A Broken Slytherin : Serpent Secrets (Book 2)

The Library Attack

y/n didn't dare touch the diary after she had been spat back out by it. The diary scared her. Once she had come to realise that she had been talking to a boy that she assumed to be dead, she couldn't look at it the same way.

The images of which she had witnessed in Tom's diary lingered in her mind. She still couldn't believe that Hagrid was the one to open the chamber. It just didn't make any logical sense. If he had opened the chamber, then he would have to be the Heir of Slytherin (which she was almost certain that he wasn't) or have known the Heir. Seeing as the Heir was seemingly obsessed with blood purity and purging the school of the muggle-born population, it didn't seem likely that he would be friends with Hagrid a "half-breed".

y/n hated to refer to her friend as such a foul name, she cringed at the thought. But her reasoning made sense. So either Hagrid was leading a double life, or Tom was lying. And being a Slytherin, Tom probably found it very easy to do so.

Breaking herself out of her deep thought, y/n looked back down to the book she was reading in the library. It was practically empty as a lot of the staff and students had gone to watch the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff Quidditch match.

The ban which Madam Hooch and Professor Snape had imposed on her still stood for another week, so she was not allowed to go and watch the game. y/n sighed and returned to her reading before the doors flew open and Hermione came rushing into the library. She was scolded by Madam Pince, the librarian, for making so much noise and Hermione apologised.

The Gryffindor girl spotted y/n sitting all by her lonesome and quickly paced over. She had a determined grin on her face which y/n was most intrigued about.

"Hello, Hermione," y/n greeted, "I thought you went down to the Quidditch game?"

"I did but then I had a realisation! I'll explain in a second!" Hermione rushed, scurrying off into the labyrinth of books. y/n just shook her head and chuckled. Hermione's eagerness to learn was so endearing.

She didn't hear from Hermione for a while so y/n decided to leave and have a nap or something, maybe read a book in the comfort of the common room.

After collecting her notes and books she had left on the table before Hermione arrived, she pushed in her chair and began towards the door when she heard the all too familiar cold voice,

"I... Will.... Rip... You..." it hissed, the malicious voice crawling around her before a loud thud came from amongst the many shelves of books.

y/n whipped her head around, alerted by the noise. Fearing the worst, she dropped her books and began jogging in the direction of the aforesaid thud. After not finding anything after a few turns, y/n began calling out Hermione's name, not bothering to keep her voice down.

The library remained silent, Hermione hadn't left the library so she was somewhere in this labyrinth of knowledge. y/n began to shake and looked around desperately for her friend she was speaking with just minutes before. She continued to call out for her but it was redundant, no matter how loud she yelled, there was no response. y/n turned another corner and heard a crunch at her foot. She jumped back and looked down at what she had trodden on. Hermione's mirror.

y/n's eyes continued down the aisle until her gaze landed on what she feared most. Hermione's frigid body was laying on the floor, her mouth still agape with shock. Her arm was outstretched from holding the mirror which was now lying smashed on the ground next to her.

The tears came quickly but silently. They cascaded down y/n's face as she brought a hand to her mouth in shock and carefully made her way to Hermione's body. She knelt down and softly touched her face, a part of her wishing that it was some cruel joke. But Hermione's skin was hard and cold to the touch, like ice. y/n looked at the destroyed mirror next to her and reached out a hand to inspect it. She picked it up but when she did so, a piece of glass sliced through her palm, making her wince in pain.