The Young Padfoot *Book One*

The Legend of the Chamber

As everyone was either staring at the wall or at the four of us, people were being shoved to the side as a certain caretaker shouldered his way through the crowd.

"What's going on here? What's going on?" Filch's voice echoed around the walls before he came to a stop right in front of us. He looked at Harry with pure loathing before his eyes wandered over to the wall and his hanging cat. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs Norris?" Everyone remained silent as Filch turned back to Harry. "You. You've murdered my cat. You've killed her! I'll kill you!" Filch then grabbed onto Harry's cloak but before anyone could stop him, Dumbledore and a few other teachers joined the chaos.

"Argus!" Dumbledore called over the crowd. In seconds he had swept past us all and lifted Mrs Norris off of the torch bracket. "Come with me, Argus. You too, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger and Miss Black."

I shared a glance with Ron, who simply shrugged his shoulder.

"My office is nearest, Headmaster—just upstairs—please feel free..." Lockhart said eagerly stepping forward.

"Thank you, Gilderoy," Dumbledore said. He then gestured for the four of us to follow him.

We obeyed and trailed off after him, Professors McGonagall, and Snape not far behind. The crowd parted out of the way as we walked by and if we weren't in such a crappy situation, I would have found it quite cool, I would have felt like bloody royalty.

As we entered Lockhart's office, the lights around the room started to individually light up showing the dozens upon dozens of photos that Lockhart had of himself around the place. Even with this being such a serious problem, I couldn't help but let out a small scoff when I saw the photos coming out to see what was going on. Some of them had still got their hair in rollers, others had sleep masks on the top of their heads. The real Lockhart was now lighting candles on his desk while Dumbledore laid Mrs Norris on the table. McGonagall gestured for us to sit in the three chairs just outside the candlelight.

Dumbledore was now bent over the table, his nose barely an inch from Mrs Norris as he examined her and tried to find the source of her state. Now that McGonagall had us seated, she had also joined the examination of the cat as she, too, was bent down looking at Mrs Norris. Snape, on the other hand was simply watching from the shadows, a strange look upon his face. And as for Lockhart, well, he was as he usually is, hovering around and speaking nonsense that he would class as an intelligent response.

"It was definitely a curse that killer her—probably the Transmogrifian Torture. I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very counter-curse that would have saved her..." Lockhart rambled on.

The only other sound that could be heard over Lockhart's rambling and the frequent crackle of a flame was the dry, racking sobs coming from Filch. He was slumped over in a chair behind the desk, head in his hands, crying loudly. As much as I hated the man, I couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for him. That being said, I didn't feel anywhere near as sorry for him as I did the four of us; if Dumbledore believed Filch, we would surely be expelled.

By now Dumbledore had begun experimenting with counter-curses. He was muttering them under his breath before tapping Mrs Norris with his wand. Each time nothing happened and Mrs Norris remained very much the same.

"I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadougou. A series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography. I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets which cleared the matter up at once..." Lockhart continued to boast about 'his success'. As he spoke, many of his portraits were nodding along.

But finally, Dumbledore decided it was time to shut Lockhart up.

"She's not dead, Argus," Dumbledore said, making everyone look at him in confusion.