A Prophecy of Two Boys

Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Percy's Point of View

We spent the Easter holiday's plotting. Unlike last year, our group of friends and we decided to spend the holiday at school, studying for our end of year exams rather than going home. Charles and the Weasley's all left however, so we had no chance of seeing Ginny then.

Speaking to Ginny face-to-face, we had decided, would be the best way to go for it. We would just ask her outright if she had noticed any strange gaps in her memory, or found herself doing strange things for no apparent reason. Our plan in writing looked rather easy. As ever, putting it into action seemed to take a fair amount more effort.

Tracking down a lone Gryffindor was a lot harder than it sounds. We tried the Library, the study-group classrooms, the Great Hall, outside by the lake, the astronomy tower, the kitchens, all the normal classrooms and - as a final resort - the Gryffindor common room. Of course, checking the Gryffindor common room might have been the first place someone might look for a Gryffindor, but (from our week there in November) we knew that the Gryffindor in particular we were looking for didn't actually spend much time there.

In fact, it wasn't until the second weeks into the summer term (the attack resulted in some Ministry Officials being called in in a last ditch attempt to keep the school both open and safe) that we ran into Miss Ginny Weasley, and (rather ironically) we hadn't actually been looking for her at the time. We'd been visiting Myrtle actually, and Alyssa, when Ginny had come into the bathroom.

It took us a moment to recognise Ginny. Her eyes were glazed over and trace-like, her face void of any emotion. She walked in slow but precise steps, which was odd considering she normally had a quick pace, and was easily spooked and quick to run. She held Riddle's diary in her left hand, while her right index finger and the inside of her middle finger were smudged with ink, as if she'd recently been writing.

Either ignoring or failing to notice us, Ginny strode over to the sink, hissing at it. $Open!$

A second later, Ginny had disappeared down the pipe. We turned to Myrtle, who smiled cheerily at us.

"Don't get hurt, though if you do die, you are of course welcome to share my toilet." She offered. It had become a little joke now, every time we went down to visit Alyssa.

"If Alyssa kills us, we'll be sure to take you up on that offer." I joked back, grinning at the ghost.

We jumped into the pipe right after Ginny. Echoing hisses reached us from elsewhere in the chamber as Alyssa moved around. Judging from her choice of language, Ginny had ordered her after the school's 'hatchlings' again. We scowled. Stupid Ginny for trusting the book. Stupid Tom for possessing her.

I all but stole all of our control and stormed down the familiar passages to find Ginny, uncaring of our loud, ringing footsteps that would give away our presence and position.

'Careful Percy.' Harry tried to warn me. I did try to listen to him, but anger was buzzing around in my head like a vexed hornet, distracting me from everything but my target. 'Tom could be a very dangerous wizard, even if he is possessing an eleven year old girl. Especially since he's possessing an eleven year old girl.'

'I know but... He just makes me so mad!' I growled. 'How dare he use and endanger our friends?'

Harry hummed in agreement, but seemed more concentrated on a backup plan should - or when - I messed everything up. I ignored his plotting thoughts and focused on the main chamber in front of us. In particular, I fixed our gaze on Ginny Weasley, who was sitting in the mouth of Salazar Slytherin's statue, watching us with alert cold eyes.