Hogwarts is My Home (A Harry Potter Fanfiction), Part 2/7

Chapter 6

For a few days, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris.  Filch kept it fresh in everyone’s minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought that the attacker might come back.  I had seen him scrubbing the message on the wall with Mrs. Skower’s All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover, but to no effect; the words still gleamed as brightly as ever on the stone.  When Filch wasn’t guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking red-eyed through the corridors, lunging out at unsuspecting students trying to put them in detention for things like “breathing loudly” and “looking happy.”  A lot of the first years were scared, and Draco wasn’t helping.  He would jump out at them and make them drop their stuff.  I reproached him multiple times for this, and eventually he stopped doing it as much.

I tried to do a little research, but all the copies of Hogwarts: A History had been checked out.  Apparently a lot of people had the same idea before I did.  I wanted to read about the legend of the Chamber of Secrets, which is what the writing on the wall said.  We were in Defense Against the Dark Arts one day when I decided to test Lockhart and see what he knew about it.  Lockhart had just finished mentioning the Curse of the Bogies when I raised my hand.

“Yes, Miss Fidler?” he said, beaming at me.  Ugh.

“Sir, do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?” I asked him.  His smile faded.

“Ah, yes.  You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago -- the precise date is uncertain -- by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age.  The four school Houses are named after them: Godric, Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin.  They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and wizards suffered much persecution.

"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated.  But then disagreements sprang up between them.  A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others.  Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts.  He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families.  he disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy.  After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school.

“The legend of the Chamber of Secrets says that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.  Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school.  The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic.  Of course, this is a legend, but hey, you never know.”  There is a silence.

“Thank you, sir,” I whisper.

“Anytime.  That’s all the time we have for today, so class dismissed!  No homework this time!”  There is the sound of chairs scraping against the floor, and we struggle through the crowded halls to drop our stuff off in our common room before dinner.

“Well, that was an interesting story,” I say to Grier and Draco during dinner.

“Yeah.  Do you think it’s true?” Grier asks.  Draco answers her.

“Well, my father told me the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, and,” he lowers his voice, “a Mudblood died last time.  This time, I hope it’s Granger, and I’m praying it won’t be one of you,” he continues, looking at me.  “So yes, I think it’s true.”  We finish our dinner with only small talk and return to the common room.  I’m working on my herbology homework, but I can’t concentrate.

“Draco,” I say, “last time the chamber was opened, did Muggle-borns only die, or did they get petrified?”

“I think there were a few attacks.  Don’t worry though, nothing’s happening to the Slytherin Mud-- Muggle-borns,” he says, the last part as though it’s painful.  Oh well, he’ll have to get used to it.  “Slytherin wouldn’t target his own house.  The heir of Slytherin has to be a Slytherin, if he was in the other house, it wouldn’t make sense.”

“So you don’t know who it is?” I ask, confused.

“No, but it has to be a pureblood, so it won’t be Potter, like some people are saying,” Draco says.  I would say an older Slytherin, maybe.  But you never know.  He would have to come from a rich family.  It’s not me, though, don’t worry,” he says.