𓏲 . THE BOY WHO LIVED . .៹♡
                                            CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
   ─── THE POLYJUICE POTION & THE VERY SECRET DIARY

By the time the holidays came around, there was almost a stampede to book seats on the Hogwarts Express so that students could go home for Christmas. Everyone had become immensely panicked since the double attack on Justin and Sir Nicholas.

As the snow fell and majority of the students had been taken to the train by carriage, Harry, Charlus, Hermione,Alistair and Ron all sat in a nearly empty Great Hall for Christmas dinner. Charlus sat between Alistair and Harry while Ron and Hermione sat on the opposite side of the table. It was the first holiday where they were all together. Not to mention, the Polyjuice Potion was complete.

Charlus looked around the Great Hall, which looked magnificent ,and spoke sarcastically, "At this rate, we'll be the only ones left. Us, the Malfoys, Crabbe,Goyle, Nott and Zabini. Oh, what a jolly holiday it's going to be."

Harry, Alistair and Ron laughed at Charlus' comment, while Hermione looked around nervously to make sure no one was around to hear what she was going to explain next. "Everything has been set." she said to them. "We just need a bit of who you're changing into."

"Crabbe and Goyle." Harry replied without hesitation as Ron groaned in disgust. It was obvious that he wasn't excited about turning into one of Draco Malfoy's inept goons. "Charlus and I are changing into Zabini and Nott." Alistair added, to which Charlus nodded in agreement.

"We also need to make sure that the real Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini and Nott can't burst in on us while were interrogating Malfoy." Hermione continued. Ron frowned. "How?" he asked her.

"I've got it all figured out," the bushy haired girl explained to the boys. She reached into her robes and took out two cupcakes, which she carefully placed on the table, "I filled these with a simple sleeping draught. Simple, but powerful. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know how greedy they are, they're bound to eat them. " "What about Zabini and Nott?" the boy with glasses asked. "I'm pretty sure they're not gonna be fooled as easily as Crabbe and Goyle."

"No." Hermione said with a small smirk and took out two vials from her robes, "All you have to do is to put these vials of sleeping draught into their drinks.  Once they're all asleep, hide them in the broom closet, pull out a few of their hairs and put on their robes."

The four boys looked incredulously at each other.

"Hermione, I don't think - "

"That could go seriously wrong - "

"Are you mad -"

"That sounds risky-"

But Hermione had a steely glint in her eye not unlike the one Professor McGonagall sometimes had."The potion will be useless without their hair," she said sternly. "You do want to investigate Malfoy, don't you?"

"Oh, all right, all right."  Alistair said. "But what about you?" Charlus asked, nervously, "Whose hair are you ripping out?"

"I've already got mine!" Hermione said brightly, pulling a tiny bottle out of her pocket and showing them the single hair inside it. " Millicent Bulstrode. Slytherin. I got this off her robes. And she's gone home for Christmas - so I'll just have to tell the Slytherins I've decided to come back." She paused for a moment, before she gathered her things, "I'm going to go check on the Polyjuice Potion. Make sure Crabbe and Goyle find these."

With that, Hermione got up from the table and walked out of the Great Hall in a hurry to check on the Polyjuice Potion again. When the girl was out of sight, Ron turned to his three friends with a doom-laden expression, "Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?"

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But to Charlus and Alistair's utter amazement, stage one of the operation went just as smoothly as Hermione had said. The two Slytherin boys were hid around the corner of an empty corridor after the delicious Christmas dinner.

They let out a sigh of relief as they saw Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini, who sat on the cold stone floor and engrossed in a deep conversation.  Next to them stood two cups.

Charlus looked in all directions to make sure the place was empty and no one was coming. Then he pulled out his wand and whispered under his breath, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The two cups  began to fly in the air, and the boy let them float over to him and his friend. Alistair opened the two vials and dropped the potion into their drinks before Charlus let the cups  float back to Nott and Zabini.

"That was easier than we thought." The black-haired boy whispered to Charlus and grinned mischievous as Nott and Zabini took their cups and started to drink.

For a moment, they both drank the entire contents of their cups.  When they  set down the  cups, they noticed they started to feel weird. They looked at each other and could only say "Wha..." before they passed out.

Much the most difficult bit was hiding them in the cupboard across the hall. Once they were safely stowed amongst the buckets and mops, Charlus pulled out several of  Nott's hairs and Alistair took a few hairs from the back of Zabini's head.

They stole their robes and ties, and then left the both Slytherins in the broom cupboard, unharmed, in their dress shirts and dress pants. Then, still stunned at what they had just done, sprinted up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

As they entered at the same time as Harry and Ron, Hermione was sat in her normal corner of the room, stirring the cauldron carefully. The four boys stared into the cauldron. Close up, the potion looked like thick, dark mud, bubbling sluggishly.

"I'm sure we've done everything right," Hermione said nervously while she reread the splotched page of Moste Potente Potions. "It looks like the book says it should... once we've drunk it, we'll have exactly an hour before we change back into ourselves."

"Now what?" Ron asked in a hushed voice. "We separate it into five glasses and add the hairs." Hermione explained to him.

She ladled large dollops of the Potion into each  of the five glasses. Then she started to hand each boy a glass before she took her own. The five of them reluctantly looked at one another before they added the hairs of the person they were transforming into.

"Urgh - essence of Crabbe. " Ron said while he scrunched his face in disgust. "That looks absolutely disgusting." Alistair commented in disgust.

"Cheers," Hermione said and held her glass in the air to lighten the mood. Her four friends smiled slightly before they raised their glasses as well. There was a delicate clink as the glasses clinked together, and then they brought them to their lips and took a sip.

Immediately, Charlus' insides began to writhe, as though he had just swallowed a dozen live snakes. Then a burning sensation spread rapidly from his stomach to the very ends of his fingers and toes. The young boy felt sick, and apparently he wasn't the only one. The other four seemed to feel that same as they all groaned in disgust.

Ron's eyes grew wide as he swallowed and soon he dropped the  glass, which earning a shattering sound. "I think I'm gonna be sick!" he said before he ran into one of the bathroom stalls.

"I'm with you, mate. Ugh." Alistair said and ran to a stall as well. Hermione nodded in agreement before she ran into another stall, "Me too!"

"Power through. Power through."  Charlus mumbled for a few seconds  but he stopped as he swore he could feel his insides attacking him. "Nope." he  said quickly and ran into one as well.

Harry was the only one left in the main area as he watched his face start to bubble and change into that of Goyle.  After about a minute,  Charlus, Alistair and Ron came out of the stalls in in Slytherin robes as Nott, Zabini and Crabbe.

The boys looked at each other in amazement. The potion had actually worked, and their plan was going well. They were clearly transformed into the four Slytherins.

Charlus took in his appearance in one of the mirror's beyond Harry, and was astonished to Theodore Nott staring back at him out of dull, deep-set eyes. Charlus scratched his ear. So did Nott.

"This is unbelievable," Ron said, approaching the mirror and prodding Crabbe's flat nose. "Unbelievable." "We'd better get going," Harry said, loosening his watch that was cutting into Goyle's thick wrist. "We've still got to find out where the Slytherin common room is. I only hope we can find someone to follow..."

"Don't worry, Charlus and I will show you the common room," Alistair reassured the two of them without using the voice. Charlus nodded in agreement before he banged on Hermione's door,"C'mon 'Mione, we need to go - "

A high pitched voice answered him, "I - I don't think I'm going to come after all. You guys go on without me." "Look, Hermione, we all know Millicent's 's ugly," Ron tried to reason with her calmly. "No one's going to know it's you -" "No - really!" she shrieked. " I don't think I'll come. You four hurry up, you're wasting time - "

Charlus looked at Harry,Alistair and Ron, bewildered, before he turned back to the stall door, looking concerned, "'Mione, are you alright?" "Fine - I'm fine - go on - "

Harry looked at his watch. Five of their precious sixty minutes had already passed, "She's right, Charlus. We've got to go."

The green eyed boy placed his hand on the door one more time, and whispered through the door so Hermione could hear, "We'll meet you back here, all right?"

The four boys opened the door to the bathroom carefully, checked that the coast was clear, and set off.  "Okay, how do we get to the Slytherin common room?" Ron asked his both Slytherin friends.  "It's in the dungeons, follow us," Alistair replied , and the both of them led them down a nearby staircase towards the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was located.

As the four of them turned the corner, they spotted a figure emerging from the other end of the corridor, "Excuse me!"

The figure came towards them. Their hearts sank as they took in the figure's appearance. It was Percy Weasley, Ron's older brother and a Gryffindor Prefect.

"What are you doing dow-?" Ron asked in in surprise and forget he wasn't Ron anymore, but Harry nudged him in the ribs , and the boy changed his voice. "I mean- What are you doing down here?"

Percy looked shocked by that. "I happen to be a school prefect," he said and raised his left eyebrow. "You, on the other hand, have no business wandering around the corridors at this time. What're your names again?"

Harry began stuttering, causing the Gryffindor Prefect  to eye them suspiciously. But then a voice suddenly echoed behind the five boys,"Crabbe! Goyle! Nott! Zabini!"

They turned and saw Draco Malfoy was strolling toward them with his brother. For the first time in his life, Charlus was pleased to see him. "Where have you four been?" he drawled and looked at them angrily, "Pigging out in the Great Hall all this time?"

Charlus pretended to be offended by this. "Just to let you know, Draco," he said while he crossed his arms. "Blaise and I went looking for these two and got distracted on the way." "Alright, I got it." Draco said before he turned to Harry as Goyle, "Why are you wearing glasses?"

Charlus only noticed that Harry was still wearing his glasses when Draco pointed it out. He mentally cursed himself for not noticing before.

"Uh," he stammered, visibly struggling to come up with an excuse as he took them off, "Um... Reading." "Reading?" Draco repeated and looked at him in disbelief. "I didn't know you could read."

If it wasn't for the fact that it was Malfoy who said it, Charlus would've laughed.

Draco seemed to drop the topic because he glanced witheringly at Percy, "And what are you doing down here, Weasley?"   Percy looked outraged. "You want to show a bit more respect to a school prefect!" he exclaimed. "I don't like your attitude,Malfoy!"

Draco sneered and motioned Adrian,  Charlus, Harry,Alistair and Ron to follow him. Adrian almost said something apologetic to Percy but caught himself. He and the other four hurried  after Draco , who said as they turned into the next passage, "That Peter Weasley –"

"Percy," Ron corrected him automatically, making Adrian look confused. "Whatever," Draco replied. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-headed."

He gave a short, derisive laugh. Charlus, Harry,Alistair and Ron exchanged exited looks while Adrian grinned.

The Malfoy twins paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall. Draco turned to the other Slytherins with a frown, "What was the new password again?" "Pure-blood!" Adrian said and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open. Draco and Adrian marched through it and Charlus,Harry,Alistair and Ron followed them.

The Slytherin common room was exactly how Charlus and Alistair had described it to the other two. It was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in high-backed chairs.

The blonde haired Slytherins plopped down on the couch, while the light brown-haired boy and the black-haired boy sat down on the other couch across from them. The four of them looked at the two disguised boys, who looked at one another reluctantly. Then Harry lead the charge and sat down, causing Ron to do the same.

"You'd never know the Weasley's were pure-bloods," Draco began in a disgusted tone, "Not with the way they behave. They're an embarrassment to the Wizarding World. All of them."

Charlus adverted his gaze from Malfoy and saw Ron - or rather, Crabbe  - clutch his fist in slight anger. "What's wrong with you, Crabbe?" Draco inquired.

The light brown-haired boy subtly nudged Ron with his elbow to pull him out of his obvious hatred. The red- haired boy seemed to understand the message, as his expression relaxed and he grunted, "Stomachache."

"Well, go up the Hospital Wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," Draco said, snickering. "You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hadn't reported all these attacks yet." "Stop being an idiot,Draco! People almost died." Adrian exclaimed.

"I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up." he went on thoughtfully,ignoring his brother . "He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place."

Charlus could feel his anger begin to rise. "You're wrong!"  he yelled , and Adrian narrowed his eyes while Harry  nodded his head. 

This time it was Alistair who nudged Charlus to calm him down. Draco got up from the couch slowly and approached him with an intimidating look. "What?" he snapped. "You think there's someone here worse than Dumbledore?"

Much to his anger, Charlus hesitated, as Ron shook his head quickly. "Well, do you?" "Charlus and Harry Potter?" Charlus then said,and  Harry nodded in agreement.

Draco stared at  Charlus for a couple of seconds before an approving smirk appeared on his face. "Good one, Nott, you're absolutely right. Saint Potters and the blood-traitor Black. And people actually think that they are the Heirs of Slytherin?"

Charlus held his breath at the mention of the heirs. There it was, what they wanted to hear. Draco was surely seconds away from telling them it was him - but then "I wish I knew who it is," he said petulantly. "I could help them."

The light brown-haired boy shared a shocked glance with his brother and his two friends. Fortunately, Draco didn't notice, and Harry, thinking fast, said, "But then you must have some idea who's behind it all."

"You know I don't, Goyle." Draco snapped impatiently as he walked to a desk and picked up a small wrapped box. "I told you yesterday. How many times do I have to tell you?" "Apparently very often." Adrian dryly remarked and couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Yes, you're right, Adrian," Draco replied before he shook the box next to his ear to discern its contents. His gaze then turned to his brother. "Is this yours?" he asked, but Adrian only shook his head silently.

Draco finally put the box in his robe pocket before he turned his attention back to the others in the room. "But my father did say this." he began to say, " It's been fifty years since the Chamber was opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it. Only that they were expelled. The last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So it's only a matter of time before one of them is killed this time." He then let out a small smirk. "As for me, I hope it's Granger."

That was the last straw for Charlus. The light brown- haired boy lunged forward off of the couch. He was determined to punch the blond boy directly in the face, but before he could do so, Harry quickly put his arm around him and held him back.

"What is that matter with you four?!" Draco asked very confused. "You're acting very odd." "Must've been something we ate." Harry replied before he turned to his brother, who managed to calm down himself, and whispered, "You have to calm down."  "U-Uh," Ron suddenly stuttered as he pointed to Goyle's forehead "S-Scar."

Harry's famous lightening bolt shaped scar was now appearing on Goyle's face. Meaning, the hour was nearly up and the potion was wearing off.  The youngest Potter gulped as he touched his forehead, before he looked at Zabini. Alistair's dark, curly hair was beginning to grow out of Blaise's buzz cut, "H-Hair."

 Alistair gasped as he moved his hands to the top of his head, expecting to come into contact with the buzz cut, but instead found out it was curly and soft again. Then he looked to Crabbe's face and seeing the infamous Weasley marks appear on his face. His eyes widened, "Uh, Freckles."

Ron widened his eyes before he turned to Charlus, and  noticed that his eyes were taking on their bright green color again. "Your eyes."

"We need to go, now." Charlus whispered with a hint of urgency in his voice, and the four of them immediately rushed to the door while they covered the parts of them that were turning back into their original selves.

"Hey!" Draco shouted after them, "Where are you going!" "We're gonna get medicine for Crabbe's stomach!" Alistair exclaimed before he and the other three ran out of the common room and sprinted towards Myrtle's bathroom.

"That was close." Ron panted and closed the bathroom door behind them once they were safely inside. Charlus checked his face in the cracked mirror. He was back to normal.

Harry put his glasses back on as  Alistair dashed over to Hermione's stall and softly knocked on the door. "Hermione, come out, we've got loads to tell you--" "Go away!" Hermione squeaked.

Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Ron and exchanged a look. "What's the matter?" Ron said, as he moved towards the door, "You must be back to normal by now, we are - "

But Moaning Myrtle glided suddenly through the stall door. It was the first time that Charlus saw the ghost so happy. "Oooooooh, just wait until you see!" she said with an amused smile, " It's awful!"

They heard the lock slide back and Hermione emerged, sobbing, her robes pulled up over her head. "What's wrong?" Charlus asked in concern.   Ron joked to lighten the mood, "Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?"

Hermione let her robes fall and Ron backed into the sink. Her face was covered in black fur. Her eyes had turned yellow and there were long, pointed ears poking through her hair. "It was a c-cat hair!" she howled. "M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat! And the p-potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"

"Uh, oh," Ron said. "You'll be teased something dreadful," Myrtle said happily."It's okay, Hermione," Alistair said quickly. Charlus nodded with a small reassuring smile, "Yeah, Alistair  is right. We'll take you up to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey never asks too many questions..."

It took a long time to persuade Hermione to leave the bathroom. Moaning Myrtle sped them on their way with a hearty guffaw. "Wait till everyone finds out you've got a tail!"

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Hermione remained in the hospital wing for several weeks. Every day, whenever he could find the time, Charlus made his way to visit her. These visits soon became the highlight of his day, and he always looked forward to keeping her company. 

Charlus knew from his own painful experience how quickly and unbearably boring it could become in the hospital wing if you had nothing to do but lie around and wait for time to pass. So he tried his best to make Hermione laugh and take her mind off things while he visited her.

Every time Charlus entered the room, her spirits improved greatly. Not to mention that she was more than relieved that all the hair had gone from her face and her eyes were turning slowly back to chocolate brown.

Harry, Alistair and Ron joined Charlus during the evenings. When the new term started, the five  of them worked on their homework together just like they had done in the library many times before. 

"If I'd sprouted whiskers, I'd take a break from work," Ron said one evening  while he tipped a stack of books onto Hermione's bedside table. "Don't be silly, Ron, she's got to keep up," Charlus said and smiled at Hermione.

"I don't suppose you've got any new leads?" she added in a whisper, so that Madam Pomfrey couldn't hear her. "Nothing," Harry said gloomily. "I was so sure it was Malfoy," Ron said, for about the hundredth time.

"What's that?" Alistair asked her and pointed to something gold sticking out from under Hermione's pillow. "Just a get well card," Hermione said hastily and tried to poke it out of sight, but Charlus was too quick for her.

He pulled it out, flicked it open, and read aloud: "To Miss Granger, wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award."

The light brown-haired boy felt a weird feeling similar to disgust in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't help but roll his eyes as he said, "Jesus Christ how pathetic is this git."

Before Hermione could say anything back, Madame Pomfrey ushered the boys out as she approached the girl with her evening dose of medicine. The boys said goodbye to their friend as they gathered their things.

The four boys left the infirmary and started up the stairs toward Gryffindor Tower. Much to their inconvenience, Snape had given them an absurd amount of homework that they had to yet to finish.

 Ron had just finished telling the other three that he had wished he asked Hermione how many rat tails you were supposed to add to a Hair Raising Potion when an angry outburst from the floor above them reached their ears.

"That's Filch," Harry muttered. "You don't say?" Charlus whispered sarcastically as they hurried up the stairs and paused, out of sight, listening hard.

"You don't think someone else's been attacked?" Alistair said tensely. They stood still, their heads inclined towards Filch's voice, which sounded quite hysterical.

" - even more work for me! Mopping all night, like I haven't got enough to do! No, this is the final straw, I'm going to Dumbledore - "

His footsteps receded along the out of sight corridor and they heard a distant door slam.

The four boys poked their heads around the corner.  They were once again on the spot where Mrs. Norris had been attacked. Then, they saw at a glance what Filch had been shouting about.

A great flood of water stretched over half the corridor, and it looked as though it was still seeping from under the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Now that Filch had stopped shouting, they could hear Myrtle's wails echoing off the bathroom walls.

"Now what the bloody hell is up with her?" Alistair asked. "Let's go and see." Harry said, and they held heir robes over their ankles they stepped through the great wash of water to the door which had a sign saying, "OUT OF ORDER" that had never been there before.

The four boys ignored it as they entered. Moaning Myrtle's cries filled the room. They were, if possible, louder and harder than ever before. She sat hunched over in the middle of the flooded room, wailing uncontrollably.

"Are you alright, Myrtle?" Charlus asked the ghost. "Who's that?" Myrtle glugged miserable as she noticed the boys. "Come to throw something else at me?"

Harry waded across to her and said, "Why would we throw something at you?" "Don't ask me," Myrtle shouted and stood up abruptly, which splashed more water onto the already sopping floor. "Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me..."

"But it can't hurt you if someone throws something at you," Ron said with a laugh. "I mean, it'd just go right through you, wouldn't it?" "That's little insensitive, don't you think..." Charlus muttered and Harry and Alistair nodded.

Myrtle wasn't amused at all by that comment. She puffed herself up and shrieked, "Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because she can't feel it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach! Fifty points if it goes through her head! Well, ha, ha, ha! What a lovely game, I don't think!"

Ron had been startled by Myrtle's sudden anger and took a step back slightly, to which Charlus shook his head, amused. "Who threw it at you, anyway?" Harry said, trying to get her to calm down.

"I don't know. I didn't see them. I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and it fell through the top of my head." Myrtle said while she glared at them.

"I'm sorry, did you say 'thinking about death'?" Alistair asked in surprise, but the ghost didn't answer him. Instead she burst into shrieks and cries again before she floated away from them.

Harry noticed something on the floor and walked up to pick it up,shaking off some of the water. "What is it Harry?" Charlus asked and walked over to him. "It's some kind of book." he replied. "Let take it to show Hermione." Charlus suggested.

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The boys went to see Hermione in the Hospital Wing. They showed her the diary and told her the story of how they had found it.

Hermione took the diary carefully and examined the first page of the book closely. "There's a name in this diary," she remarked after a while. "Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"Tom Marvolo Riddle?" Ron repeated in confusion before he took the diary from the girl and looked at the name himself. Suddenly, a look of recognition appeared on his face. " Hang on. I know that name."

Harry and Charlus looked at the red-haired boy expectantly. "How on earth d'you know that name?" Alistair asked in amazement.

 "Because that night I had detention," Ron said resentfully. "My job was to polish the silver in the trophy room. I remember because I kept burping up slugs over Tom Riddle's trophy and Lucian Riddle's plaque."     

"What was the trophy for? And who is Lucian Riddle?" Harry asked his friend curiously.  "Well,"  he began to explain, " Tom Riddle won an award fifty years ago. Special services to the school or something. And Lucian Riddle... that was his brother, I think. I heard he was killed shortly after his daughter and son were born. It must have been a tragic story."

Hermione frowned as Ron passed the diary to Charlus. "Fifty years ago? Are you sure?" she inquired of him. "Yes, why?" he replied.

"The last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened was - " Charlus began  to say. " - Fifty years ago," Harry finished the sentence for him and Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "That means Tom Riddle was here at Hogwarts when it happened."

"What if he wrote about what he saw?"  Hermione asked, excitedly, "It's possible he knew where the Chamber was, how to open it, even what sort of creature lives in it. If so, whoever is behind the attacks wouldn't want this diary laying around, would they?"

Charlus nodded. "It's a brilliant theory, Hermione." he praised her. "It could even work, but there's just one little problem. There is nothing written in this diary." Then he opened it and flipped through the pages to show them  that they were completely blank and there wasn't the faintest trace of writing on any of them. "Makes you question why keep a diary and not write anything in it..."

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 The next day, Harry approached Charlus, Hermione, Alistair, and Ron in the courtyard while he was  completely out of breath. He had just run through the entire castle to find his twin brother and his friends and tell them what he had discovered last night.

"Hold on a minute, Harry! You look like you've been running a marathon," Ron teased. But Harry was too excited to take time to catch his breath. He eagerly told them about his nightly conversation with Tom Riddle's diary before he concluded it with, "It was Hagrid!" He breathed out, "Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago!"

It was quiet for a moment before Charlus laughed and said sarcastically, "Yeah, and Voldemort's not the bad guy." "I'm serious, Char," Harry replied and looked rather irritated.

"Really, Harry? Hagrid?" Alistair said and shook his head in disbelief. "He can't even hurt a fly!" "I agree with Alistair on this." Hermione quickly said, "It can't be Hagrid. It just can't be."

"We don't even know this Tom Riddle!" Ron added,  "He sounds like a bloody snitch if you ask me! " "The monster had killed somebody, Ron!" Harry tried to argue, "What would any of us have done?"

The five  of them fell silent. After a long pause, Hermione voiced the knottiest question of all in a hesitant voice, "Look, Hagrid's our friend. Why don't we just go ask him about it?"

Charlus snorted and replied sarcastically, "Well that would be a cheerful visit. 'Hello Hagrid! Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?' -"

"Mad and hairy?" a deep voice said behind them. The five of them turned to look up at the half-giant they had been talking about , "Yeh wouldn't be talkin' 'bout meh, now, would yeh?" "No," they all said at the same time, perhaps way too quickly.

Hagrid stared at them suspiciously. There was a very awkward and uncomfortable silence until Harry broke it. "What's that you got there, Hagrid?" he asked and pointed to a small green tank in Hagrid's right hand.

"Oh, it's Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent. For the mandrakes." Hagrid began to explain, "According to Professor Sprout, they've still got a bit of growing up to do, but once their acné's cleared up, we'll be able to chop them up and stew them, and then we'll get those people at the hospital un-petrified. "

"Good to hear." Alistair said in relief as the others nodded, but then the half-giant looked at them worriedly, "In the meantime, though, you five had best be looking after yourselves. Alright?"

They didn't say anything in response, but just looked at him and he nodded a little sadly before he left them. At that moment, Neville Longbottom came running up to the group, "Harry, I don't know who did it, but you'd better come. Come on!"

The five looked at each other briefly in irritation  before  they ran after Neville. He led them to the Gryffindor common room and up to the boys' dormitory. When they got there , Alistair swore loudly, "What the bloody hell happened?"

The room was a mess, mainly on Harry's side. Books were thrown and torn everywhere, and  the feathers had fallen out of the pillows and covered the bed and floor. The trunk was completely tipped over and  the clothes were askew. The lanterns including the mirror were broken, and  the mattress had been tipped off the bed. Hedwig, Harry's owl,which was supposed to be resting in its cage, was now sitting on a bedside table.... It almost looked like a crime scene.

Harry didn't say anything as he walked over to his bed and furiously searched through his destroyed things. It was obvious that he was looking for something specific.

"It had to be a Gryffindor," Hermione told him and looked around the room in shock, " Only Charlus and Alistair know our password. Well, unless it wasn't a student."  "Whoever it was, they must have been looking for something," Ron said with a gulp.

Harry threw the last of the Lockhart books on his bed in frustration and realized what wasn't there anymore, "Yeah, and they found it." he said with a huff, "Tom Riddle's diary is gone."

Charlus sighed and ran a hand through his hair, clearly annoyed.  "Brilliant," he muttered sarcastically, "That's exactly what we need right now."

                                   ────────⊹⊱🐍⊰⊹────────

A month or so had gone by and the three Gryffindors and the two Slytherins still hadn't figured out who stole Tom Riddle's diary.

They were honestly too preoccupied with choosing their subjects for the third year, as well as finishing up the work that had already been assigned to them. Not to mention that Flint had insisted that the team practiced every night after dinner to prepare for the upcoming match against Ravenclaw, leaving Charlus little time for anything other than Quidditch and homework.

On the day of the match between Slytherin and Ravenclaw,  Hermione went to the library to do some more research.  Meanwhile, Charlus collected his Nimbus 2001 and pulled on his green robes before he joined his teammates.

 Marcus Flint gave them a pep talk for the match today. "Alright, listen up." he said to them, " We play our game, Ravenclaw doesn't stand a chance. We're stronger, quicker and smarter." "And not to mention, they're dead scared that Potter will Petrify them if they fly anywhere near him," Draco said in a jokingly way. 

"Shut up, Malfoy." Charlus groaned before the team walked onto the field to tumultuous applause. Flint took off for a warm-up flight around the goal posts; Madam Hooch released the balls. The Ravenclaw's, who played in royal blue, were standing in a huddle, having a last-minute discussion of tactics.

Charlus was just about to mount his broom when Professor McGonagall came half marching, half running across the pitch, carrying an enormous megaphone. His heart dropped like a stone.

"This match has been cancelled," Professor McGonagall called through the megaphone, addressing the packed stadium. There were boos and shouts.

  Marcus Flint, looking devastated, landed and ran towards Professor McGonagall without getting off his broomstick, "But, Professor!" he shouted. " We've got to play - the cup -  Slytherin - "

Professor McGonagall ignored him and continued to shout through her megaphone, "All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!"

Then she lowered the megaphone and beckoned Charlus over to her, "Potter, I think you'd better come with me . . ."

Wondering how she could possibly suspect him this time, Charlus saw Harry,Alistair and Ron detach themselves from the complaining crowd as they came running up to them before they set off toward the castle.

To Charlus' surprise, Professor McGonagall didn't object. "Yes, perhaps you three'd better come, too, Potter, Black, Weasley...."

Some of the students swarming around them were grumbling about the match being canceled; others looked worried. Charlus, Harry,Alistair and Ron followed Professor McGonagall back into the school and up the marble staircase. But they weren't taken to anybody's office this time.

"This will be a bit of a shock," Professor McGonagall said in a surprisingly gently voice as they approached the Hospital Wing. "There has been another attack . . . another double attack."

The light brown-haired boy's insides did a horrible somersault while Harry,Alistair and Ron seemed to share the same feeling. There would only be one reason why the four of them would be brought here.

Professor McGonagall pushed the door open and the boys entered. Pomfrey was bending over a sixth-year girl with long curly hair. Charlus recognized her as the Ravenclaw Prefect that was smitten for Percy Weasley.

But there was somebody else in the bed next to hers. "Hermione!" Ron groaned. Charlus' eyes widen as he felt his heart drop to his stomach, "Oh my god..." .

The light brown-haired boy's legs gave away and he collapsed. Harry being there to catch him. He led Charlus to a chair and helped him to sit down slowly and carefully, right next to Hermione's hospital bed.

Once Charlus was securely seated, Harry pulled up another chair and sat down directly beside his brother.  Charlus let his head sink onto Harry's shoulder and began to sob heart-wrenchingly. As he sobbed,  his brother put an arm around him and soothingly stroked his hair.

Hermione lay still, like she had frozen completely, with her eyes open and glassy.

"They were found near the library," Professor McGonagall said as she took a small, circular mirror from a table and showed it to the boys, "I don't suppose either of you can explain this? It was on the floor next to them . . ."

"No." Alistair said in a sad tone of voice while Harry and Ron shook their heads. Charlus said nothing. He couldn't even shook his head. He only stared at Hermione with tears streaming down his face.

"Potter, Weasley, I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower," Professor McGonagall said heavily. "I need to address the students in any case. Potter,Black, Professor Snape will collect you on a bit."

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

To be honest, these chapters just keep getting longer and longer because  I can't wait to finally get to Prisoners of Azkaban! 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Please, don't forget to vote and share if you do, 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!