Ellie Collins and the True Heir of Slytherin

Chapter Seven: The Writing on the Wall

"...Rip...tear...kill..."
What? Ellie shot up from her hospital bed that night to a voice that sounded cold and murderous. She clutched the blanket covering her, hard. She listened with all her might, looking around, squinting up and down the dimly lit passageway.
"...So Hungry... for so long..."
"...kill...time to kill..."
The voice was growing fainter. Ellie was sure it was moving away- moving upward. A mixture of fear and excitement gripped her as she stared at the dark ceiling; how could it be moving upward? Was it a phantom?
"That way..." she said to herself, and immediately raced out of the bed, down the hall, and up the stairs into the entrance hall. It was so quiet, for everyone was sleeping silently in their dorms.
Ellie strained her ears. Distantly from the floor above, and growing fainter still growing fainter still, she heard the voice. "... I smell blood..."
Her stomach lurched -
"This isn't good..." she said to herself. She hurtled the whole of the second floor, not stopping until she turned a corner into the last, deserted passage.
Oh God... She thought. She approached slowly, squinting through the darkness. Foot-high words had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming by the torches.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED, ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE.

W-What?... Ellie spotted something hanging lifeless underneath. Mrs. Norris, the caretakers cat, was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket.

Ellie heard the scattering of footsteps running toward her location.
"What's going on here? Who's up here?" Argus Filch came shouldering his way down the hall to her. He then 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 Ellie. "You!" He screeched. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"
"Argus!"
Dumbledore had arrived, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds he swept past Ellie, in between her and Filch.
Dumbledore was now muttering strange words under his breath and tapping Mrs. Norris with his wand, but nothing happened.
At last Dumbledore straightened up.
"She's not dead Argus." he said softly. "She has been petrified. But how I cannot say..."
"Ask her!!!" Filch spat pointing at Ellie.
"No second year could have done this," said Dumbledore firmly. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced."
"My cat is Petrified. I want to see some punishment! " Filch raged.
"We will be able to cure her Argus." Dumbledore turned to Ellie. "You may go."
-
As Ellie walked into Transfiguration class, everyone turned around, even Malfoy. However, he was the first to turn back around.
She placed her stuff on the empty desk in the back and put her head in her arms in embarrassment. Rumor obviously has gotten out not only to all of Gryffindor, but to all of Slytherin.
Nicole moved to the back to sit by Ellie who was currently sitting alone, being selective of her seat.
Ten minutes past of nothing but lectures and questions until Nicoel shot her hand in the air. Ellie could tell she was curious about something.
"Yes Miss Ross?" Professor McGonagall tilted her head slightly.
"Professor, I was wondering..." She paused.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?"
The Chamber of Secrets? Ellie thought. She had never heard of something called the Chamber of Secrets.
The Professor held a long pause, each student looking at her curiously, including Ellie.
"... Well I...." The professor stuttered. "... Let it be so..." The Professor sighed.
The professor put down the pointer she was using to teach with and placed her pen on her desk.
"As each of you know, Hogwarts was founded by four great wizards, one of the being Salazar Slytherin..." The professor looked around and started to pace the class, her green robe dragging the floor. "He, however, believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle blood. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject beween Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school." She paused again and looked at the floor. "Reliable historical sources tell us this much," she said. "But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Salazar had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing about."
"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. unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."
"But Professor," Ellie finally spoke up. "What does legend tell us is hidden in the Chamber of Secrets?"
"That is said to be the home, of a monster..." The professor stopped pacing. "One in which only the Heir of Slytherin can control."