly two feet and eleven and a half inches." said Ron rolling his eyes.

"So sue me for being a perfectionist with my less than perfect scoring homework." said Harry with a smirk

"Somewhere over there," said Ron, pointing along the shelves, "looking for another book. I think she's trying to read the whole library before Christmas."

"That would be an impressive feat." said Dumbledore with a smile.

Harry told Ron about Justin Finch-Fletchley running away from him. "Dunno why you care,

"Why did you care?" asked Ron.

"I hate seeing people run away from me. It's a mite depressing." said Harry.

I thought he was a bit of an idiot," said Ron, scribbling away, making his writing as large as possible.

"Those two things shouldn't be put together. You calling someone an idiot and trying to scrape a passing grade." said Seamus with a laugh.

"All that rubbish about Lockhart being so great -"

"'Rubbish' is an understatement." said Sirius.

Hermione emerged from between the bookshelves. She looked irritable and at last seemed ready to talk to them.

"Um, normal girls, when they're pissed, they don't wanna talk. Not unless you did something wrong." said Charlie.

"Don't we know it, but Hermione isn't all that normal." said Harry with a smile. "When we do something wrong, she lets us know all about it."

"All the copies of Hogwarts: A History have been taken out," she said, sitting down next to Harry and Ron.

"And you didn't bother to tell me you had a copy!" said Hermione pouting.

"Like I said before, you didn't ask." said Harry. "If you had asked, you could have had it. And I thought you were going to buy another copy."

"Why buy a second copy of a book I already have?" said Hermione.

"I have several copies of different books." said Harry.

"As do I." said Dumbledore.

"And there's a two-week waiting list.

"Must have been the first time she ever had to put a waiting list on any book ." said Tonks with a laugh.

"Just goes to show how often you visited the library." said Charlie with smirk. "She's always got a book list on something or other."

"Stuff it." said Tonks irritably.

I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."

"You were better off just not packing those damn books." said Remus.

"Why do you want it?" said Harry.

"The same reason everyone else wants it," said Hermione, "to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."

"What's that?" said Harry quickly.

"I'm amazed she didn't catch on then. I just about slapped my forehead when you answered too fast." said Ron with a smile.

"That's just it. I can't remember," said Hermione, biting her lip. "And I can't find the story anywhere else -"

"That is true, Hogwarts, A History is the only book that holds the entire legend. Other books merely mention it in passing." said Dumbledore thoughtfully.

"Hermione, let me read your composition," said Ron desperately, checking his watch.

"That Mr. Weasley, would be considered cheating." said Professor McGonagall angrily.

"I wasn't going to cheat, I just wanted to look and see if I missed something." said Ron quickly.

"You were in the library, there are tons of books." said Professor Sprout. Ron stammered.

"No, I won't," said Hermione, suddenly severe. "You've had ten days to finish it - "

"Just like any normal boy, saves it for the last minute." said Sirius with a bright smile. He looked over to Harry. "Doing it ahead of the deadline s good too!" he added rapidly, not wishing to hurt is feelings.

"It's alright." said Harry. "I know I'm far from normal."

"I only need another two inches, come on -"

"She won't do it. Just leave it with the two inches not on." said Neville with a smile.

"Yeah, Binns won't notice." said Seamus.

The bell rang. Ron and Hermione led the way to History of Magic, bickering.

"Nothing new." said Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor house, Ron and Hermione blushed heavily.

History of Magic was the dullest subject on their timetable.

"On any timetable." said Charlie.

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.

"Yeah, he's about as exciting as watching a puddle of the floor dry up." said Remus.

Ancient and shriveled, many people said he hadn't noticed he was dead.

"I think he has noticed, it's either that he cannot remember, or that he simply does not care." said Dumbledore with a small smile.

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;

"That is close to what had actually happened." said Dumbledore. "Only it wasn't from his armchair, it was from his bed in his office. He passed away during the night. Imagine our shock when he came down to breakfast like that."

his routine had not varied in the slightest since.

"A true creature of habit." said Professor Sprout fondly.

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,

"Same damn routine." said Sirius with a laugh.

occasionally coming round long enough to copy down a name or date, then falling asleep again.

"A class cannot be taught like that, it is no wonder we haven't had an N.E.W.T.S. History of Magic Class, let alone an O.W.L.S. class." said Professor McGonagall.

"You are right, of course, it is time for a change." said Dumbledore nodding towards his Deputy and looking with a smile towards Remus.

He had been speaking for half an hour when something happened that had never happened before. Hermione put up her hand.

"Really, she's never done that?" said Bill amusedly.

"Not in that class." said Ron and Harry together.

Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed.

"If I was him, I would be amazed that someone was interested enough to wake up and ask a question." said Bill.

"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's elbow slipped off his desk.

"There wasn't a person in there, except for Hermione, that wasn't drooling on their hands." said Harry with a laugh.

Professor Binns blinked. "My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice.

"We know that, just tell us the stupid legend." said Fred rolling his eye.

"I deal with facts, Miss Granger, 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. Hermione's hand was waving in the air again.

"Miss Grant?"

"Worse memory, ever." said George shaking his head.

"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"

"She's got him there." Professor Sprout whispered to Madam Hooch.

Professor Binns was looking at her in such amazement, Harry was sure no student had ever interrupted him before, alive or dead.

"That is true, I don't know of anyone interrupting his monologue." said Sirius.

"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.

"Probably hasn't." muttered George.

"However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale -"

"Which makes it more appealing to kids." said Lionus with a smirk.

But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns's every word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his. Harry could tell he was completely thrown by such an unusual show of interest.

"The look on his face was priceless." said Ron laughing.

"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 Huffelpuff, Rowena Ravenclawand 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.

"He was hoping we were bored." said Dean.

"I hope he doesn't stop!" said Dr. Clark, leaning forward eagerly. He was excited to learn more, he was the polar opposite of Mr. Weasley, whereas Mr. Weasley was excited over Muggle things and history. Dr. Clark was overeager towards everything magical.

"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 moreselective 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.

"What was the argument about?" asked Dr. Clark looking over to Dumbledore quickly. "Was it about student selection?"

"It was about Godric wooing and courting a woman with non-magical parents." said Dumbledore. "Some people say that Slytherin didn't think the woman was good enough for Gryffindor."

"Other people say that Slytherin wanted to marry the Muggleborn woman too." said Harry flipping through his black notebook.

"THAT'S A LIE!" shrieked Pansy.

"Actually, it is becoming more and more plausible, to Magical Historians, that Salazar Slytherin did have affections towards a Muggleborn woman." said Dumbledore with a kind smile.

Pansy paled and growled towards the venerable old man.

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.

"Why would he build a chamber and not tell anyone about it?" asked Dr. Clark.

"You're like a kid a museum, asking all sorts of questions and not waiting for the guide to tell you." said Harry with a smile.

"A kid, huh?" said Dr. Clark with a sneer. "Get over here!" He took Harry by the arm and pulled him over to himself. He reached down behind Harry's knee and tickled the bend behind Harry's knees. "You gonna take it back?"

"YES! YES! I'M SORRY! PLEASE!" Harry laughed and screamed all at the same time.

"Slytherin, according to 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,

"I'm taking a hint from the name that there is something inside that Chamber." said Dr. Clark with a worried smile, he was still holding onto Harry.

"Yeah, there is something down there." said Harry quietly. Dr. Clark gave a small whimper.

unleash the horror within,

Sirius and Remus coughed out the air they sucked in and looked over to Harry worriedly.

"You better not have gone after it." said Remus anxiously.

Ginny fidgeted, and Harry bit his lip slightly.

"That doesn't reassure me one bit I'll have you know." said Sirius groaning.

and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

"Wait a minute! If he had a crush on a Muggleborn, why would he create something like that!" yelled a first year Slytherin.

"You don't need to shout, dear, we can hear you." said Professor Sprout over to the young girl.

"Salazar created the Chamber yes, but it was his son who placed the monster in there and set up the defenses. The Chamber was originally just supposed to be a place where he could meditate. However, his son decided to, how do you youngsters say? Amp up his father's story." said Dumbledore.

"Why would he do that?" asked Draco.

"Who knows, perhaps he wanted his father to have a horror story attached to him." said Hermione thoughtfully.

There was a 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.

"He was annoyed that students were actually interested in what he had to say? That's a little backwards." said Dr. Clark with a smirk.

"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.

"And yet it was found by three young, meager learned students." said Ron in a giggly whisper.

A tale told to frighten the gullible."

Hermione's hand was back in the air.

"She never gives up." said Remus with a smile. "Not till she learns everything she can."

"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.

"So when they are talking about heir of Slytherin…they're talking about the heir of Salazar's son?" said a third year Ravenclaw.

"It is. Salazar did have some grudges against Muggleborns, but I think once he met Godric's wife to be, Elinia, he lost his prejudices and left broken hearted."

"So if he decided to like Muggleborns, why was his son so anti-Muggle?" asked Fred.

Dumbledore shook his head. "He didn't approve of his father leaving his mother pregnant and going to parts unknown." said Dumbledore. "Though Salazar did leave the mother of his child with all of his possessions and his money as he left on a soul-searching quest."

"Wow, poor psychotic guy." said George shaking his head.

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."

"Tell that to the person who wrote the message on the wall." said Ernie.

Ginny whimpered quietly.

"But, sir," said Seamus Finnegan, "if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"

"Not really." said Dumbledore with a smile. "Someone with a particular talent could find it."

"Nonsense, O'Flaherty,"

"Not even close." said Seamus with a laugh.

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 Pavarti Patil, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it -"

Harry flinched slightly.

Remus saw this, but was confused as to the reason why.

"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 -"

"So you couldn't find it?" asked Dr. Clark.

"No, I was unable to find it. However, it was found in the end." said Dumbledore.

"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't -" began Dean Thomas, but Professor Binns had had enough.

"I've never pushed him so far to have him ticked." said Sirius.

"That's because you always fell asleep five minutes into the class." said Remus snidely.

"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!

"So you looked for something only based on legend, Sir?" asked Anthony in shock.

"I have investigated many different things that were merely mentioned in tales and legends." said Dumbledore with a bright smile. "Four out of ten tales were proven to be true and vast treasures and magical knowledge were gained. So it is best to not disregard a chance to learn something new."

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.

"Every head had just fallen and hit the desks." said Hermione with a smirk. "Ron had a slight dent in his head from falling so hard."

"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony," Ron told Harry and Hermione, as they fought their way through the teeming corridors at the end of the lesson to drop off their bags before dinner.

"Salazar wasn't crazy, his son was though." said Harry with a smile.

"But I never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid , if the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd've got the train straight back home ..."

"To be honest so would I." said Fred and George together.

"My mother wasn't happy when I told her something close to what Ron said." said Sirius.

Hermione nodded fervently,

"We wouldn't have taken you anyway Granger." sneered Pansy. "It would be a disgrace to our house to have a filthy Muggleborn sleeping there."

As people shouted and defended Hermione, Harry slipped his foot underneath the bowl. He nudged his foot towards the knapsack tucked away and pulled it slowly forward.

The moment that a third year sat down and the path was clear from Harry to Pansy, he kicked the bag into the air, reached into the open knapsack and pulled out a small balloon. He threw it at Pansy and before she could raise her wand to stop it, it exploded a centimeter away from her nose. When the smoke cleared, her friends and fellow housemates noticed that Pansy's pink face, was now covered in black slime.

"What did you DO, Potter!" screeched Pansy.

"It's sort of obvious what I did, but what will be more amusing, is you trying to get that stuff off." said Harry with a wicked grin and leaning back in the bowl satisfied.

Pansy pulled and tugged at the slime coating her face but all it did was snap back onto her skin and caused her to let out a shriek.

"Get this off me!" screamed Pansy and glaring as best she could over to Harry, but had a hard time, due to the slime dangling from her eyelashes.

"There is nothing I can do about taking that stuff off, you're stuck like that. Least for the next fifty-seven hours." said Harry grinning happily. "Though it will get worse before it gets better."

"How? Tell me!" demanded Pansy.

"And ruin the surprise? That wouldn't be nearly as fun." sneered Harry.

"PROFESSOR!" shrieked Pansy.

"I didn't see a thing, best go to the bathroom, Miss Parkinson, you have something on your face." said Snape coldly. Pansy looked between Harry and Snape than ran as fast as she could out of the room.

"Shall we continue?" drawled Snape. Sirius stared at Snape with shock and surprise.

"Did he just go along with what you did to Pansy." said Sirius in disbelief.

"He did." said Harry with a smile towards the Potions teacher, who ignored him completely.

but Harry didn't say anything. His stomach had just dropped unpleasantly.

"Were you sick, Mr. Potter?" asked Madam Pomfrey quickly.

"Sort of." said Harry stuffing the knapsack back under the bowl.

Harry had never told Ron and Hermione that the Sorting Hat had seriously considered puttinghim in Slytherin. He could remember it as though it was yesterday, the small voice that had spoken in his ear when he'd placed the Hat on his head a year before. "You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that ..."

But Harry, who had already heard of Slytherin house's reputation for turning out dark wizards, had thought desperately, "Not Slytherin!" and the Hat had said, "Oh well, if you're sure ... better be Gryffindor ..."

"Harry, you really shouldn't have been worrying about that. It's pretty often that some students fit into just one house." said Dumbledore kindly. "I was placed in Gryffindor and yet I could have been easily placed into three separate houses."

"What houses, sir? Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff?" asked Cormac loudly.

"No, Mr. McClaggan. Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin." said Dumbledore with a smile.

No one moved from shock.

"You have got to be kidding me." said Sirius in a whisper, his eyes wide.

"It is true, I am what is considered a Pureblood and in my younger days, I wouldn't be considered an approachable person. I was more into my learning and improving my skills and connections and spreading my name to the far corners of the world. I, in what seems to be in every sense, the complete opposite of you, dear boy." said Dumbledore with a fond smile over to Harry.

"What?" asked Harry stunned.

"You relish your friends and the time you spend with them. I was only interested in accelerating my learning and forsaking all those around me. I would maintain a decent relationship with my fellow students. But no more than what would have been deemed mildly polite.

"But since then, I have developed friendships with my old schoolmates, to make up for lost time." said Dumbledore, his warm smile turning to a sorrowful one.

Hermione stared at Dumbledore, but shook her head and bravely went on with the reading.

As they were shunted along the throng, Colin Creevey went past. "Hiya, Harry!"

"Hullo, Colin," said Harry automatically.

"Harry - Harry - a boy in my class has been saying you're -"

"You mean to tell me that people were starting to say that Harry was the heir?" said Remus his mouth agape.

"His family tree isn't a direct line from Slytherin! At the most he's like a one hundred and twenty-fifth cousin, four times removed!" said Sirius irritably.

"Actually, I'm a little closer related to him than that." said Harry.

"Hey, I'm trying to defend you here." said Sirius clapping a hand to Harry's mouth.

But Colin was so small he couldn't fight against the tide of people bearing him towards the Great Hall; they heard him squeak, "See you, Harry!" and he was gone.

"What's a boy in his class saying about you?" Hermione wondered.

"Were you going to go and defend Harry's honor?" asked Dr. Clark with a smile.

"I still want to smack who ever started that rumor." said Hermione angrily.

"What can a girl do?" sneered Zacharias.

"She can hit real hard." said Draco rubbing his cheek.

"That I'm Slytherin's heir, I expect, "said Harry, his stomach dropping another inch or so,

Remus gave Harry a reassuring hug. "Anyone with some sense knows you aren't the heir."

as he suddenly remembered the way Justin Finch-Fletchley had run away from him at lunchtime.

"People here'll believe anything," said Ron in disgust.

"That's true. Just look at what happened this year. All the lives you saved, and they believe the person who didn't even witness what had happened." said Hermione bitterly.

The crowd thinned and they were able to climb the next staircase without difficulty. "D'youreally think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked Hermione.

"I don't know," she said, frowning. "Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs. Norris and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be - well - human."

"Did you and Harry have any ideas at that time?" asked Hermione sternly.

"Nope." said Harry and Ron. "Not a clue. And if we had any idea, we would have told you."

"You were border lining, freaking out." said Ron.

As she spoke, they turned a corner and found themselves at the end of the very corridor where the attack had happened. They stopped and looked.

"You kids don't need to be there. You were traumatized enough for one year." said Emmeline.

The scene was just as it had been that night, except that there was no stiff cat hanging from the torch bracket, and an empty chair stood against the wall bearing the message "The Chamber has been opened."

"Get out of there. You don't really want to be seen in there." said Bill anxiously.

"That's where Filch has been keeping guard," Ron muttered.

They looked at each other. The corridor was deserted.

"Can't hurt to have a poke around," said Harry, dropping his bag and getting to his hands and knees so that he could crawl along, searching for clues.

"On your hands and knees?" said Tonks in shock.

"James taught him to examine every little piece of information." said Dr. Clark.

"Never leave a clue unfound." said Harry with a fond smile.

"Scorch marks!" he said. "Here - and here -"

"You can find scorch marks on a wall? And a brick wall to boot?" said Kingsley highly impressed.

Both Lionus and Moody grinned excitedly.

"Come and look at this!" said Hermione. "This is funny ..."

Harry got up and crossed to the window next to the message on the wall. Hermione was pointing at the topmost pane, where around twenty spiders were scuttling, apparently fighting to get through a small crack in the glass. A long, silvery thread was dangling like a rope, as though they had all climbed it in their hurry to get outside.

Ron twitched nervously.

"It's okay." said Hermione soothingly to Ron.

"Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" said Hermione wonderingly.

"No," said Harry, "have you, Ron? Ron?" He looked over his shoulder. Ron was standing well back, and seemed to be fighting the impulse to run. "What's up?" said Harry.

"I - don't - like - spiders," said Ron tensely.

Fred started to smile, but was soundly slapped on the back of his head. He looked up and saw both his brother Charlie and his mother.

"You owe him a large apology." said Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes, Mum. Sorry Ron." said Fred.

"I never knew that," said Hermione, looking at Ron in surprise. "You've used spiders in potions loads of times ..."

"I don't mind them dead," said Ron, who was carefully looking anywhere but at the window. "I just don't like the way they move ..."

Hermione giggled.

"That's not funny Miss Granger." said McGonagall sternly.

"I'm sorry, Ron." said Hermione quietly.

"It's not funny," said Ron fiercely. "If you must know, when I was three, Fred turned my - my teddy bear into a dirty great spider because I broke his toy broomstick...

"And he had to stay home instead of going to London that day." said Mr. Weasley, sending a rare scowl to his third youngest son.

You wouldn't like them either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and ..."

Dr. Clark shivered, "You're making me arachnophobic."

He broke off, shuddering. Hermione was obviously still trying not to laugh.

Ron glared at Hermione, who stared intently at the floor.

Feeling they had better get off the subject, Harry said, "Remember all that water on the floor? Where did that come from? Someone's mopped it up."

"You don't miss a thing don't you?" said Nightstrike with a smile.

"How could I miss it? I ruined my favorite pair of hand knitted socks." said Harry miserably. "Now they can only fit a small baby doll."

"It was about here," said Ron, recovering himself to walk a few paces past Filch's chair and pointing. "Level with this door."

"Good eyes, you remember that, despite the shocking scene that laid before you." said Moody nodding approvingly.

Ron smiled brightly.

He reached for the brass doorknob but suddenly withdrew his hand as though he'd been burned.

"What's the matter?" asked Remus.

"What's the matter?" said Harry.

"Aw! Isn't that cute?" cooed Sirius. Remus cuffed him sharply.

"Can't go in there," said Ron gruffly, "that's a girls' toilet."

"That would keep me out of there." said Sirius.

"Sure it would." said Remus rolling his eyes.

"Oh, Ron, there won't be anyone in there," said Hermione, standing up and coming over. "That's Moaning Myrtle's place. Come on, let's have a look."

"Mrs. Granger!" said Professor Sprout in shock.

Hermione blushed and shuffled her feet.

And ignoring the large "OUT OF ORDER" sign, she opened the door. It was the gloomiest, most depressing bathroom Harry had ever set foot in. Under a large, cracked and spotted mirror were a row of chipped, stone sinks. The floor was damp and reflected the dull light given off by stubs of a few candles burning low in their holders; the wooden doors to the cubicles were flaking and scratched and one of them was dangling off its hinges.

"So why doesn't anyone clean that bathroom?" asked Remus.

"Every time we try, the bathroom is destroyed within two hours." said Dumbledore. "Not even protective charms can prevent the damage.

Hermione put her fingers to her lips and set off towards the end cubicle. When she reached it she said, "Hello, Myrtle, how are you?" Harry and Ron went to look. Moaning Myrtle was floating on the cistern of the toilet, picking a spot on her chin.

"This is a girl's bathroom," she said, eyeing Ron and Harry suspiciously. "They're not girls."

"Thank god." said Harry and Ron.

"I beg your pardon." said Hermione indignantly.

"Us? As girls? We like our attempt at a simple life, thank you." said Harry.

"Can you imagine going through that once a month thing?" whispered Ron smiling wickedly.

"I'm afraid I'd have to shoot you." said Harry with faked seriousness.

"No," Hermione agreed. "I just wanted to show them how - er - nice it is in here."

"No one in their right mind would believe you." said Remus shaking his head.

She waved vaguely at the dirty old mirror and the damp floor.

"And that's just a part of the reason." said Sirius with a laugh.

"Ask her if she saw anything," Harry mouthed at Hermione.

"What are you whispering?" said Myrtle, staring at him.

"Nothing," said Harry quickly. "We wanted to ask -"

"I wasn't lying technically, I mouthed it, I didn't whisper it." said Harry with a small smile.

"I wish people would stop talking behind my back!" said Myrtle, in a voice choked with tears. "Ido have feelings, you know, even if I am dead."

"No one ever said she didn't have feelings." said Ginny.

"She tends to hear things that go unsaid." said Luna softly.

"Myrtle, no one wants to upset you," said Hermione. "Harry only -"

"No one wants to upset me! That's a good one!" howled Myrtle. "My life was nothing but misery at this place and now people come along ruining my death!"

"She really likes drama, doesn't she?" said Fred quietly.

"We wanted to ask you if you'd seen anything funny lately," said Hermione quickly, "because a cat was attacked right outside your front door on Halloween."

"Did you see anyone near here that night?" said Harry.

"I wasn't paying attention," said Myrtle dramatically.

"Wow, Harry, you must be the first person to get a straight answer out of her." said Luna with a dreamlike smile. "She must really like you."

Ron snorted.

"Peeves upset me so much I came in here that night and tried to kill myself. Then, of course, I remembered that I'm - that I'm -"

"Already dead," said Ron helpfully.

"That's not helpful." said a majority of the school.

"Hit the deck." said Sirius holding onto Harry with a small smile.

Myrtle gave a tragic sob, rose up in the air, turned over and dived head first into the toilet, splashing water all over them and vanishing from sight; from the direction of her muffled sobs, she had come to rest somewhere in the U-bend.

"She splashed you with toilet water? That's nasty." said Sirius pushing Harry away slightly.

"Beats drinking out of it." said Harry nastily.

"Ooh! Burn!" said Fred and George excitedly.

"I'm going to get you for that!" said Sirius laughingly.

Harry and Ron stood there with their mouths open, but Hermione shrugged wearily and said, "Honestly, that was almost cheerful for Myrtle ... come on, let's go." Harry barely closed the door on Myrtle's gurgling sobs when a loud voice made all three of them jump.

"What happened now?" said Remus worriedly.

"RON!"

Percy Weasley had stopped dead at the head of the stairs, prefect badge agleam, an expression of complete shock on his face.

"Worse than I thought." said Sirius with a smile.

"That's a girls' bathroom!" he gasped. "What were you -?"

"Brother dear, I've got a secret to tell you." said Charlie in a high pitched voice.

Fred and George snorted loudly. "When did you get to be so funny?"

"I've always been funny, I just don't show it." said Charlie with a mischievous smile.

"Just having a look around," Ron shrugged. "Clues, you know ..." Percy swelled in a manner that reminded Harry forcefully of Mrs. Weasley.

Percy looked over to his mother the back of his neck turned a faint pink.

"Get - away - from - there -" he said, striding towards them and starting to chivvy them along, flapping his arms.

"You looked like a giant red haired bird." said Harry with a smirk.

"Don't you care what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner ..."

"Nice to know that you believe us." said Ron bitterly.

"Why shouldn't we be here?" said Ron hotly, stopping short and glaring at Percy. "Listen, we never laid a finger on that cat!"

"That's what I told Ginny," said Percy fiercely,

"Did he?" asked Bill.

"He overheard me talking to Fred and George and tried to be the voice of reason." said Ginny.

"but she still seems to think you're going to be expelled; I've never seen her so upset, crying her eyes out. You might think of her, all the first-years are thoroughly over-excited by this business -"

"Excited? You picked the word excited?" said Ginny angrily. "I was freaking and so was all the other Gryffindor first years and you describe it as excited?"

"Well…I…" stuttered Percy, but fell silent.

"You don't care about Ginny," said Ron, whose ears were reddening now. "You're just worried I'm going to mess up your chances of being Head Boy!"

Mrs. Weasley looked between her two children, who stared at each other.

"Boys…knock it off." said Mr. Weasley sternly. Both boys looked down and away.

"Five points from Gryffindor!" Percy said tersely, fingering his prefect badge. "And I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more detective work or I'll write to Mum!"

"That hurts." said Fred.

"No fair, dragging her into this, least not this early in the fight." said George.

And he strode off, the back of his neck as red as Ron's ears.

Both young men smirked.

Harry, Ron and Hermione chose seats as far as possible from Percy in the common room that night.

Percy looked down hurtfully.

"You brought it on yourself." said Charlie shortly.

Ron was still in a very bad temper and kept blotting his Charms homework. When he reached absently for his wand to remove smudges, it ignited the parchment.

"Bad day for Ron." said George.

"You have no idea, I was almost done with it." said Ron.

Fuming almost as much as his homework,

Several students laughed loudly.

"Wow, Harry, you're funnier than hell." said Fred.

Ron slammed The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 shut. To Harry's surprise, Hermione followed suit.

"It scared me." said Harry with a fond smile.

"Who can it be, though?" she said in a quiet voice, as though continuing a conversation they had just been having.

"I thought she lost her mind." said Ron.

"Who'd want all the Squibs and Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts?"

"Let's think," said Ron in mock puzzlement. "Who do we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum?"

"We know where he's going with it." said George with a nod to his brother.

He looked at Hermione. Hermione looked back, unconvinced.

"If you're talking about Malfoy -"

"Who else? At the time anyway." said Lee, looking over at the paled face of Draco.

"Of course I am!" said Ron. "You heard him: 'You'll be next, Mudbloods!' Come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him -"

Draco looked over to Ron, with the beginnings of a scowl on his face.

"Malfoy, the heir of Slytherin?" said Hermione skeptically.

"You don't believe he could be it?" said Moody thoughtfully.

"He doesn't have the brains to be behind it." said Hermione, not looking at Draco.

"Look at his family," said Harry, closing his books, too. "The whole lot of them has been in Slytherin, he's always boasting about it. They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough."

"We aren't his descendants." said Draco seriously. "But I can't argue with the part about my father." he finished silently.

Professor Snape heard his whispers and patted Draco on the back.

"They could've had the key to the Chamber of Secrets for centuries!" said Ron. "Handing it down, father to son ..."

"You're grasping at straws." said Lionus with a smile.

"Well," said Hermione cautiously, "I suppose it's possible ..."

"But how do we prove it?" said Harry darkly.

"You didn't buy it did you?" said Sirius with a smirk.

"I was out of options, I was willing to eliminate people." said Harry quietly.

"There might be a way," said Hermione slowly, dropping her voice still further with a quick glance across the room at Percy. "Of course, it would be difficult. And dangerous, very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect."

"Sounds like she's already got a plan." said Remus thoughtfully.

"If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" said Ron irritably.

"Funny, you should have mention a month." said Hermione with a smirk

"What are you driving at?" asked Dr. Clark.

"All right," said Hermione coldly. "What we'd need to do is to get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us."

"What?" asked Draco dumbfounded.

"Good luck with that." said Neville with a smile.

"But that's impossible," Harry said, as Ron laughed.

"Oh, really?" asked Hermione with a smug look.

"Impossible for two twelve year olds, with only two years of magical learning under their belts." said Harry.

"No, it's not," said Hermione. "All we'd need would be some Polyjuice Potion."

The adults gasped and Snape stared fixedly at Hermione, Ron and Harry.

"Where do you kids think you are going to get it?" asked Remus.

"We were going to make it!" said Hermione happily.

"I wouldn't be happy if I were you." growled Snape. Hermione shrunk back and looked down.

"What's that?" said Ron and Harry together.

"You both knew about it, after all didn't you!" said Hermione angrily.

"Well…" said Ron tenderly.

"Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago -"

"D'you think we've got nothing better to do in Potions than listen to Snape?" muttered Ron.

"I would hope that listening to me in Potions class would be the most important thing." said Snape with an irritated voice.

"It transforms you into somebody else. Think about it! We could change into three of the Slytherins.

Several Gryffindors gagged horribly.

No one would know it was us. Malfoy would probably tell us anything. He's probably boasting about it in the Slytherin common room right now, if only we could hear him."

"You kids really plan on taking Polyjuice and sneaking into the Slytherin common room?" said Tonks impressed.

"This Polyjuice Potion stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me," said Ron, frowning. "What if we were stuck looking like three of the Slytherins for ever?"

"That would be a nightmare." said Sirius shuddering.

"It wears off after a while," said Hermione, waving her hand impatiently, "but getting hold of the recipe will be very difficult...

"It is very hard. You must have a teacher's permission to get that particular book out of the Restricted Section." said Dumbledore.

Snape said it was in a book called Moste Potente Potions and it's bound to be in the Restricted Section of the library."

"Correct." said Dumbledore with a smile.

There was only one way to get out a book from the Restricted Section: you needed a signed note of permission from a teacher. "Hard to see why we'd want the book, really," said Ron, "if we weren't going to try and make one of the potions."

"Another sage thought. Very good Mr. Weasley." said Dumbledore happily.

"I think," said Hermione, "that if we made it sound as though we were just interested in the theory, we might stand a chance ..."

"Not likely." said McGonagall tapping her foot.

"Oh, come on, no teacher's going to fall for that," said Ron. "They'd have to be really thick ..."

"Go to Lockhart." said Sirius and Remus together.