第 17 页

Harry's sense of forboding increased; he was sure nothing Snape had

to say was going to do him any good.

"Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the

wrong time," he said, a slight sneer curling his mouth as though he

doubted it. "But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here.

Why was he in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't he at the

Halloween feast?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione all launched into an explanation about the

deathday party. ". . . there were hundreds of ghosts, theyll tell you we were

there -"

"But why not join the feast afterward?" said Snape, his black eyes

glittering in the candlelight. "Why go up to that corridor?"

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry.

"Because - because -" Harry said, his heart thumping very fast;

something told him it would sound very far-fetched if he told them he

had been led there by a bodiless voice no one but he could hear,

"because we were tired and wanted to go to bed," he said.

"Without any supper?" said Snape, a triumphant smile flickering across

his gaunt face. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people

at their parties."

"We weren't hungry," said Ron loudly as his stomach gave a huge

rumble.

119

Snape's nasty smile widened.

*143*

"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful," he

said. "It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges

until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should

be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be

honest."

"Really, Severus," said Professor McGonagall sharply, "I see no

reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the

head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has

done anything wrong."

Dumbledore was giving Harry a searching look. His twinkling light-

blue gaze made Harry feel as though he were being X-rayed.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said firmly.

Snape looked furious. So did Filch.

"My cat has been Petrified!" he shrieked, his eyes popping. "I want to

see some punishment!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus," said Dumbledore patiently.

"Professer Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As

soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that

will revive Mrs. Norris."

"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in. "I must have done it a hundred times.

I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep -"

"Excuse me," said Snape icily. "But I believe I am the Potions master

at this school."

There was a very awkward pause.

"You may go," Dumbledore said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

They went, as quickly as they could without actually running. When

they were a floor up from Lockhart's office, they turned into

120

*144*

an empty classroom and closed the door quietly behind them. Harry

squinted at his friends' darkened faces.

"D'you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?"

"No," said Ron, without hesitation. "Hearing voices no one else can

hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."

Something in Ron's voice made Harry ask, "You do believe me, don't

you?"

"'Course I do," said Ron quickly. "But -you must admit it's weird ......

"I know it's weird," said Harry. "The whole thing's weird. What was

that writing on the wall about? The Cbamber Has Been Opened...

What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know, it rings a sort of bell," said Ron slowly. "I think someone

told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once ... might've

been Bill . . . ."

"And what on earth's a Squib?" said Harry.

To his surprise, Ron stifled a snigger.

"Well - it's not funny really - but as it's Filch, he said. "A Squib is

someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any

magic powers. Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but

Squibs are quite unusual. If Filch's trying to learn magic from a

Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a Squib. It would explain a lot.

Like why he hates students so much." Ron gave a satisfied smile.

"He's bitter."

A clock chimed somewhere.

"Midnight," said Harry. "We'd better get to bed before Snape comes

along and tries to frame us for something else."

*145*

121

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 the attacker might

come back. Harry 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 and

trying to put them in detention for things like "breathing loudly' and

"looking happy."

Ginny Weasley seemed very disturbed by Mrs. Norris's fate.

According to Ron, she was a great cat lover.

"But you haven't really got to know Mrs. Norris," Ron told her

bracingly. "Honestly, we're much better off without her." Ginny's lip

trembled. "Stuff like this doesn't often happen at Hogwarts," Ron

assured her. "They'll catch the maniac who did it and have him out of

here in no time. I just hope he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's

expelled. I'm only joking -" Ron added hastily as Ginny blanched.

The attack had also had an effect on Hermione. It was quite usual for

Hermione to spend a lot of time reading, but she was now doing

almost nothing else. Nor could Harry and Ron get much response

from her when they asked what she was up to, and not until the

following Wednesday did they find out.

Harry had been held back in Potions, where Snape had made him stay

behind to scrape tubeworms off the desks. After a hurried lunch, he

went upstairs to meet Ron in the library, and saw Justin Finch-

Fletchley, the Hufflepuff boy from Herbology, coming

*146*

toward him. Harry had just opened his mouth to say hello when Justin

caught sight of him, turned abruptly, and sped off in the opposite

direction.

Harry found Ron at the back of the library, measuring his History of

122

Magic homework. Professor Binns had asked for a threefoot-long

composition on "The Medieval Assembly of European

Wizards."

"I don't believe it, I'm still eight inches short said Ron fu

riously, letting go of his parchment, which sprang back into a roll.

"And Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's

tiny. "

"Where is she?" asked Harry, grabbing the tape measure and unrolling

his own homework.

"Somewhere over there," said Ron, pointing along the shelves. "Looking

for another book. I think she's trying to read the whole library before

Christmas."

Harry told Ron about Justin Finch-Fletchley running away from him.

"Dunno why you care. I thought he was a bit of an idiot," said Ron,

scribbling away, making his writing as large as possible. "All that junk

about Lockhart being so great -"

Hermione emerged from between the bookshelves. She looked irritable

and at last seemed ready to talk to them.

"All the copies of Hogwarts, A History have been taken out," she said,

sitting down next to Harry and Ron. "And there's a two-week waiting

list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk

with all the Lockhart books."

"Why do you want it?" said Harry.

*141*

"The same reason everyone else wants it," said Hermione, "to read

up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."

"What's that?" said Harry quickly.

"That's just it. I can't remember," said Hermione, biting her lip. "And

I can't find the story anywhere else -"

123

"Hermione, let me read your composition," said Ron desperately,

checking his watch.

"No, I won't," said Hermione, suddenly severe. "You've had ten

days to finish it -"

"I only need another two inches, come on -"

The bell rang. Ron and Hermione led the way to History of Magic,

bickering.

History of Magic was the dullest subject on their schedule. Professor

Binns, who taught it, was their only ghost teacher, and the most

exciting thing that ever happened in his classes was his entering the

room through the blackboard. Ancient and shriveled, many people

said he hadn't noticed he was dead. He had simply got up to teach

one day and left his body behind him in an armchair in front of the

staff room fire; his routine had not varied in the slightest since.

Today was as boring as ever. Professor Binns opened his notes and

began to read in a flat drone like an old vacuum cleaner until nearly

everyone in the class was in a deep stupor, occasionally coming to

long enough to copy down a name or date, then falling asleep again.

He had been speaking for half an hour when something happened

that had never happened before. Hermione put up her hand.

Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lec

*148*

ture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed.

"Miss - er -?"

"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything

about the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione in a clear voice.

Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open,

gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender Brown's

head came up off her arms and Neville Longbottom's elbow slipped

off his desk.

124

Professor Binns blinked.

"My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "I

deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his

throat with a small noise like chalk s!-ping and continued, "In

September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers

"

He stuttered to a halt. Hermione's hand was waving in the air again.

"Miss Grant?"

"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"

Professor Binns was looking at her in such amazement, Harry was

sure no student had ever interrupted him before, alive or dead.

"Well," said Professor Binns slowly, "yes, one could argue that, I

suppose." He peered at Hermione as though he had never seen a

student properly before. "However, the legend of which you speak is

such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale -"

But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns's every

word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his. Harry

*149*

could tell he was completely thrown by such an unusual show of

interest.

"Oh, very well," he said slowly. "Let me see ... the Chamber of

Secrets ...

"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 witches and wizards suffered much persecution."

125

He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and continued.

"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."

Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled

old tortoise.

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said. "But these

honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the

Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a

*150*

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."

There was silence as he finished telling the story, but it wasn't the

usual, sleepy silence that filled Professor Binns's classes. There was

unease in the air as everyone continued to watch him, hoping for

more. Professor Binns looked faintly annoyed.

"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally,

the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many

times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A