𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐥𝐞 | h. granger

xxvi | the message on the wall

Downstairs Corridor

── •✧• ──

𝐃𝐀𝐊𝐎𝐓𝐀 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. Draco had gone to McGonagall while the others were with Ron at Hagrid's hut. She didn't see how this was fair when he was constantly picking fights with them. She'd explained to McGonagall that he started it by calling Hermione a Mudblood, and the woman responded by saying that she was to come straight to her in the future instead of throwing the first punch.

It could've been worse. She could've been stuck doing detention with Lockhart like Harry or polishing trophies with Filch like Ron. The only thing McGonagall was making her do was practice Transfigurations that she had struggled with last year. When her detention was over, she decided to go find Harry and tell him goodnight before returning to the Slytherin dorms.

She found him walking close to the wall, his ear pressed against it. She rushed to catch up with him, frowning softly as she tried to figure out what he was doing. When they turned a corner, they ran into Ron, Hermione, and Aliyah.

"Harry, Kota, there you are," Hermione said.

"Did you hear it?" Harry asked.

"Hear what?" Dakota questioned.

"That voice."

"Voice?" Aliyah frowned. "What voice?"

"I heard it first in Lockhart's office, and then again just. . ." Harry's sentence trailed off. He stared down the hall. "It's moving. I think it's going to kill."

"Kill?" Ron gasped.

Harry took off down the hall, the other four following him. They reached another corridor and took a right. Harry came to a stop at a trail of spiders. "Strange," he said. "I've never seen spiders act like that."

"I don't like spiders," Ron whimpered.

"What's that?" Aliyah asked, pointing at a reflection in a pool of water on the floor. She lifted her finger and raised her gaze to the wall, which had a message written in what she hoped was really dark red paint.

"'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened,'" Dakota read. "'Enemies of the heir, beware.'"

"It's written in blood," Hermione noted, gulping.

"Oh, no." Harry spotted something hanging from one of the torches. "It's Filch's cat. . .It's Mrs. Norris."

Chatter and footsteps filled the corridor as students were walking the paths back to their common rooms for the night. They all stopped when they saw the message on the wall. Colin raised his camera to take a picture, but Hadley pushed it down, shaking her head.

"'Enemies of the heir, beware'?" Draco sent Dakota, Hermione, and Aliyah a cocky grin. "You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

"You wanna say that again?" Dakota dared, stepping forward to attack him again, only for Hermione and Aliyah to both pull her back.

"What's going on here?" Filch asked as he came forward, pushing himself through the crowd of students. His eyes narrowed at Harry. "Potter. What are you. . . ?" His gaze lifted to Mrs. Norris on the torch holder, horror washing across his face. "You've. . .murdered my cat."

"N-No," Harry shook his head.

"I'll kill ya," Filch said calmly. He then grabbed Harry by the collar of his robe and uniform shirt. "I'll kill ya!"

"Don't touch my cousin!" Dakota shouted as she rushed forward to free Harry from the man's clutches. "We found her like that, I swear, you grumpy old git!"

"Argus!" Dumbledore shouted as he approached with Professors Sprout, McGonagall, Snape, and Lockhart. "Argus, I. . ." Dumbledore trailed off when he saw what was written on the wall. "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately. Everyone except. . ." he pointed to Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dakota, and Aliyah, "you five."

Ophelia put a gentle hand on Lyra's back when she saw the girl staring horror-struck at the wall. "Come on, Lyra. It's probably just someone pulling a prank. It's nothing to worry about."

"It's everything to worry about," Lyra whispered, gulping as Ophelia led her to the Hufflepuff Common Room.

"She's not dead, Argus," Dumbledore told him as the other students dispersed. "She has been petrified."

"Ah, I thought so," Lockhart said. "So unlucky I wasn't there. I know exactly the counter-curse that could've spared her."

Dakota rolled her eyes. This man couldn't go five seconds without bragging about his so-called knowledge and accomplishments.

"But how she has been petrified, I cannot say," Dumbledore continued.

"Ask him." Filch nodded to Harry. "It's him that's done it. You saw what he wrote on the wall."

"It's not true, sir," Harry said honestly to Dumbledore. "I swear. I never touched Mrs. Norris."

"Rubbish," Filch grumbled.

"If I might, headmaster?" Snape spoke up. "Perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The Gryffindors and Aliyah exchanged skeptical looks. Dakota nodded to tell her head of house that they were indeed at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"However," he continued, sending Dakota a quick look of reassurance that she wasn't going to be blamed, "the circumstances are suspicious." He walked up to them, his gaze narrowing at Harry. "I, for one, don't recall seeing Potter at dinner."

"I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus," Lockhart said. "You see, Harry was helping me answer my fan mail."

"That's why Ron, Aliyah, and I went looking for him, professor," Hermione said. "We'd just found him and Dakota when he said. . ." She trailed off and glanced at her friends for help. It was best not to reveal that he heard a voice that none of them could hear.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Snape prompted.

"When I said I wasn't hungry," Harry lied. "We were going back to our common rooms when we found Mrs. Norris."

Snape raised a brow, a skeptical look on his face. He turned to the headmaster.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," Dumbledore stated.

"My cat has been petrified," Filch said, his voice shaking. "I want to see some punishment!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus. As I understand it, Madam Sprout has a very healthy growth of mandrake. When matured, a potion will be made which will revive Mrs. Norris. And in the meantime, I strongly recommend caution. . .to all."