𓏲 . THE BOY WHO LIVED . .៹♡
                                                   CHAPTER TWENTY
                   ─── THE DUELING CLUB & ANOTHER ATTACK

The next morning Charlus had been released from hospital. The bones in his arm had grown back completely thanks to Madame Pomfrey.

Once he was able to talk to his brother and friends again, he met up with them in the girl's bathroom on the second floor to begin the brewing process of the Polyjuice Potion.

He told them about Collin Creevey being petrified and everything Dobby had told him - or hadn't told him. Harry,Alistair, Hermione and Ron listened with their mouths open.

"Again?" Harry asked in disbelief. "You mean, the Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" "That's what Dobby told me," Charlus answered him.  "I even heard Dumbledore say it, so it must be true."

Ron, who leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest while the other four sat on the floor, spoke up in regards, "Of course! Don't you see? Lucius Malfoy must've opened it when he was at school here. And now he's taught Draco how to do it."

"Maybe," Hermione said as she mixed a few more ingredients in the cauldron, "We'll have to wait for the polyjuice potion to know for sure."

Charlus and Harry nodded in agreement as Alistair asked the girl,"Enlighten me. Why we are brewing this potion in broad daylight, in the middle of the girl's lavatory? Don't you think we'll get caught? "

"No," the bushy-haired girl quickly replied  as she mixed another ingredient in the cauldron, "No one ever comes in here."  "Why?" the two Gryffindor boys and the two Slytherin boys asked at the same time.

"Moaning Myrtle." Hermione said and shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal. "Who?" Ron asked her, puzzled. Hermione swallowed as she shifted her gaze to the ghost that was right behind Ron,"Moaning Myrtle."

"Who's Moaning Myrt—" The red-haired boy cut himself off with a brief shriek as suddenly a ghostly Ravenclaw girl with glasses and pigtails appeared in front of him.

"I am Moaning Myrtle!" the poltergeist yelled in Ron's face before she floated above the sinks and looked down to glare at the five of them harshly, "I wouldn't expect you to know me. Who would ever talk about ugly, miserable, moping, Moaning Myrtle?"

The four boys looked at each other with extremely confused looks before the ghost girl began to cry loudly and then floated down to one of the toilets with a terribly high-pitched shriek.

"She's a little sensitive." Hermione told the boys as soon as the ghost was gone. "Just a little?" Charlus scoffed.

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The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing had spread through the entire school by Monday morning. The air was suddenly thick with rumor and suspicion. The first years were now moving around the castle in tight-knit groups, as though scared they would be attacked if they ventured forth alone.

Ginny Weasley, who sat next to Colin Creevey in Charms, was extremely distraught. She looked almost as miserable as Mr. Filch was without Mrs. Norris by his side, but Charlus felt that Fred and George were going the wrong way about cheering her up. They were taking in turns to cover themselves with fur or boils and jump out at her from behind statues. They only stopped when Percy, apoplectic with rage, told them he was going to write to Molly and tell her Ginny was having nightmares.

 When December finally came around, Professor McGonagall came around as usual, collecting names of those who would be staying at school for Christmas. Charlus, Harry, Ron, Alistair and Hermione signed her list. They had heard that Draco Malfoy and his brother would be staying here, so they thought it would be the most opportune time to use the polyjuice potion.

As they walked through the entrance hall on one December afternoon, they noticed a small group of people gathered around a notice board, reading a new piece of parchment that had just been pinned up. Seamus Finnigan, Matthew Scamander and Dean Thomas beckoned them over, looking excited.

"They're starting a Duelling Club!" Matthew  exclaimed. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind duelling lessons, they might come in handy one of these days . . ."

Alistair read the poster curiously as he leaned over and whispered to his four friends, "What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?"

The ginger haired boy shrugged, but he, too, read the sign with the same interest as Seamus,Matthew and Dean, "Could be useful. Shall we go?"

Harry, Charlus, Hermione and Alistair all looked at one another before they went into dinner. They all knew that there was to be no harm done in giving it a shot. So, at eight o'clock that same evening, Charlus and Alistair hurried back to the Great Hall from the Dungeons to meet up with the other three.

The four long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more while most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it. Every student had their wands in their hands, eager to begin.

"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" Hermione asked as her and her four friends edged into the chattering crowd. "Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young - maybe it'll be him."

"As long as it's not Lockhart, I'm up for it," Charlus replied, but groaned as soon as he watched Gilderoy Lockhart walk onto the stage in extravagant purple robes. The author was accompanied by none other than Severus Snape, wearing his usual black.

"Oh god. Not him." Harry muttered, not at all amused. "You've got to be kidding!" Ron exclaimed with his mouth agape in agony.

Lockhart waved an arm for silence and addressed everyone at once, "Gather round, gather round! Can you all see me? Can you all hear me?"

"Unfortunately. " Alistair whispered to the others. Ron, Charlus and Harry laughed lightly at this comment while Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Excellent!" Gilderoy said with a wide smile as he continued, "Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions — for full details, see my published works. "

"That Lockhart's something, isn't he?Awfully brave chap." a voice said to the Potter twins and Alistair. They turned around to see a curly-haired Hufflepuff boy. "Justin Finch-Fletchley,Hufflepuff." he said brightly and held out his hand to them.

"Hi Justin, I'm Alistair Black, Slytherin. " Alistair replied and shook his hand. Harry shook his hand next.  "Oh, nice to meet you. I'm—"  he began to say, but was interrupted by Justin, "I know who you are. We all do. Even us muggle-borns."

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape —" Gilderoy said. The crowd turned towards the Head of Slytherin House and noticed that he looked as though he was being forced to be there.

"— He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry — you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!" Gilderoy finished, cockily.

"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Alistair muttered in Charlus' ear. The green eyed boy laughed before he muttered back, "You're right, mate. It would be a dream come true."

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas  Snape jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like
swords in front of them.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Harry murmured to Charlus , watching Snape baring his teeth.

"One — two — three — "

Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent. "Expelliarmus!" Snape cried. There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: he flew backwards off the stage, smashed into the wall and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.

Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins cheered. Hermione was dancing on tiptoes. "Do you think he's all right?" she squealed through her fingers.

"Who cares?" Harry,Charlus, Alistair and Ron said at the same time, and shared amused glances as Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His wavy hair was standing messily on his head.

"Well, there you have it!" he said, tottering back onto the platform. "That was a Disarming Charm. As you see, I've lost my wand-" Lavender Brown, from Gryffindor, had found it, and handed it to him with a giggle. "Thank you, Miss Brown. Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let them see..."

Snape was looking murderous and clearly unamused, "Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the students how to block unfriendly spells, Professor."

Possibly Lockhart had gulped before he gave the crowd a fake smile, "Excellent suggestion, Professor Snape! That was exactly what I was planning on doing! Uh — let's have a volunteer pair —" He looked at Charlus and Ron, "Potter! Weasley! How about you?"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart,"Snape said. " Weasley's wand brings devastation with the simplest of spells. We'll be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox." He glared at Ron, who was looking defeated. "May I suggest someone else from my own house? One of the Malfoys, perhaps?" Snape said with a twisted smile.

Gilderoy nodded reluctantly as Snape turned to the Slytherins. He raised his hand to signal one of the Malfoys to step onto the  stage. The blond-haired boy grinned as he watched Charlus move through the crowd.

Harry gave his brother a pat on the back. "Kick his ass." he whispered to him. Charlus nodded and smiled at his brother. "I plan to." he whispered before he walked up to the golden stage.

"Good luck, Potter." Lockhart said as he walked past the boy to leave the stage. "Thank you, sir." Charlus said,  and strutted towards Malfoy on the golden stage.

"Scared, Potter?"  Malfoy said in a cocky whisper, so that the professors couldn't hear him. "In your dreams,Malfoy." Charlus said out of the corner of his mouth,  which caused the Gryffindors and some of the other Slytherins to grin proudly.

"Wands at the ready!" Lockhart shouted. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents — only to disarm them — we don't want any accidents — one... two... three — "

Charlus swung his wand over his shoulder, but Malfoy had already started on "two". His spell hit Charlus so hard he felt as though he'd been hit over the head with a saucepan. He stumbled, but everything still seemed to be working. Wasting no more time, Charlus pointed his wand straight at Malfoy and shouted, "Rictusempra!"

A jet of silver light hit Malfoy right in the stomach and he doubled up, wheezing.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted in alarm over the heads of the crowd, as Malfoy sank to his knees; Charlus had hit him with a Tickling Charm, and he could barely move for laughing.

Charlus hung back, with a vague feeling it would be unsporting to bewitch Malfoy while he was on the floor, but this was a mistake. As he was pulled to his feet by Snape, Malfoy pointed his wand at Charlus and choked out, "Serpensortia!"

The end of his wand exploded. Everyone watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between the two duellers, and raised itself, ready to strike. There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away, clearing the floor.

"Don't move, Potter," Snape said lazily, clearly enjoying the sight of Charlus standing motionless, eye to eye with the angry snake. "I'll get rid of it . . ."

"Allow me!" Lockhart shouted. He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight toward Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike.

Charlus  wasn't sure what made him do it. He wasn't even aware of deciding to do it. All he knew was that his legs were carrying him forward as though he was on castors and that he had shouted stupidly at the snake, "Leave him alone!"

The snake still hissed at Justin, who looked scared, before  Harry decided to help out his brother. He went up and said, "You heard Charlus, leave Justin alone." "Don't harm him." Alistair added.

And miraculously — inexplicably — the snake slumped to the floor, docile as a thick, black garden hose, it's gaze now switching constantly between Charlus,Harry and Alistair. Charlus felt the fear drain out of him. He knew the snake wouldn't attack anyone now, though how he knew it, he couldn't have explained. 

He looked up at Justin, grinning, expecting to see Justin looking relieved, or puzzled, or even grateful – but certainly not angry and scared. "What are you three playing at!?" he shouted in fear, and before the three of them could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the hall.

Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. Snape, too, was looking at the three boys in an unexpected way. It was a shrewd and calculating look. The hall was also filled with ominous mutters.

Suddenly he felt a tugging on the back of his robes. "Come on," a girl's voice said in his ear. "Move — come on — " Hermione steered him out of the hall while Ron did the same for Alistair and Harry.

As they went through the doors, the people on either side drew away as though they were frightened of catching something.  Charlus, Harry and Alistair had no idea what was going on, and neither Ron nor Hermione explained anything until they had dragged them all the way up to the empty Gryffindor common room.

Then Hermione pushed Charlus into an armchair. Ron did the same with Alistair and Harry before  he said, "You three are Parselmouths? Why didn't you tell us?"

"We're what?" Harry and Charlus asked in confusion. "Parselmouths," Hermione repeated. "You can talk to snakes."

"We know," Charlus said, simply, "I mean, that's only the second time Harry and I have ever done it. We accidentally set a boa constrictor on our cousin Dudley at the zoo once. " "But so what?" Harry then asked. "I bet loads of people here can do it."

"No, they can't," Alistair denied, visibly taken aback. "It's not a very common gift. Harry, that's bad." "What's bad?" Harry said and Charlus saw that he was starting to get angry. "What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if we hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin —"

"Oh! That's what you said to it?" Ron asked, his mouth agape. "What do you mean? You were there! You heard us —" Charlus exclaimed.

"I heard you three speaking Parseltongue." Ron said, "Snake language. You could have been saying anything. No wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something. It was creepy, you know."

Harry gaped at the boy, "We spoke a different language? But — we didn't realize — how can we speak a language without knowing we can?"

Ron shook his head. He, Alistair and Hermione were looking as though someone had died.  Charlus couldn't see what was so terrible. "Do you want to tell us what's wrong with stopping a massive snake biting off Justin's head?" he said. "What does it matter how we did it as long as Justin isn't headless?"

"It matters," Hermione said, speaking at last in a hushed voice, "because there's a reason the symbol of Slytherin house is a serpent. Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. He could talk to snakes too."

Charlus and Harry's mouths fell open.

"Exactly," Ron said and Alistair nodded in agreement. "And now the whole school is going to think you're his great-great-great grandsons or something"

"But we're not! We can't be." Charlus and Harry said at the same time, with a panic they couldn't quite explain. Alistair stayed silent for a while before he broke it. "He lived a thousand years ago." he said. "For all we know, we could be."

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The following days were horrible for Charlus, Harry and Alistair. They tried hard to ignore the many stares and whispers from the others as they walked through the school. Hermione and Ron no longer dared to bring up the Parselmouth thing anymore. They didn't want to risk upsetting Charlus,Harry and Alistair any more than they already were.

One day ,the five of them were sitting in the study hall. Ginny Weasley was sitting at the same table as them, but as far as possible.  Hermione was busy studying for the last upcoming tests before the holiday break, while Ron was scribbling something in his notebook.

Charlus, Harry and Alistair, on the other hand, were worried as they hadn't seen Justin since the duelling club meeting. They planned to tell him the truth about what had really happened with the snake. It didn't help that they could hear the incessant  whispering of the other students behind their backs, which made them nervous.

The three boys stood up abruptly from the table. " We'll see you later." Charlus said. Ron nodded to them as Hermione took her eyes off her homework for the first time. The light brown-haired boy just smiled at her to let her know everything was alright before he left the study hall with the other two.

Before they got too far, something of what Hufflepuffs were saying met their ears, and they paused to listen. "So anyway," a stout boy was saying, "I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Black and the Potters have marked him down as their next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. "

"But why would they want to attack Justin?" a girl with blonde pigtails asked. "Well, Justin let it slip to Black and the Potters that he was muggle-born." the stout boy answered. "And you definitely think Black and the Potters are the Heirs of Slytherin?" the girl with blonde pigtails said anxiously.

"Hannah," the stout boy began to say solemnly, "they are Parselmouths. Everyone knows that's the mark of a Dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."

"Charlus,Harry and Alistair always seems so nice, though," Hannah said uncertainty, "And after all, Charlus and Harry are the ones who made You-Know-Who disappear."

Ernie lowered his voice mysteriously, the Hufflepuffs bent closer, Charlus,Harry and Alistair edged nearer so that they could catch Ernie's words., "That's probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill them in the first place. Didn't want two more Dark Lords competing with him."

That was it. Charlus had heard enough. He clenched his jaw and was about to go back into the hall, but Harry grabbed his robe and dragged him away before he could do anything reckless. Alistair quickly followed them.

The three of them walked up the corridor and collided into something very large and solid, making them knock backwards onto the floor. "Oh, hello, Hagrid," Alistair said  and  looked up to see Hagrid. A dead rooster was hanging from one of his massive, gloved hands.

"Hello,Charlus,Harry,Alistair." he  greeted the three boys. "You all right?" "Hagrid, what are you doing here?" Harry asked curiously as he stood up. Then he helped Charlus and Alistair to stand up.

Hagrid held up the limp rooster. "Second one killed this term." he explained to them. "Now, I reckon it's either a fox or a Blood-Sucking Bugbear. So I've just been up at Dumbledore's getting permission to put a little charm round the old hen coop."

He peered closely at the boys and noticed that they looked a little scared, " Are you sure you three are  all right? You're awful hot and bothered."

Charlus  couldn't bring himself to repeat what Ernie and the rest of the Hufflepuffs had been saying about the three of them. "It's nothing," he said. "Look, we'd better get going. We've got a lot of studying to.."

He interrupted himself and walked off with Harry and Alistair following him,his mind still full of what Ernie had said about them, "Well, Justin let it slip to Black and the Potters that he was muggle-born...."

They stamped up the stairs amd turned along another corridor, which was particularly dark, the torches had been extinguished by a strong, icy draught which was blowing through a loose window pane.

 They were halfway down the passage when Harry tripped headlong over something lying on the floor, dragging Charlus and Alistair with him when he tried to grab for something—or in this case someone—to keep him upright.

Charlus groaned and pushed himself off the cold floor while he looked at what they'd fallen over. His stomach dissolved as soon as he saw it. 

Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, rigid and cold, a look of shock frozen on his face, his eyes staring blackly at the ceiling. And that wasn't all. Next to him was another figure, the strangest sight he had ever seen.

It was Nearly Headless Nick, no longer pearly-white and transparent, but black and smoky, floating immobile and horizontal, six inches off the floor. His head was half off and his face wore an expression of shock identical to Justin's.

"Bloody hell," Charlus muttered and got to his feet. His heart was doing a kind of drum-roll against his ribs. He looked wildly up and down the deserted corridor and saw a line of spiders scuttling as fast as they could away from the bodies. The only sound were the muffled voices of teachers from the classes on either side.

"Bloody hell," he repeated again and began to understand in what kind of mess they were currently in. "Harry, Alistair, come on, we need to go. If they catch us here with them . . . I can't imagine what they would do."

Before they could run, a door next to them shot open with a bang. Peeves the poltergeist came shooting out.

"Why, it's blacky and potty wee Black and the Potters!" crackled Peeves and knocked Harry's glasses askew as he bounced past them. "What are Black and the Potters up to? Why are Black and the Potters lurking—"

Peeves stopped, halfway through a mid-air somersault. Upside-down, he spotted Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. He flipped the right way up, filled his lungs and, before Charlus could stop him, screamed, "ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!"

Crash - crash - crash - door after door flew open along the corridor and people flooded out. For several long minutes, there was a scene of such confusion that Justin was in danger of being squashed and people kept standing in Nearlu Headless Nick. Charlus,Harry and Alistair found themselves pinned against the wall as the teachers shouted for quiet.

Professor McGonagell came running, followed by her own class. She used her wand to set off a loud bang, which restores silence, and ordered everyone back into their classes. No sooner had the scene cleared somewhat than Ernie the Hufflepuff arrived, panting, on the scene.

"Caught in the act!" Ernie yelled, his stark white, pointing his finger dramatically at the three of them. "And this time he has two sidekicks!" "That will do, Macmillan!" Professor McGonagell said sharply.

Peeves was bobbing overhead, now grinning wickedly, surveying the scene; Peeves always loved chaos. As the teachers bent over Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, examining them, Peeves broke into song: "Oh, Black,Potters, you rotters, oh, what have you done, you're killing off' students, you think it's good fun — "

"That's enough Peeves!" Professor McGonagell barked and Peeves zoomed away backwards, with his tongue out at Charlus,Harry and Alistair.

Justin was carried up to the hospital wing by a couple of Professors, but no one knew what to do with Nearly Headless Nick. In the end, Professor McGonagall conjured a large fan out of thin air, which she gave to Ernie with instructions to waft Nearly Headless Nick up the stairs. This Ernie did, fanning Nick along like a silent black hovercraft. This left Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Professor McGonagall alone together.

"This way, Black, Potters." she said. "Professor," Harry said at once, "I swear we didn't — " "This is out of my hands, Black,Potters." Professor McGonagell said curtly.

The four of them marched in silence around a corner and came to a halt in front of a large and extremely ugly stone gargoyle. McGonagell raised her hands and spoke clearly, "Lemon drop."

This was evidently a password, because the gargoyle sprang suddenly to life, and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in two. Even full of dread for what was coming, Charlus couldn't fail to be amazed. Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, like an escalator.

As he, Harry, Alistair and Professor McGonagall stepped onto it, Charlus heard the wall thud closed behind them. They rose upward in circles, higher and higher, until at last, slightly dizzy, Charlus saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin.

Charlus realized that this must be Dumbledore's office.

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They stepped off the stone staircase at the top and Professor McGonagell rapped on the door. It opened silently and they entered. Professor McGonagell told them to wait and left them there, alone.

Charlus looked around. One thing was certain: of all the teachers' offices  he  had visited so far this year, Dumbledore's was by far the most interesting. If he hadn't been scared out of his wits that he was about to be thrown out of school, he would have been very pleased to have a chance to look around it.

It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little things. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames.

There was also an enormous, claw footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tattered wizard's hat — the Sorting Hat. He tugged at Harry's sleeve and pointed at the hat. Before one of them could stop him, he walked quietly around the desk, lifted the Hat from its shelf, and lowered it slowly onto his head.

Charlus and Alistair frowned. What was he doing?

"Er, yes," they could hear Harry mutter. "Er—sorry to bother you—I wanted to ask . . ."

The Hat probably interrupted him and guessing what he wanted to ask. They could tell Harry wasn't satisfied with it. He grabbed the point of the Hat and pulled it off. It hung limply in his hand, grubby and faded. Harry pushed it back onto its shelf, feeling sick.

"You're wrong," Harry spoke up and Charlus put his hand on his shoulder in comfort. Just then, a strange, gagging noise behind them made them wheel around.

They weren't alone after all. Standing on a golden perch behind the door was a decrepit-looking bird which resembled a half-plucked turkey. It was a Phoenix.

The three boys stared at it and the Phoenix looked balefully back, making its gagging noise again. "Well, he really doesn't look very fit." Alistair remarked.  And he was right. Its eyes were dull and a couple more feathers fell out of its tail.

 Charlus hesitated for a moment before he raised his hand slowly and gave the bird a gentle pat on the head before it  suddenly burst into flames and then turned to ash. 

The two green-eyed boys  yelled in shocked and backed up into Dumbledore's desk , while the brown-eyed boy was not surprised or scared. "Did I just kill him by touching him?" Charlus asked.

"Charlus? Harry? Alistair?" a voice behind them said, and the three of them twirled around. Dumbledore had come in, looking very somber. "Professor," Harry gasped. "Your bird —there was nothing we could do—he just caught fire— "

To  Charlus and Harry's astonishment, Dumbledore smiled. "About time, too," he said. "He's been looking dreadful for days; I've been telling him to get a move on."

Dumbledore chuckled at the stunned looks on Charlus and Harry's faces. Alistair chuckled as well  before he explained  to them, " I think that is a Phoenix, Charlus, Harry. Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes. Watch him—"

Charlus and Harry looked down in time to see a tiny, wrinkled, new-born bird poke its head out of the ashes. It was quite as ugly as the old one.

"It's a shame you had to see Fawkes on a Burning Day," Dumbledore said, seating himself behind the desk. "He's really very handsome most of the time: wonderful red and gold plumage. Fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads and their tears have healing powers."

In the shock of Fawkes catching fire,  Charlus had forgotten why they were here in the first place , but it all came back to him as Dumbledore settled himself in the high-backed chair behind the desk and fixed him, Harry and Alistair with his penetrating, light-blue stare.

Before Dumbledore could speak another word, however, the door of the office flew open with an almighty bang and Hagrid burst in, with a wild look in his eyes and the dead rooster still swinging from his hand.

"It wasn't Charlus,Harry and Alistair, Professor Dumbledore!" Hagrid said urgently. "I was talkin' ter them seconds before that kid was found, they never had time, sir . . ."

Dumbledore tried to say something, but Hagrid went ranting on, waving the rooster around in his agitation, sending feathers everywhere, "— It can't' ve bin them, I'll swear it in front o' the Ministry o' Magic if I have to —"

"Hagrid, I — " "— Yeh've got the wrong boys, sir, I know Charlus, Harry and Alistair never —" "Hagrid!" Dumbledore said loudly. "I do not think that Charlus, Harry and Alistair attacked those people."

"Oh," Hagrid said, the rooster falling limply at his side. "Right. I'll wait outside then, Headmaster." And then, he stomped out looking embarrassed.

"You don't think it was us, Professor?"  Alistair asked him hopefully as Dumbledore brushed rooster feathers off his desk after Hagrid left. "No, Alistair, I don't," Dumbledore said, though his face was somber again. "But I still want to talk to the three of you."

The three boys waited nervously while Dumbledore considered them and hesitated before he spoke again. "I must ask you, Charlus,Harry, Alistair, whether there is anything you'd like to tell me," he said gently. "Anything at all."

Charlus,Harry and Alistair looked at one another. They seemed to know exactly what was going on inside each other's heads. They thought about their idea that Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin and of the Polyjuice Potion they were brewing in the girl's bathroom. Then,  the three of them thought of their ability to hear disembodied voices that no one else could. They thought, too, about what everyone was saying about them, and the growing dread that they were somehow connected with Salazar Slytherin.

Despite all these thoughts, the three boys quickly shook their heads. "No." they said at the same time. "There isn't anything, Professor."

Dumbledore looked at each of them for a moment before  he gave them an understanding nod. "Very well, then."  he finally said with a sigh. "Off you go."

The three boys quickly nodded their heads and then walked out of the office while the Headmaster kept his light-blue eyes on them.

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

Hope you liked it! Longer chapter for you all to enjoy! We're getting to the end of Chamber of Secrets slowly but surely!

Please, don't forget to vote and share if you enjoyed, and if you want, comment too ! I'd really appreciate it <3

Thank you for reading this far.

Until next time, much love to you all!