Chapter 7 - 7: Petrifications and Parseltongue (1/2)
Edmund was trying very hard not to try and shove a Rasengan down Dumbledore's throat. He dismissed the situation as a prank, which clearly was not one. The Chamber of Secrets, he needed to do some research on that. The only thing he knew was that the Chamber was rumored to have been opened fifty years ago. His maternal grandfather liked to keep a journal, who used to go to Hogwarts at that time. Perhaps he had recorded something in it.
Reaching into his multi compartment trunk, he searched for the journal in the library section where he usually kept most of the jutsu scrolls and his books from the Whilpool vault. After rummaging for a minute he found the diary. He quickly scanned though the journal and found what he was looking for.
[Entry #387:
Something very strange and unsettling has been happening recently. Students are being petrified all over the school. Even more strange is that all the victims are muggleborns. A girl from Ravenclaw, Myrtle Warren, was found dead in the second floor girl's washroom yesterday. Not a single wound was found on her body or any spell damage was seen. Even any traces of the Avada Kedavra were absent.
It is being rumored that Slytherin's fabled Chamber of Secrets was opened by a student, Rubius Hagrid, a third year, and the monster that stayed in the Chamber for a thousand years has killed Myrtle. But how? Anyway, apparently Tom Marvolo Riddle, a sixth year Slytherin was able to confront him and now Hagrid has been expelled and his wand snapped. Being a minor, he'll probably be spared of being sent to Azkaban.
Riddle has quite a personality and imposes the image of an ideal student and is considered to be the brightest of his batch. A muggleborn Slytherin who possesses the ability to talk to snakes. He lives in an orphanage in muggle London. He's been awarded a special reward for services to the school as he apprehended the culprit that caused a student's death.
The whole situation is so bizarre. The only animal who could have killed anyone without leaving any mark on the victim is perhaps a Basilisk. But the snake is generally way too big to freely roam around and go killing people. And it's gaze does not petrify it's victims, it kills them. It could be a gorgon but I am not certain. Everyone is pretty scared. Maybe with the culprit being caught, the attacks will stop. No one has been able to find the chamber though. Nobody knows what really is happening, but I hope it all stops soon.]
Edmund re-read the entry again. After confirming he didn't miss anything, he returned the journal back in the trunk. He rubbed his forehead and felt a headache coming. If it all was true, if the chamber did exist and had been opened again, it could spell disaster for everyone. And this time, there was no Riddle to save the day. ”First that f.u.c.k.i.n.g wraith of that megalomaniac dark asshat and now this blasted chamber, what next, a post owl rebellion? Malfoy promoting muggleborn rights? Or the weasel actually having brain? F.u.c.k it, I'll just sleep and think about it tomorrow.”
(ROTS)
The day started with a Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin. As usual, Iris was chasing the snitch and was struggling as princess Malfoy was trying his best to push her off her broom. Suddenly, a bludger went rogue and specifically targeted Iris.
Iris was able to get the snitch but fell from her broom, holding a broken arm. The bludger didn't stop even as the game ended and Granger finally had to destroy it with a Bombarda to stop it. When Iris was about to be escorted away to the infirmary, the peac.o.c.k Lockhart decided to mess things up and vanished the bones of her broken arm. Edmund still couldn't understand why the ponce was still allowed near students.
Later that night, Edmund was feeling uneasy and couldn't sleep. So he went for a walk on the walls after curfew. He ended up walking inside the infirmary and saw Iris sleeping on the bed. He was contemplating whether to go nearer or not when a house elf appeared near her bed thus waking her up.
”Dobby! What are you doing here?” Iris whispered, looking surprised by the elf's sudden appearance.
”Mistress Iris Potter should not have be coming to Hogywarts!” Dobby replied firmly. He continued, ”That's why Dobby tried to force Mistress using his bludger.”
Edmund narrowed his eyes at the elf. ”This little thing of flesh and bones wanted Iris away from this school. But why?”
”Your bludger!” Iris growled. ”So you were trying to kill me.”
Alarmed, the elf quickly replied, ”Not kill mistress, never kill. Dobby be never doing such a thing to the Great Witch Iris Potter. Dobby just wanted mistress to be safe.”
”And how does attacking me with a bludger implies keeping me safe? And why are you trying to protect me? From whom? Is this about the Chamber of Secrets?” Iris asked, thinking furiously.
Poopy Pomfrey, McGonagall and Dumbledore were carrying a boy who looked around eleven or twelve years old. They placed him on a bed beside Iris'. Dumbledore pried a camera off the boy's hands and opened it, only to find that camera had been completely burnt on the inside.
”What does this mean Albus?” McGonagall asked, the fear easily noticable in her voice.
”It means that the Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened,” he replied patiently.
”But who Albus? Who could have done it?”
”The question is not who, Minerva, the question is, how?” He said while looking at the sleeping form of Iris. The other looked at her with wide eyes. Edmund was furious. ”What the f.u.c.k you piece of shit! What do you think you are implying? Is this son of a bitch accusing Iris? What kind of sick person is he?! On one side he comforts Iris and shows a grandfatherly persona while on the other hand he accuses her. Cleary, he does not shit light out of his arse. There's much more to him that he let's on.”
(ROTS)
Edmund was contemplating if he should actually kill Lockhart or not. The peac.o.c.k was masquerading in posh dueling clothes and showing off what little spells his stupid brain could actually remember. Well, the greasy bat showing him how much mother earth loves him was a bit satisfactory. But nothing beats the joy of a fist and a broken nose.
He watched as the ferret and Iris were called to participate in the duel. Iris was good, she packed quite a lot of power for a twelve year old. Suddenly, princess Malfoy decided to summon a snake. To make it worse, Lockhart used a very inconvenient spell to further anger the snake.
Then, something happened that made everyone gasp in surprise. Iris hissed, like a snake at the serpent. The snake looked at a Hufflepuff boy whose name Edmund didn't bother to remember.
The snake looked at Iris and it's possible victim when Snape decided that it was enough and destroyed the snake. Students all around looked at her with fear and backed away. Poor Iris looked quite confused and glanced back and forth. The students were then dismissed and her friends decided to drag her away.