Effervescence | h.p.

ii | ix. mysterious murmurs

And that's when Lyra heard it.

" . . . rip . . . tear . . . kill . . . "

It was the same voice — the same cold, murderous voice she'd heard in Lockhart's office.

Stumbling to a suspicious halt, clutching at the stone wall, and looking around, she attracted the attention of the other three, who looked on with confusion.

"Ly, what're you — ?"

"Shh — it's that voice again — shut up a minute — "

" . . . soo hungry . . . for sso long . . . "

"Listen!" she sharply told them, and Hermione, Harry, and Ron froze, watching her.

" . . . kill . . . time to kill . . . "

The voice was growing fainter; Lyra was sure it was moving away — moving upward.

"This way," said Lyra, and she began to run up the stairs, into the entrance hall. Lyra, unable to hear anything over the babble of talk from the Halloween feast, sprinted up the marble staircase to the first floor, the others clattering behind.

"Lyra, what're we — "

"SHH!"

Distantly, from above the floor above, and growing fainter, she heard the voice again: " . . . I smell blood . . . I SMELL BLOOD!"

"It's going to kill someone!" she whispered in bewilderment, and she ran up the next flight of steps as far as her legs would bring her at a time.

Lyra hurtled around the whole second floor, quickly wandering into the last, deserted passage.

"Lyra, what was that all about?" said Ron, wiping sweat off his face. "I couldn't hear anything. . . . "

But Hermione gave a sudden gasp, pointing down the corridor.

"Look!"

Something was shining on the wall ahead. They approached slowly, breathing heavily and squinting through the darkness. Foot-high words had been covering the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by flaming torches.

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

"What's that thing — hanging underneath?" said Ron, a slight quiver in his voice.

As they edged closer, Harry nearly slipped, as there was a large puddle of water on the floor; Lyra and Hermione grabbed him, and they inched toward the message, eyes fixed on a dark shadow beneath it. All four of them realized what it was at once and leapt backward with a splash.

Mrs. Norris was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket. She was stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring.

For a few seconds, they didn't move. Then Ron said, "Let's get out of here."

"Shouldn't we try and help — " Harry began awkwardly.

"Trust me," said Ron. "We don't want to be found here."

But it was too late. From either end of the corridor where they stood, hundreds of feet climbed stairs following the obvious end of the feast. The next moment, students were crashing into the passage from both ends.

All the chatter, bustle, and noise that accompanied the students died suddenly as the people in front spotted the hanging cat. Lyra, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood alone, in the middle of the corridor as silence fell among the mass of students pressing forward to see the gruesome sight.

Then a voice coldly shouted through the quiet.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"