"Dear Merlin, someone needs to come up with an Undetectable Extension Charm for these bloody cloaks," Setta groused through her teeth.

The three of them had made it through the portrait hole, down the corridor and towards the staircase, as well as made it completely through the Entrance Hall and out onto the grounds. It was not an easy task, as Setta's curves weren't showing any signs of stopping anytime soon, while Harry and Ron were growing taller. Harry was filling out a bit already, while Ron appeared to be a bit lanky in his outward appearance.

"You and 'Mione can probably figure it out," Ron put in.

"Shut up, both of you," Harry hissed as they hurried through the grass and towards Hagrid's Hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "Filch may be out here with Mrs. Norris and the last thing we need is Gryffindor losing more points!"

"You know entirely well that we won't have a shot at the Quidditch Cup this year if McGonagall keeps cancelling the game," Ron bemoaned.

Setta very nearly stepped on both their feet. "That's the least of our worries," she said, taking them both by the arms and dragging them towards the home of the half-giant. "Now, come on, both of you! Hagrid's bound to know something, and you know we need to get that information right now—Hermione's depending on us!"

Finally, they got to the hut itself, with Harry reaching out from beneath the cloak and knocking quickly at the door. They heard the thumping of Hagrid's large feet from inside the hut, and Setta pulled Harry backwards as the door began to creak. It was when the half-giant opened the door, however, that the trio were in for quite the surprise, as he was holding up a crossbow, and staring distrustfully out into the darkness.

"Hello?" he called out, although his voice was abnormally soft.

Harry pulled off the cloak, tucking it beneath his arm, and Hagrid visibly relaxed. "Hagrid..." He said, his voice filled with surprise.

"You have got to be joking," Setta said, her tone accusatory.

"What's that for?!" Ron demanded, far too loudly.

"Nothin'," Hagrid said quickly, lowering his weapon as he did his best to appear normal. "I was just expectin' uh... Doesn't matter," he went on, although his smile didn't reach his eyes. "Come on in. Just made a pot o' tea."

Setta followed Harry, Ron at their heels, into the hut, wincing slightly as Ron momentarily lost control of the door, causing it to shut a bit too loudly behind them. Setta made her way deeper into the house, effortlessly calming Fang, knowing entirely well that it wouldn't do for the half-giant's familiar to be barking up a storm in the middle of the night. She perched on the large chair beside the fireplace, permitting the dog to place his head onto her leg, and proceeded to smooth one of his ears with her hand.

"Hagrid, are you all right?" Harry was asking, and Setta turned, watching as Hagrid poured them tea in his massive mugs, only to permit the tea to spill over.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Hagrid said quickly, too quickly, not even bothering to clean up the hot beverage he'd spilled.

"Have you heard about Hermione?" Setta found herself asking.

Hagrid slowly turned around. "Oh, yeah. I heard about tha' all right," he replied, setting down their tea onto the table. "'Ermione will pull through," he continued, watching as the three twelve-year-olds stirred some sugar into their respective mugs. "She's a fighter."

"She is," Setta confirmed, blowing onto the surface of her tea.

"But, that's not why we're here," Ron said softly, staring down at the grain of the tabletop, worn from years of use, likely from the previous gamekeeper.

"No, I reckon not," Hagrid said, leaning up against his ancient hob, his hands gripping it so tightly that his knuckles were white. "Yer out here way past yer bedtime..."

"It's for a good reason," Harry said quickly, not bothering to even touch his tea, despite him having put sugar it in, like Setta and Ron.

"I reckon so," Hagrid said, pushing himself upwards, his vision clearing for a moment. "What do yer want to know?"

"We want to know about the Chamber of Secrets," Harry burst out suddenly.

Setta locked eyes with Hagrid, not wanting to take no for an answer. "We know you were here when it was first opened fifty years ago, so we figured you'd know something," she went on, not wanting to accuse him directly, as she knew it wouldn't get them anywhere.

Hagrid looked saddened, as if knowing they truly believed he'd opened it in the first place half a century before. "Now... What yer got to understand here is..." Hagrid broke off then as there was another knock on his front door, and Fang barked a bit at the sudden noise. "The cloak!" he hissed at the three of them, and Setta had the foresight to banish their teacups.

"But, Hagrid..." Harry pressed.

"Get under the cloak, and stay quiet!" Hagrid kept telling them, ignoring their pleas, as the three of them hurried towards the other side of the room, the small fire licking at their backs, as Harry threw the cloak over them. Hagrid picked up his crossbow again and lumbered across the small space of his hut, and opened up the door. "Headmaster Dumbledore, sir!" he said, as if surprised that the man would show up on his doorstep this late.

"Good evening, Hagrid," the headmaster responded, his voice oddly calm. "We just happened to be passing, and I was wondering... Could we...?"

"Oh, yes, o'course!" Hagrid said quickly, lowering the crossbow again. "Come in, come in," he continued, blindly loyal to a fault towards the man.

Setta watched, rapt, as the headmaster stepped into the house, with none other than the Minister of Magic walking in behind him. "Cornelius Fudge?" she whispered.

"Your dad's boss," Harry breathed.

"What's he doing here?" Ron asked softly.

"Bad business, Hagrid, very bad business," Minister Fudge was saying as the door shut automatically behind them, leading Setta to believe that a Shutting Spell was at work. "All these poor Muggleborns getting petrified like this, it will not stand."

Setta swallowed, gripping at Harry and Ron's hands as her nerves threatened to get the better of her. "You know what he's saying, don't you?" she asked. "He's accusing Hagrid..."

"Well, er, yes," Hagrid was replying to the minister awkwardly, before looking pleadingly at the headmaster. "But... Yer know I never... Headmaster," he said, addressing Dumbledore now, his eyes filled with nervousness.

"Cornelius, you must know that I have the utmost faith in Hagrid," Dumbledore was informing the minister in a patient manner. "My confidence should not be taken lightly..."

Minister Fudge, however, was shaking his head, which cut off the headmaster. "Albus, Hagrid's record is against him. I have to take him."

"Take me?" Hagrid asked, very nearly too stunned to speak. "Take me where? Not Azkaban Prison!" he cried out, disbelief coloring his tone.

Setta tensed up then as the door opened once again, and gritted her teeth when she saw who graced the half-giant's threshold.

"Already here, Fudge?" drawled the pompous voice of Lucius Malfoy. "Good," he said, his tone radiating approval as he haughtily glided into the hut.

"What are yer doin' here?" Hagrid demanded disdainfully. "Get out of my house!"

"I am merely the messenger for the minister," came Lucius Malfoy's reply, before he looked around his surroundings for the first time, utter contempt roaring onto his face as he stepped dangerously close to where Setta, Harry, and Ron were concealed. "And, believe me, I take absolutely no pleasure in being inside your... You call this a house?" he said, wrinkling his nose with utter and complete distaste, before turning back to the half-giant, the headmaster, and the Minister of Magic. "No, I simply called up at the school and was told that the headmaster was here," he continued.

"And what exactly is it that you want with me?" Dumbledore asked.

"The other governors and I have decided it's time for you to step aside," Malfoy Sr. replied, with an air of superiority about him that made Setta want to vomit, while Harry and Ron quaked beside her in nervousness at his words. Lucius Malfoy quickly drew an official-looking roll of parchment from his long, expensively-cut robes as he continued, "This is an order of suspension," he declared. "You'll find all twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you've rather lost your touch, and what with all these attacks, there'll be no Muggleborns left at Hogwarts." The smirk on his face very nearly made Setta break out from beneath the cloak, but Harry was quick to ground not just her but Ron as well, although a hex sat poised upon his twin sister's lips. "I can only imagine what an awful loss that will be to the school," he concluded, his voice dripping with insincerity.

"You can't take the headmaster away!" Hagrid cried out, staring down at Malfoy Sr., a look of utter bewilderment upon the half-giant's face. "Take him away and the Muggleborns don't stand a chance! You mark my words, there'll be killings next!"

"You think so?" Lucius Malfoy breathed, and Setta could clearly detect the unmarked glee within his tone.

"Calm yourself, Hagrid," the headmaster said gently, before he turned to Lucius Malfoy, the parchment held gently within his aged hands. "If the governors desire my removal, I will, of course, step aside. However," he went on, walking towards the Malfoy patriarch, "you will find that help will always be given at Hogwarts, to those who ask for it," the wizened wizard declared, before turning and gazing directly into the eyes of the Potter twins, as well as Ronald Weasley, a small smile upon his face.

Lucius Malfoy, meanwhile, followed the headmaster's gaze but, upon seeing nothing, merely rolled his eyes, his serpentine face growing impatient. "Admirable sentiments," he said, quite clearly wishing to be quit of Hagrid's Hut. "Shall we? Fudge."

The minister turned to leave in both the wake of Malfoy Sr., as well as the headmaster, before turning to look over his shoulder. "Come, Hagrid... Well?"

Hagrid remained motionless for a moment. "If, um... If anybody was lookin' fer some stuff, then all they'd have to do would be to follow the spiders. Yep, that'd lead 'em right. That's all I have to say," he continued, making a grab for a small bag placed upon one of the massive armchairs, although his movements were reluctant, amid his familiar lumbering footsteps. "Oh, and someone will need to feed Fang while I'm away," he said quickly, remaining in the doorway so as Setta, Harry, and Ron could still hear the words.

Minister Fudge turned, regarding the dog on the opposite side of the room, who promptly growled at the man for taking his master away from him. "Good boy," the man said rather reluctantly, before shutting the door to the hut behind him.

Ron was the first one to tear off the invisibility cloak, once the headmaster, Minister of Magic, Malfoy Sr., and Hagrid had all left the grounds immediately around the hut. "Hagrid's right," he declared, his eyes filled with fear.

"No kidding," Setta responded, crossing her arms. "With Dumbledore gone, there'll be an attack a day..."

Harry, meanwhile, had his attention diverted towards the stone wall of the hut, where miniscule spiders were patiently making their way towards the halfway open window. "Look," he said quietly, nodding towards them, his green eyes wide. "Come on."

Setta rushed forward, watching as Harry took one of Hagrid's massive lanterns, before they made their way out into the darkness. "Come on, Fang," she called out, and the lumbering dog of the half-giant hastily got to his feet, and hurried out of the hut behind them. Once outside, she saw that the spiders were still making their way out the window, down the side of the house, and into the Forbidden Forest. "Right, then," she said, nodding to herself.

"Come on," Harry said, inching closer to the forests' entrance.

"What?!" Ron demanded, his voice squeaking ever so slightly in fear.

Setta groaned in impatience. "You heard what Hagrid said—'follow the spiders'," she responded, her voice just ever so slightly exasperated.

"They're heading into the Dark Forest!" Ron practically shouted.

Setta muttered under her breath, "Forbidden Forest," as she moved to follow Harry, Ron doing so reluctantly behind them.

"Why spiders?" Ron bemoaned from behind them, dragging his feet all the way. "Why wouldn't it be follow the butterflies?"

Setta kept directly beside Harry the entire time; while she didn't like spiders at all—she was as terrified as Ron was, to be honest—she wouldn't let the fear grip or consume her. "It's not like we'll be in here forever," she muttered reassuringly.

"Harry, Setta," Ron hissed on her twin's other side, "I don't like this. I don't like this at all," he declared, the trail of spiders becoming thicker, as the forest became all the more dense.

"Shush!" Harry growled from between them.

"Can we go back now?" Ron whispered back, disregarding Harry's warning to keep quiet, as the three of them watched the spiders go into a tunnel underneath a tree root.

"Come on," Setta said, trying to sound as encouraging as she could, reaching around Harry and dragging Ron with them.

The three of them followed the spiders into the tunnel, and, finally, reached a clearing, and it was then that a bigger spider seemed to follow behind them, all following the smaller spiders to reach a previous goal. Several other large spiders hover above, a canopy of webs reaching the gnarled tree tops, its thickness informing any viewer that very many spiders had passed through her, and for a long period of time. A foreboding mound appeared through the darkness at the edge of the clearing, and a sound of branches snapping filled their ears.

"Who is it?" came an exhausted, yet powerful, sounding voice from within the mound.

"Don't panic," Harry whispered, coming to the conclusion that Setta could very easily lose it on him as well.

"Hagrid?" came the voice again. "Is that you?"

"We're friends of Hagrid's," said Harry quickly, and he watched, breathless, as a large spider emerges from the mound and stares at them, his numerous eyes on display.

"You're Aragog, aren't you?" Setta whispered, somehow finding the courage to speak, despite one of her literal fears staring back at her.

"Yes," Aragog replied. "Hagrid has never sent children into our hollow before."

"He's in trouble," Harry burst out, wanting to get the information out as quickly as possible. "Up at the school, there have been attacks."

Setta did her best to ignore Ron's moans of fear from beside her. "They think it's Hagrid. They think he opened the Chamber of Secrets, like before."

"That's a lie!" the ancient spider declared, and Setta promptly scurried backwards at the impact his voice brought, narrowly escaping tripping on a tree root, due to Harry catching her. "Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets."

"Then you're not the monster?" Harry asked, his tone a hesitant one.

"No," Aragog informed them. "The monster was born in the castle. I came to Hagrid from a distant land, in the pocket of a traveler."

"Setta," Ron whimpered, obviously thinking he'd have better luck with her.

"Shush," she responded quickly, promptly turning her attention back to Aragog. "But if you're not the monster, then what did kill that girl fifty years ago?"

"We do not speak of it," Aragog declared, his voice the same almighty growl. "It is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others."

"But have you seen it?" Harry pushed.

"I never saw any part of the castle but the box in which Hagrid kept me," Aragog replied, and Setta was vaguely aware of Ron looking around Aragog's domain in a fearful manner. "The girl was discovered in a bathroom. When I was accused," he continued, not fully aware of Ron's eyes now drawn to him, "Hagrid brought me here."

Ron immediately tugged upon Harry's sleeve, trembling. "Harry..."

"What?" Harry demanded, giving Ron his full attention, to which Ron pointed upwards, and both Harry and Setta followed his pointing finger, to witness more and more spiders creeping closer to them within Aragog's domain.

"Well...thank you," Setta said, her voice altogether awkward as Harry reached towards her in the darkness, and pulled her beside him. "We'll just...go."

"Go?" Aragog demanded, narrowing his many eyes immediately. "I think not," he responded, as more and more spiders crawled into their midst. "My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst," he informed them, as hundreds of spiders suddenly made themselves known. "Goodbye, friend of Hagrid."

Ron, visibly trembling from where he stood, his sides pressed against both Harry and Setta, his mangled wand gripped in his fingertips, whispered, "Can we panic now?"

Setta rolled her eyes. "Time and place, Ron," she hissed back.

Ron, meanwhile, kept his voice low, despite the fact that it was entirely possible that, not only did these spiders have good hearing, but they could possibly speak English as well, due to their father being Aragog. "Know any spells?"

"One, but it's not powerful enough for all of them," Harry replied.

"Where's Hermione when you need her?" Ron cried out.

Setta scoffed, although her fear leaked through the sound. "Thanks a lot," she groused.

"Look, I didn't mean..." Ron sputtered.

"Not now—the two of you can fight later!" Harry cried out.

It was then that a familiar sound of an engine was heard, and bright headlights suddenly enveloped Aragog's domain. The Flying Ford Anglia belonging to Arthur Weasley promptly drove into the den, the sound shocking the spiders as they suddenly cleared a path, two doors flying open. "Let's go!" Setta shouted, and it was she who jumped first, flying into the driver's seat, while Harry and Ron dove into back and into the passenger respectively, with Fang getting into the back with Harry, quite relieved to be away from the spiders.

"You can actually drive this thing?!" Harry demanded.

"Well, I..." Setta began.

"Arania Exumai!" Harry shouted then, a bolt of light flowing forth from the tip of his wand, as a spider crept too close to the car for his liking. He watched as a spider got on top of the hood of the car, likely wishing to intimidate them from inside. "Go!" he yelled.

Setta yanked the gear shift hard, pulling the car into reverse and slamming her foot onto the gas, back under the tree root tunnel, and back the way they'd come, the cars tracks making the job just a bit easier for them. "Better buckle up, you two," she declares, maneuvering the car ever so slightly, and getting them over an embankment, thus putting more and more distance between them and the den of spiders. With an almighty crash on the other side, the spider flew off the hood from the impact and, for the moment, all was silent.

"Whoa," Harry and Ron breathed at once.

"Glad we're out of there... Setta, that was bloody brilliant," Ron declared.

Harry crossed his arms. "And where exactly did you learn how to drive this thing?"

Setta laughed, nervousness still filling her, despite everything. "Well, it's actually a pretty funny story. You see..." She was then pulled bodily against the door, and she mentally cursed herself for not doing up the window, as she struggled, the furred legs of the spider previously on the hood on the car itching her neck. Struggling, she felt the pincers creeping closer, and her eyes met Harry's in the darkness. "Use... Use maxima," she managed to get out.

"Arania Exumai Maxima!" Harry shouted, the beam of light much stronger than it had previously been, and it immediately threw the spider off from Setta's neck, although her skin was still smarting from the closeness of the pincers, and she knew entirely well that her back would be bruised by tomorrow.

"Thanks for that," Setta whispered, most of her bravado gone.

"Don't mention it," Harry replied.

Setta looked through the windscreen, and her jaw immediately dropped when she saw that more and more spiders were hurrying towards them over the hill. "We've got company..."

"Get us out of here!" Ron shouted. "Now!"

Setta promptly doubled back for a moment before putting the car forwards, not wanting to look like an idiot and reverse her way out of the forest. Stepping on the gas again, she grimaced. "I think we have a problem..."

"Don't tell us that!" Harry yelled, and Setta was quick to roll up the windows, as well as lock the doors this time. "Come on!"

Setta very much wished to jinx Harry for his impatience—she was just as eager to get out of the Forbidden Forest, too, thank you very much. Finally, out of options, she slammed her fists down, hard, onto the dashboard, which seemed to do the trick, as the next time she stepped on the gas and ordered the car to move forwards, it roared to life. Gripping tightly to the steering wheel, she navigated them back in the direction they'd come, towards Hagrid's Hut, still hearing the squeaking of the spiders attempting to hurry after them.

"Come on, move faster!" Harry shouted, and it was then that both he and Ron were slammed into their respective doors as Setta made a sharp turn. "Come on, go!"

"Get us in the air!" Ron yelled from the backseat.

"Are you out of your bloody minds?!" Setta screamed back at them. "The last thing we need to do is incur Snape's wrath! I am not going to get more points from Gryffindor taken!"

"I thought you said you could drive," Ron wailed.

"I can, and I am," Setta responded, growing impatient, and, finally, stepped fully onto the gas, and flew them out of the forest, as much as one could when their flying car remains on the ground. Finally, they broke free of the trees, and the spiders, knowing entirely well that they weren't welcome on Hogwarts grounds proper, returned to their den. Setta sighed, pulling the car around to the front of Hagrid's hut, with Ron opening the back door to let himself, plus Fang, out of there.

"'Follow the spiders'!" Ron raved, pacing back and forth, enraged as Harry and Setta moved to join him outside the Flying Ford Anglia. "'Follow the spiders'! If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill him!" He stumbled backwards then as the car sprang to life again, its doors closing automatically, and drove back into the Forbidden Forest. "I mean, what was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out?"

Harry sighed, watching as Fang walked up the steps into his master's hut. "We know one thing," he said, exhaustion permeating his tone.

"Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," Setta said softly. "He was innocent."

~*~

Setta selected the plain, pure white blooms from Professor Sprout's greenhouse to put in Hermione's bedside table vase in the hospital wing, although Harry had the honor of putting them into the vase. Setta watched, from her perch on the bed, as Harry circled back around and joined Ron in one of the visitor chairs. While Madam Pomfrey didn't particularly like it if someone joined her patients in or on their beds, she made an exception for Setta and Hermione, knowing just how close the girls were.

"Wish you were here, Hermione," Harry said softly as he sat beside Ron. "We need you."

"Now more than ever," Setta responded, fingering her bandages upon her neck with one hand, where the spider's poison had secreted into her upper layers of skin but not, thankfully, enough to do permanent damage. Her other hand stroked Hermione's, as she gazed down into the fathomless brown eyes, looking at everything and seeing nothing. It was then that Setta realized that Hermione's hand had been drawn into a fist, and was clutching at something, desperately, as if she wanted the information to be kept close to her, should the worst happen. Setta carefully untangled Hermione's fingers from whatever it was, spreading it out so that she could see it, and shook her head. "Oh, Hermione, you didn't..."

"What's that?" Ron demanded then.

Setta sighed. "This could be the answer to all our problems, although Hermione did violate a library book to obtain it," she chuckled, staring at the words. "Guys, this was why Hermione was in the library the day she was attacked," she declared, getting to her feet. "Come on." She hurried out into the corridor, Harry and Ron at her heels, as they all peered at the page Hermione had pilfered from a library book. "'Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more deadly than the Basilisk. Capable of living hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet the giant serpent's eye...'"

Harry inched closer. "'Spiders flee before it...' This is it. The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk. That's why Setta and I can hear it speak—it's a snake."

Ron's brow furrowed at that. "But if it kills by looking people in the eye, why is it no one's dead?" he asked softly.

Setta slowly permitted her gaze to leave the page, still gripped tightly in her hand, and look outside, out the rainy window. "Because no one did look at it in the eye. Not directly at least, given that Justin, Colin, Mrs. Norris, Hermione... They all saw the reflection of the Basilisk instead of its actual gaze."

"Especially given that spiders flee before it," Harry was quick to put in. "It all fits."

Ron scoffed. "But how's the Basilisk been getting around? A dirty, great snake... Someone would've seen it."

Setta's gaze tore from the text, and saw Hermione's familiar scrawl at the bottom of the page, a small smile coming onto her lips. "Hermione's answered that, too," she replied, showing the page to both of them.

"Pipes?!" Ron quickly sputtered. "It's using the plumbing!"

Setta bit down hard upon her lower lip. "The girl that died fifty years ago in the bathroom... She didn't leave it," she whispered, her gaze locking onto Harry's and Ron's.

"Moaning Myrtle," Harry and Ron answered at once.

Setta gave them a sad smile. "Ten points to Gryffindor," she joked.

"All students are to return to their house dormitories at once," Professor McGonagall's voice sounded through the air, and the three of them quickly shared shocked looks with one another at the urgency of the Deputy Headmistress' voice. "All teachers to the second floor corridor immediately."

The trio snuck along the quickest route towards the second floor corridor, which directly led them to the conclusion that the Basilisk had snatched a student. Ron was practically quaking in his boots when Professor McGonagall informed Madam Pomfrey that it was Ginny who had been taken, and both Harry and Setta had to hold him back from demanding answers. When Professor Lockhart made it a point to say that he could save her, Setta felt a bitter taste in her mouth at the declaration.

"Why don't we pay the former Ravenclaw a little visit?" she asked darkly, smiling at the boys with a menacing expression. "Methinks that the art of persuasion could be beneficial."

"Lockhart may be useless, but he's going to try to get into the Chamber! At least we can tell him what we know!" Harry declared as they ran.

They made their way directly to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, unlocking the door with ease, and going into Lockhart's private quarters, whereupon they saw him throwing his overpriced belongings into trunks of varying sizes.

"Going somewhere?" Setta asked, immediately making her eyes large, and her character innocent, so as this fraud wouldn't believe she was a threat.

"Urgent call," Lockhart said shortly. "Unavoidable. Got to go."

"What about my sister?!" Ron demanded, outraged.

"As to that it is most unfortunate," Lockhart responded, no emotion in his voice. "No one regrets more than I."

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Ron shouted. "You can't go now!"

"There was nothing in the job description about saving little insignificant first-years, no matter their talent or blood status," Lockhart informed Ron in a clipped tone.

Harry immediately moved to block his path as Lockhart began stuffing belongings into an elaborate-looking handbag. "You're running away?"

"After all that stuff you did in your books?!" Setta cried out, forcing and succeeding in making her eyes fill with tears.

Lockhart hesitated for a moment. "I was unaware that you'd even read my books, Miss Potter," he said at last.

Setta narrowed her eyes at him. "They were on the course list," she answered, conveniently leaving out, Although they never should have been in the first place.

Lockhart looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Yes, well... Books can be misleading."

"You wrote them!" Harry cried out.

Lockhart attempted to pat Harry condescendingly upon the head, but Harry immediately sidestepped his efforts. "My dear boy, do use your common sense! My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things!"

"You're a fraud!" Setta said, her pretend anguish sounding quite real to her. "You've just been taking credit for what other wixen have done!"

"Is there anything you can do?" Ron demanded, growing impatient.

"Isn't it obvious?" Setta asked, cutting across the man and wiping away her false tears. "He's rather gifted at Memory Charms, isn't he? How else would he be able to take credit for what other talented wixen had done in the first place, as well as permitting the wixen themselves not to challenge his accounts?" Immediately, she drew her wand. "I may have read the books with your name on them in the place of more deserving wixen, professor, but I should think that you would benefit from actually doing something." She swished her wand slightly, but no curse, hex, spell, charm, or jinx erupted from it, as she was in complete control. "After you."

With their prisoner in tow, they led him to Myrtle's bathroom, who assured Harry that he would be welcome in her toilet if he died down there. Setta rolled her eyes while Ron visibly gagged, before Setta promptly kicked Lockhart down the tube to get them into the chamber. Ignoring his comment about the apparent filthiness, Setta merely jumped down with Harry and Ron, not wishing to linger, as she knew entirely well that Ginny was in danger. Once down the chute, it wasn't too surprising that there was a space before the entrance to the chamber itself, although it was just slightly amusing when Lockhart passed out because of the snake skin. What was surprising, however, was his launching to his feet, crazed from hitting his head, and snatching Ron's wand from his own hand.

"I should think that I should say that it was far too late to save the girl, and that the three of you lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body," he declared, and his eyes immediately seized upon Setta. "So, you first, Miss Potter. Say goodbye to your memories. Obliviate!" he shouted then, leading to the boulders around them to cave in, trapping Ron and Lockhart on one side and Harry and Setta on the other. Boulders of all sizes rolled past both Harry and Setta, pinning Harry by the base of his robes and Setta by her sleeve.

"The cham likely backfired," Setta managed to get out, sneezing slightly due to the dust, as she somehow managed to pull her robe free. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," Harry assured her, getting his robe out from a particularly evasive and large boulder on his own. "You?"

"Yeah," Setta replied.

"Harry, Setta!" called Ron from the other side of the rubble.

"Ron!" Harry cried out, digging into the rubble. "Ron, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine!" Ron called back, his eyes momentarily drawn to Lockhart, who was speaking softly, his tone of voice different. "Lockhart's Memory Charm backfired!" he called a moment later, thus proving Setta's theory. "He hasn't got a clue who he is!"

Setta moved closer to the hole that Harry had made, catching a glimpse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor picking up pieces of rubble. "No kidding," she mumbled.

"It's an odd sort of place this is, isn't it?" Lockhart asked, tossing the rock he held up and down and looking up at Ron. "Do you live here?"

Ron leaned forward and took the rock from Lockhart. "No," he said, annoyed.

"Really?" Lockhart queried, but was interrupted by Ron smacking him in the head with the rock, knocking him out.

"What do we do now?" Ron asked, dropping the piece of rubble he held.

"You wait here, and try to shift some of the rock so we can get back through," Harry said quickly, knowing that Ron would be extremely helpful in that regard.

"We'll go in and find Ginny," Setta informed Ron.

"Okay!" Ron called back.

Setta and Harry pushed themselves to their feet, making their way towards the circular door on the opposite side of where they'd been previously. Taking her brother by the hand, the pair of them whispered in Parseltongue, thus gaining entry into the Chamber of Secrets proper. There was a lingering smell of damp as they stepped inside, and made their way down a rickety and rusty-feeling ladder, gazing into the chamber itself. A great statue of Salazar Slytherin dominated the other side of the chamber itself and there, below it, white as a ghost and damp herself, lay the frozen-looking body of Ginny Weasley, clutching at a diary.

"Ginny," Harry and Setta breathed together, and took off down the stone walkway, wet from the water, large serpent mouths decorating each side.

"Ginny, no, please don't be dead," Setta begged as she knelt on one side of her, Harry on the other, staring down at her still face.

"Wake up, wake up! Please wake up!" Harry cried out desperately.

Setta tensed immediately as she heard footsteps along the floor and, looking up, saw a familiar face standing in a doorway.

"She won't wake," said the familiar figure.

"Tom? Tom Riddle?" Setta whispered, staggering to her feet and gripping onto Harry, relieved when he stood beside her.

"What do you mean she won't wake?" Harry demanded. "She's not...?"

"She's still alive, but only just," Riddle responded.

Setta cocked her head to one side. "Are you a ghost?" she asked, not even believing herself, as the figure was not see-though.

Riddle's lips twitched, almost as if he was clearly following her line of thoughts. "A memory, preserved in a diary for fifty years."

Harry, meanwhile, bent down to see to Ginny, his wand cast aside, which directly led Riddle to pick it up as Harry continued looking down at Ginny. "She's as cold as ice," Harry breathed, touching Ginny's cheek. "Ginny, please, don't be dead. Wake up. You've got to help me, Tom, there's a Basilisk."

"It won't come until it's called," Riddle informed him patiently.

Setta watched as Riddle fingered Harry's wand, running his fingers along it. "What are you doing?" she whispered, catching Harry's attention. "Give him his wand, Tom."

"He won't be needing it," Riddle replied.

"Listen, we've got to go," Harry cried desperately. "We've got to save her!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Harry," Riddle informed him carefully. "You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger." Riddle turned and gave Setta a small smile as Setta's thought process continued going a mile a minute. "Yes, Setta. It was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets."

"No, she couldn't!" Setta cried. "She wouldn't..."

"It was Ginny who set the Basilisk on the Mudbloods and Filch's cat—"

"Don't you ever say that word!" Setta screamed at him.

Riddle ignored her. "It was Ginny who wrote the threatening messages on the walls."

"But why?" Harry demanded.

"Because I told her to," Riddle replied, almost as if this was a great joke to him. "You'll find I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing. She was, shall we say, in kind of a trance..." He lowered his eyes, regarding Ginny for several moments. "Still, the power of the diary began to scare her. And she tried to dispose of it in the girls' bathroom..." He looked up at the two of them, an almost genial expression upon his face. "And then, who should find it, but the two of you? The very people I was most anxious to meet."

Setta stumbled backwards, knocking into Harry as Riddle invaded their personal space. "And why did you want to meet us?"

"I knew I had to talk to the two of you, to meet you both if I could. So I decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust..."

"Hagrid's our friend!" Harry burst out.

Setta narrowed her eyes at Riddle. "And you framed him, didn't you?"

"Ah, yes, and though Dumbledore saw right through me and kept an annoyingly close watch upon me after that, I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber of Secrets again until I had left school. In so doing, I left behind the memory of myself, preserved in my school diary, so that one day, Salazar Slytherin's work could be completed."

"Given that the Mandrake draught will be finished in a few hours, everyone who's been Petrified will be all right again," Setta informed him.

"Haven't I told you? Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore."

"I told you not—!"

Riddle cut across Setta. "For many months now, my target was the two of you." He stared down at them, fear gripping the pair of them. "How is it that a pair of babies with no extraordinary magical talent were able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape..." He drew back Harry's and Setta's fringe so as to gaze upon their scarred foreheads as the pair of them stiffened, "...with nothing but scars while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"Why do you care who we escaped?" Setta demanded, drawing backwards from him.

"Voldemort was after your time," Harry put in, copying her movements.

Riddle smiled wickedly at their words. "Voldemort is...my past, present, and future." Drawing up Harry's wand as he faced the statue of Salazar Slytherin, in shimmering blood red letters, he wrote his name, Tom Marvolo Riddle in the air. Then, with a mere flick of the wand, the letters rearranged themselves to spell out I Am Lord Voldemort.

"You," Harry breathed, shaking his head. "You're the Heir of Slytherin."

Setta gritted her teeth as Riddle faced them evilly. "You're Voldemort."

"Surely you didn't think I was going to keep my filthy Muggle father's name?" he growled. "No, I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world."

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Harry yelled, and although Setta knew that the man was talented, she still wouldn't speak about him like that.

"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!" Riddle declared.

As Harry continued arguing with the memory of Riddle, a trill filled the air, catching Setta's attention, and, turning, she spotted a familiar phoenix.

"Fawkes?" she whispered, and the bird flew closely to them, dropping something into Setta's hands, and she gaped at the sight of the Sorting Hat lying there.

"So, this is what Dumbledore sends his great defenders: A songbird and an old hat," Riddle declared cruelly. With a flourish, he turned to face the statue then, whispering furiously in Parseltongue, thus permitting the mouth of the statue to open. "Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Slazar Slytherin, against the famous Potter Twins."

Setta remained standing where she was as the Basilisk slithered out, but deliberately did not look it in the eye. She watched as Riddle laughed at her apparent false bravery, and Harry's cowardice as he ran from the beast. Gritting her teeth, she hissed, "Fawkes—blind the beast!"

Fawkes trilled loyally, soaring through the air to complete Setta's bidding, and the Basilisk was officially blinded.

"No!" Riddle screamed in anguish. "Your bird may have blinded the Basilisk, but it can still hear you!"

Setta swallowed, turning around and dropping the hat as she slid to evade the beast, and something clattered as it fell. Lowering her eyes, she spotted a beautiful hilt of something and drew it out of the hat, the Sword of Gryffindor gleaming in the dim light of the chamber. She turned and faced the Basilisk, who was tearing after Harry, and ran towards it, watching as Harry climbed at the statue, doing his best to evade the beast. Setta, realizing what she had to do, climbed atop the giant serpent and kept a good hold of its backside as she did so, while all the while Riddle was screaming at her to leave the beast alone. It was then that she heard a cry of anguish as the beast got too close to Harry, biting him in the arm.

"Oh, no, you don't," she growled, climbing as far up the beast as she dared, and slamming the blade of the sword deep into the head of the Basilisk, some of its venom spurting out onto her robes, eating through them, and going onto her skin. The Basilisk, Setta still upon it, crashed to the ground, and Setta stumbled off it, her vision blurring, as Harry slumped beside Ginny, Setta doing the same.

"Yes, the process is nearly complete," Riddle said, as Harry and Setta moved to take Ginny's stone cold hands. "In a few minutes, Ginny Weasley will be dead, and I will cease to be a memory."

Harry looked up a Riddle, and it was then that Setta noticed the gaping hole in Harry's robes, and, by extension, his arm, while his free hand was gripping a tooth of the Basilisk. He stared up at Riddle, the last of his strength reserved for anger towards the wicked wizard.

"Lord Voldemort will return...very...much...alive," Riddle said dramatically.

Harry turned and looked at Ginny again. "Ginny," he begged her softly.

"Remarkable, isn't it?" Riddle asked. "How quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body? I guess the two of you have little more than a minute to live. You'll be with your dear Mudblood mother soon..."

"Don't...you...dare..." Setta hissed at him.

"Funny, the damage a book can do...especially in the hands of a silly little girl."

Setta's mind snapped then, reaching outwards for the diary in her haze, and took the fang from Harry's hand.

"What are you doing?" Riddle asked, watching her movements.

Silently, Setta gazed up at Riddle as she placed the diary onto the stone floor, opening it to a random page, and raised up the fang, leading Riddle to realize what she was about to do.

"Stop!" Riddle cried out. "No!"

Setta stabbed the diary with what was left of her strength, the ink within oozing out and into her fingers, comingling with the Basilisk venom. She watched as Riddle's chest was filled with a bright yellow light, shouting with rage as he moved to attack her. However, she stabbed the fang into the page opposite the one she had just stabbed, and repeated her moments. This time, she watched as Riddle's face began to disintegrate before her, and, finally, slammed the diary shut, stabbing it one last time, as Riddle exploded, shards of sparkles remaining in the air.

Ginny, meanwhile, snapped her eyes open then. She was hyperventilating as the color seemed to return immediately into her cheeks. Slowly, she rolled over, pushed herself into a sitting position, and gazed wonderingly at both Harry and Setta.

"Ginny," Setta and Harry said weakly.

"Setta... Harry... It was me. But, I swear, I didn't mean to. Riddle made me. And..." Her large eyes widened then as she took careful note of their injuries. "Harry, Setta...you're hurt."

"Don't worry," Setta assured her, covering her wound, vaguely aware of Harry doing the same as she was.

"Ginny, you need to get yourself out," Harry said quickly.

"Follow the Chamber, and you'll find Ron," Setta informed her, but then. "Fawkes!" she cried out, with the last of her strength, and the bird flew downwards, saw what had befallen the pair of them, and tended to their wounds, butting their heads when he'd finished.

After managing to show Ginny the way out of the Chamber, they found that Ron had cleared a path, with little to no help from Lockhart, who had yet to improve. However, Fawkes came through for them all, flying them effortlessly out of the Chamber, and, once they'd arrived, Setta took charge. She brought them immediately to Madam Pomfrey, and an official from St. Mungo's arrived to collect Lockhart rather quickly, due to his celebrity, and Madam Pomfrey attended to Harry, Setta, Ron, and Ginny.

"Don't you worry about Hermione, dears," the matron informed them patiently, figuring that a lecture would likely come from the headmaster later. "Professor Sprout will be administering the Mandrake draught shortly, and all will be well. I believe the headmaster will be calling a feast as soon as the students awaken..."

"The headmaster?" Harry breathed.

"He's back?" Setta wanted to know.

"Of course he is," Madam Pomfrey said softly.

Harry straightened up then in his bed, his eyes widening as Hedwig flew into the hospital wing and landed upon the brass bedframe, a letter in her talons. "Hedwig?"

The snowy owl looked disapprovingly at Harry, nipping at his hand when he tried to pet her.

"Hedwig," Setta said, her tone gentle, managing to find an owl tidbit from an inner pocket of her robe, which was accepted. Setta was permitted to pet the owl, and got ahold of the letter, hoping that it wasn't bad news.

Mr. Potter, Miss Potter, and Mr. Weasley,

After Madam Pomfrey has discharged you, you are to report to my office immediately.

You will find that the password is Sherbert Lemon.

Headmaster Dumbledore

"Fawkes likely told him we're all right, mate," Ron put in, once Setta had finished reading the letter from Dumbledore.

Setta showed the letter to Madam Pomfrey and, after some Wiggenweld and Pepper-Up Potion, the trio were sent on their way. They made their way upstairs to the seventh floor, and easily got in to the headmaster's office via the password. The door opened promptly for them all, and there sat Headmaster Dumbledore behind his desk, his scarlet robes resplendent, Fawkes to his left, and looking altogether stern as he regarded them all.

"May I impress upon you three that over the past few hours you three have potentially broken more than a dozen school rules?" came his first question, once the door had shut behind them all; it was apparent that this was a formal meeting, although he did not invite them to sit.

"Yes, sir," Harry, Setta, and Ron replied.

"And, therefore, it would be seen as appropriate to have you all expelled?"

All three lowered their eyes. "Yes, sir," they said again.

"Therefore, it is only fitting..." He continued, waiting for the three of them to look up at him, and his tone promptly changed, "that the three of you receive special awards for services to the school."

Harry, Ron, and Setta, looked at one another, smiling, before turning their gazes onto Dumbledore, who matched their expression.

"Thanks, sir!" Ron said, answering for them all.

Dumbledore got to his feet, taking a pile of parchment from his desk, which Setta could see were stamped with the emblem of Hogwarts, as well as boasted his signature. "Now, Mr. Weasley, if you would, please send these to Azkaban at once. We want our gamekeeper back, and, I believe, you will find your mother and father in the hospital wing once you've finished this errand for me in the owlery."

Setta and Harry watched Ron depart, and it was then that the headmaster faced the pair of them, looking at them over his half-moon spectacles.

"I want to thank you, both of you," Dumbledore declared. "You must have shown me great loyalty in the Chamber of Secrets. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you, or to obey your commands, Setta," Dumbledore said personally.

It was then that the door of the headmaster's office opened then, and Setta and Harry's eyes widened to discover Lucius Malfoy standing there, a fearful Dobby just beside him.

"Dobby! So this is your master!" Harry declared. "The family you serve is the Malfoys."

"No wonder," Setta muttered.

Malfoy Sr. sneered as he looked down at Dobby. "I'll deal with you later," he declared, and Dobby made a fearful noise. Advancing upon the small staircase separating the entryway and the headmaster's desk, the man climbed them, using his walking stick to brush both Harry and Setta to the side. "Out of my way, both of you... So, it is true. You have returned," he continued, now addressing the headmaster.

"Given the events in the Chamber of Secrets, the governors saw it right to summon me back to my position..." He held up his hand as the man mumbled something. "I hardly think it is a ridiculous matter, Lucius, given that several members of the board of governors believed that you curse their families if they did not agree to suspend me in the first place."

"How dare you?" Lucius Malfoy hissed.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "I beg your pardon?"

"My sole concern has always been, and always will be, the welfare of this school and, of course, its students." A momentary glance at the Potter twins seemed to fill him all the more with contempt before he turned to regard Dumbledore again. "The culprit has been identified, I presume?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," Dumbledore assured him.

"And? Who was it?" the man demanded impatiently.

"Voldemort," Dumbledore replied without hesitation.

As they continued discussing what had happened in the Chamber of Secrets, Dobby made it a point to tug slightly on both Harry and Setta's robes. Though mumbles, he indicated that the diary, which the headmaster now held, had previously been in possession of Lucius Malfoy. It wasn't a particularly long conversation afterwards, with Lucius Malfoy kicking Dobby down the small set of stairs without remorse, and Dobby crying out with despair.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Harry cried out a quarter of an hour later, as he and Setta hurried to their dormitories to shower and change.

Setta giggled, shaking her head. "Don't think Mr. Malfoy will ever forgive us for losing his servant," she cackled.

"Do you really think he'll keep his word?" Harry asked, once they said the password and got inside the Gryffindor common room. "About not saving our lives again?"

Setta sighed and shook her head. "No, I don't think so," she responded, racing him up the staircase to the second-year dormitories.

~*~

Hermione, Mrs. Norris, plus Justin, Colin, Penelope, and the rest of the Muggleborn students who had been Petrified, were released from the hospital wing on schedule. As promise, Dumbledore declared it a feast day, and everyone was ordered to come out of bed to celebrate. In the interim, he cancelled exams, and declared that, for the second year in a row, Gryffindor House had won the House Cup. He also made announcements pertaining to Harry, Ron, and Setta's special services to the school awards, which made the Slytherin table look most put out.

"I saw your face when you went to hug Ron, you know, after you hugged me and Harry," Setta informed her closest friend, as Honorata watched them pack to leave for the train station. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

Hermione flushed, deliberately keeping her face hidden. "No," she said shortly.

Setta nodded, nevertheless not believing her best friend, but did her best to hide her smile. "All right, if you say so."

Hermione dove underneath her bed, summoning out her library books. "I've got to get these back to the library..."

"I'm already finished," Setta informed her, shutting her trunk. "Shrink it down for me, will you, and box up Honorata? I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall."

Hermione, surprised, nevertheless handed over the books to Setta, who left the dormitory and went through the common room solo.

Setta made her way downstairs towards the library and, it was at the final corridor that she bumped into someone, or something. A strong arm assisted in getting her to her feet and, blinking, her books were summoned into her arms. Looking at whoever had come to her aid, she was very surprised to see Draco Malfoy standing there.

"Surprised to see me?" he asked.

Setta swallowed. "Surprised you would help me at all," she replied, "given recent events and what happened with your father."

"Turnabout is fair play," he responded. "And besides, no matter what you and that brother of yours did, Father attempting to use an Unforgivable on you was just plain thoughtless."

Setta raised her eyebrows. "Given that it was done practically directly outside the headmaster's office, yes."

"We've loads of house-elves at the manor anyhow," he continued.

Setta sighed. "Wonderful. One of them will likely become your father's personal punching bag by the end of the week."

Draco appeared uneasy. "Likely," he said. "Listen, I wanted to know how in Merlin's name you managed to pull it off."

"Pull what off?" Setta asked.

"Impersonating Pansy like that," Draco responded. "I sent her an owl after Christmas and she assured me that she never came back to Hogwarts. Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson, plus their extended family, and all the household servants at their estate, Parkinson Park, can confirm it. So, it had to be you, Setta."

Setta swallowed. "You can't prove it..."

Draco shrugged. "Maybe I can, maybe I can't."

"No one would believe you," Setta said quickly. "My wand can be traced for Disillusionment Charms and whatnot. You won't find any on there, I assure you."

"I wasn't going to tell anyone," Draco said quickly.

Setta narrowed her eyes. "Why wouldn't you?" she demanded. "Slytherins always want something for keeping secrets."

Draco sighed. "Why can't we at least try to be friends, Setta?"

Setta huffed. "Oh, believe me, Draco Malfoy, we will never be friends," she proclaimed, before moving past him to drop Hermione's books off.

"You certainly took your time," Hermione remarked as Setta met her in the Entrance Hall. "Did Madam Pince give you a hard time for turning in my books?"

"No," Setta responded, "she barely said a word to me."

"Oh," Hermione responded.

Setta and Hermione walked together with their belongings, Honorata between them, as Hagrid led them and the rest of the Hogwarts students to the express. Setta would be going to the Granger household, and Harry would be going to the Burrow. Setta and Hermione got a compartment to themselves, as Harry and Ron were going to be catching up with Dean, Seamus, and Neville throughout the trip to King's Cross.

"You really can tell me, you know," Hermione said softly, as both their trunks were brought back to their original sizes, and sent down to the luggage car. "I mean, I know it's been a while since we've had a proper talk..."

"Being Petrified is a worthy excuse, you know," Setta tossed over her shoulder, flashing a smile at Hermione as she unlatched Honorata's carrier.

Hermione perched on her side of the compartment. "I'm being serious, Setta. I'm a teenager now, and you'll be one in a matter of weeks. Second-year is over, and third-year is just around the corner. We're growing up, and with that comes changes..."

"Like your feelings for Ron?" Setta guessed.

Hermione shook her head. "I'm not ready to discuss that yet... Are you going to tell me what kept you at the library?"

Setta lowered herself onto her compartment bench. "I don't think I'm ready to discuss that either," she admitted.

Hermione nodded, dropping the subject as the compartment door opened, and a bright-faced Ginny joined them. "Hey, Ginny," Hermione greeted her.

"Guess what!" she cried out, practically jumping up and down. "Percy's girlfriend! I think I can tell you who it is now..."

Setta smirked. "If it isn't Penelope Clearwater, I'll—"

"That is not funny, Setta!" Hermione cried out as the train started up, Ginny sat beside her, and they heard the engine taking them back to England for the summer holidays, unknowing what the following school year would ultimately bring.