Snakeskin (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

Chapter 14: Spiderpocalypse

Chapter 14: Spiderpocalypse

Another attack in Bath this time. Heard a rumor that Bellatrix was there. After the gruesome stories I read in the Prophet, I believe it. James said that there's nothing we can do about it and that we should focus on the upcoming match against Ravenclaw. Wasn't sure if he was being intentionally dense or if he was just trying to find ways to manage his own growing anxiety about the war.

**

Leo was abruptly awoken early the following morning by Harry and Ron, who dragged him out of bed at nearly two in the morning and told him something that had him wide awake in seconds: Dumbledore and Hagrid were both gone.

The duo had snuck out to Hagrid's the previous night under Harry's Invisibility Cloak in order to confront him about the Chamber. Before they could really learn anything, Fudge, Lucius Malfoy, and Dumbledore had all shown up. Once there, Fudge had sentenced Hagrid to Azkaban – Leo visibly paled at this, having seen first-hand what it could do to a person. Malfoy had then informed them that the Board of Governors had declared Dumbledore unfit and removed him as Headmaster from the school. Leo collapsed into a chair with his hands on his face.

"This is just like last year," he mumbled, an edge of anxiety in his voice. "Quirrell waited until Dumbledore was out of the school to make his move, and I'm sure the Heir will do the same... with Dumbledore gone, we're in serious trouble, you guys."

Harry and Ron exchanged nervous looks at this before telling Leo about Hagrid's final message: Follow the spiders. Leo thought that that was likely to get them in a world of trouble much like their investigations into the Stone that had led to him getting kidnapped and him and Harry almost dying. Ordinarily, Leo would've been all for getting into trouble and diving head-first into danger, but even he was a wee bit apprehensive.

Despite this, he helped the two look throughout the castle for spiders, which were strangely absent. Leo thought that they'd have better luck at nighttime, and took to strolling the halls once more on his own late at night, his eyes glued to the Map. The third night he did this, a sudden thought occurred to him, prompting him to stop dead in his tracks: Riddle's diary.

Seeing the words magically unfurl on the Marauder's Map had brought the diary to mind, which brought the Chamber and everything else to mind as well. A diary that contained the memory of a boy who had been there the last time the Chamber had opened randomly appearing was suspicious enough, but the timing was what really got Leo's attention.

The attacks had stopped during the Christmas holidays, which Leo dismissed out of hand since there wasn't a large enough victim pool for the monster to attack. He would've assumed they'd start up again soon after, but they did not. Harry had had the diary in his possession for some time until the day before the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. The very next day, there was a double attack.

The diary is the key to this somehow. Leo determined as he quickly hid from Filch behind a large statue. Maybe Riddle is really the one who opened the Chamber fifty years ago? Maybe he's instructing whoever has his diary now on how to open it? Maybe he's the one who's really behind the attacks?

Unfortunately, Leo couldn't tell anyone about this. Without the diary, he had no proof that his story was even remotely true. He couldn't send a letter to Remus or Sirius since Apollo was currently with one of them. And he most certainly couldn't tell Harry, since the git was practically in love with Riddle.

Without any leads, Leo could do nothing but speculate and continue his nighttime searches for the spiders. Luckily, an answer to this particular problem presented itself two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid's departure, following the end of Potions class.