Infinite Magic (Male Reader x Harry Potter)

Mrs Norris

Filch: What's going on here?  What's going on?

Attracted no doubt by Malfoy's shout, Argus Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd.  Then he saw Mrs Norris and fell back, clutching his face in horror.

Filch: My cat!  My cat!  What's happened to Mrs Norris?

His wide eyes fell on Harry.

Filch: You!  You!  You've murdered my cat!  You've killed her!  I'll kill you!  I'll-

Dumbledore: Argus!

Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers.  In seconds, he had swept past Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ava, and I and detached Mrs Norris from the torch bracket.

Dumbledore: Come with me, Argus.  You too, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood, and Mr Gojo.

Lockhart stepped forward eagerly.

Lockhart: My office is nearest, Headmaster, just upstairs.  Please feel free-

Dumbledore: Thank you, Gilderoy.

The silent crowd parted to let them pass.  Lockhart, looking excited, hurried after Dumbledore.  So did Professors McGonagall and Snape.  As we entered Lockhart's darkened office there was a flurry of movement across the walls.  We saw several pictures of Lockhart hanging on the walls, and their occupants were dodging out of sight, their hair in rollers.  The real Lockhart lit the candles on his desk and stood back.  Dumbledore laid Mrs Norris on the polished surface and began to examine her.  My friends and I exchanged tense looks and sank into chairs outside the pool of candlelight, watching.  The tip of Dumbledore's long, crooked nose was barely an inch from Mrs Norris's fur.  He was looking at her closely through his half moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking.  Professor McGonagall was bent almost as close, her eyes narrowed.  Snape loomed behind them, half in shadow, wearing a most peculiar expression.  It was as though he was trying hard not to smile.  Although I can't really blame him.  There were few students at Hogwarts who didn't want to throw Mrs Norris down a flight of stairs.  Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestions.

Lockhart: It was definitely a curse that killed 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-

YN: If you were half the wizard you claim to be, you'd realize the cat's not dead, Lockhart.

Professor McGonagall gasped.

McGonagall: Mr Gojo!

Dumbledore: No, Minerva, he's quite correct.  She's not dead, Argus.

Lockhart looked embarrassed, and I shot a small smirk at him.

Filch: Not dead?  But why's she all... all stiff and frozen?

Dumbledore: She has been Petrified.

Lockhart: Ah!  I thought so!

Dumbledore: But how, I cannot say.

Filch: Ask him!

He turned his blotched and tear stained face to Harry.

Dumbledore: No second year could have done this.  It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced-

Filch: He did it, he did it!  You saw what he wrote on the wall!  He found... in my office... he knows I'm a... I'm a... he knows I'm a Squib!

I snorted, but Professor McGonagall glared at me and I shut up.

Harry: I never touched Mrs Norris!  And I don't even know what a Squib is.

Filch: Rubbish!  He saw my Kwikspell letter!

Snape: If I might speak, Headmaster.

Great.  Nothing Snape had to say was going to do us any good.

Snape: Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.  But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here.  Why were they in the upstairs corridor at all? Why weren't they at the Halloween feast?

We all launched into an explanation about the Deathday Party.

YN: There were hundreds of ghosts, they'll tell you we were there.

Snape: But why not join the feast afterwards?  Why go up to that corridor?

We all looked at Harry.

Harry: Because... because we were tired and wanted to go to bed.

Snape: Without any supper?

A triumphant smile flickered across his gaunt face.

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

YN: Nope, but it certainly ruined our appetites.  We weren't hungry.

Ron's stomach gave a huge rumble, and I turned and glared at him, though he couldn't see it behind my glasses.  Snape's nasty smile widened.

Snape: I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful.  It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story.  I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest.

McGonagall: Really, Severus.  I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch.  This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong.

Dumbledore was giving Harry a searching look.

Dumbledore: Innocent until proven guilty, Severus.

Snape looked furious.  So did Filch.

Filch: My cat has been Petrified!  I want to see some punishment!

Dumbledore: We will be able to cure her, Argus.  Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes.  As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made which will revive Mrs Norris.

Lockhart: I'll make it!  I must have done it a hundred times, I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep-

Snape: Excuse me, but I believe I am the Potions master at this school.

There was a very awkward pause.  Dumbledore turned to us.

Dumbledore: You may go.

We went as quickly as we could without actually running.  When we were a floor up from Lockhart's office, we turned into an empty classroom and closed the door quietly behind us.  Harry squinted at our darkened faces.

Harry: D'you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?

Ava: Absolutely not.  Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world.

Harry: You do believe me, don't you?

YN: Of course we do.  But you gotta admit, it's weird...

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

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

Harry: And what on earth's a Squib?

I started laughing at this point.  Ava elbowed me in the ribs, and I got myself under control.

YN: Well it's not supposed to be funny, but since it's Filch... a Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but doesn't have any magic powers.  Kind of the opposite of Muggle born wizards, but Squibs are really rare.  If Filch is one, it would explain a lot.  Like why he hates students so much.  He's bitter.

A clock chimed somewhere.

YN: Midnight.

Harry: We'd better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else.