meant to be (2)

25

"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony" Ron told us, as we fought our way through the teeming corridors at the end of the lesson to drop off our bags before dinner. "But I never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid me. Honestly, if the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd've got the train straight back home ..."

Hermione and I nodded while Harry looked rather stressed.

As we were shunted along in the throng, Colin went past.

"Hiya, Harry, Julie!"

"Hullo, Colin" we said automatically.

"Harry - Harry - a boy in my class has been saying you're-" But Colin was so small he couldn't fight against the tide of people bearing him towards the Great Hall; we heard him squeak, "See you!" and he was gone.

"What's a boy in his class saying about you?" Hermione wondered.

"That I'm Slytherin's heir, I expect." said Harry,

"People here really are stupid." I comforted Harry.

"D'you really think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked us.

"I don't know" frowned Hermione. "Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs Norris, and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be - well - human!"

As she spoke, we turned a corner and found ourselves at the end of the very corridor where the attack had happened.

We stopped and looked. The scene was just as it had been that night, except that there was no stiff cat hanging from the torch bracket, and an empty chair stood against the wall bearing the message
'The Chamber has been opened.'

"That's where Filch has been keeping guard" Ron muttered. We looked at each other. The corridor was deserted.

"Can't hurt to have a little poke around" said Harry, dropping his bag and getting to his hands and knees so that he could crawl along, searching for clues.

"Scorch marks!" he said. "Here - and here-"

"Come and look at this!" said Hermione. "This is funny...''

I walked over to the window next to the message on the wall. Hermione was pointing at the topmost pane, where around twenty spiders were scuttling, apparently fighting to get through a small crack in the glass. A long, silvery thread was dangling like a rope, as though they had all climbed it in their hurry to get outside.

"Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" asked Hermione wonderingly.

"Nope" I confirmed while observing the spiders.

"No" said Harry "have you, Ron? Ron?"

I looked over my shoulder. Ron was standing well back, and seemed to be fighting the impulse to run.

"What's up?" asked Harry.

"I - don't - like - spiders" said Ron tensely.

"Poor Ronniekins is afraid of spiders" I said, making fun of him.

"I never knew that" said Hermione, looking at Ron in surprise." You've used spiders in potions loads of times..."

"I don't mind them dead" said Ron, who was carefully looking anywhere but at the window "I just don't like the way they move..."

Hermione and I looked at each other before we broke out giggling.

"It's not funny" said Ron, fiercely. "If you must know, when I was three, Fred turned my - my teddy bear into a dirty great spider because I broke his toy broomstick. You wouldn't like them either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and..."