Harry Potter : In the shadow of divinity34.52%

Chapter - 29 : Petrified Truths and Relentless Research

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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"I remember."

"Well, I don't think he's half as crazy as I led myself to believe," Harry said. "He tried to warn me away from Hogwarts, he told me that something was going to happen, but I ignored him, wrote him off as crazy, but…"

"But he was right all along."

"Exactly."

"Perhaps he was," Loki said. "Crazy that is. But even the most brilliant people have their moments of madness."

Harry laughed softly. "No, I think he was just mad. But crazy or not he knew what he was talking about."

"What is troubling you, little trickster?" Loki asked, picking up on Harry's heavy tone.

"I'm just worried is all," Harry sighed. "Ron, Neville, and Hermione are considered to be blood traitors and 'mudbloods' by those of pureblood. They're the two kinds of people Slytherin strived to keep out of Hogwarts and, if he or she really exists, the people the Heir of Slytherin will set his monster on. I want to protect them, but I don't know what I'm trying to protect them from, and it's just so…"

"Frustrating? Horrible? The worst feeling in the world?" Loki pressed a kiss to the top of Harry's head. "I know the feeling."

Colin Creevey was the first student to be attacked less than three weeks later; he was found in the middle of the night, presumably heading back to the common room after a failed attempt at finding the Slytherin common room. The only clue as to what had attacked him was the twisted, melted lump that had once been his beloved camera. Only a few days before Yule break, there was a double attack: Justin Finch-Fletchley and, to everyone's horror, Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor. His petrification caused perhaps the greatest amount of fear, for if a ghost wasn't safe from the Heir of Slytherin, who was?

Tensions were at an all-time high for everyone, but Harry was perhaps the most affected; each attack on the students had been heralded by strange hissing threats only Harry seemed able to hear, strange hissing threats he was now hearing on a weekly basis. He was convinced that whoever or whatever he was hearing was behind the attacks, as he usually heard the invisible being right before another student was found petrified. He was searching tirelessly to find out what it was he could be hearing, but so far his search had resulted in nothing but several nights spent without sleep and a group of very worried friends.

"Harry Potter! Where have you been?" Harry looked up from his book on dangerous magical creatures and found himself facing an angry and concerned looking Hermione flanked by Ron, Neville, Draco, and Blaise. "We've been looking for you everywhere."

"What?"

"You missed dueling club, mate," Ron said. "You told us you'd meet up with us when it started, but you never showed up."

"I didn't miss it," Harry denied. "It's not for another…" He looked down at his watch and winced when he realized the time. "Oh."

"This is getting out of hand, Potter," Draco scowled. "We know you want to find out what Slytherin's monster is to, for some reason, keep us safe from it, but you're going to kill yourself doing it and then what good would you be to us?"

"Draco-"

"Shut up, Potter." The blonde snatched the book from Harry's hand and began shoving it and the rest of the books scattered across the library table into his bag. "You've done enough research for today."

"But-"

"I said, shut up. Now, we're going to take you to the Great Hall and get some food into you, Merlin knows the last time you ate a full meal, and then we're going to the lake where we'll teach you everything we learned today in dueling club. I don't know how you plan on protecting us if you don't even know how to protect yourself."

And with that, Draco hauled Harry out of his seat and dragged him to the Great Hall, where he proceeded to shove every food item in sight down Harry's throat until the dark haired Slytherin threatened to throw up all over his new shoes.

Hermione had been petrified.

It happened in mid-May, not even a month before the end of term, and Harry couldn't help but blame himself for it.

After Draco's intervention all those months ago, Harry's friends had taken to accompanying him to the library in order to limit the amount of time he spent researching and tell him when enough was enough. But even they had been researching excessively after Hagrid was arrested and taken to Azkaban on the charges of opening the Chamber (apparently he'd been accused of opening it the first go round and that was why he'd been expelled from Hogwarts).

They'd been there the night he was arrested; the group of second years had been visiting him for a late night cup of tea when Dumbledore, Lucius Malfoy, and the Minister of Magic arrived. Upon hearing the three men's arrival they dove under Hagrid's massive bed, where they listened in silent disbelief as Dumbledore was suspended from his position as Hogwarts' headmaster and Hagrid was accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets and unleashing the monster on defenseless student. Despite the headmaster's protests, Hagrid was carted off to Azkaban, but not before the gamekeeper announced to no one in particular that if they wanted to find the truth, then all they needed to do was follow the spiders.

Well, they followed the spiders, it wasn't that hard considering the fact that every spider anywhere on the grounds was heading in a mass exodus away from the school and into the Forbidden Forest. They followed the blasted spiders directly to a colony of acromantulas who, after telling them that Hagrid was innocent (as if they hadn't known that already) and that whatever was lurking in the school was a spider's greatest fear, tried to eat them. If it wasn't for Hermione's ability to conjure a vicious wall of flames that held back the giant spiders as they fled, the six second years would have been acromantula food.