Harry Potter 02 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ he said, a slight sneer curling his mouth as though he doubted it, ‘but we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why were they in the upstairs corridor at all? Why weren’t they at the Hallowe’en feast?’
    Harry, Ron and Hermione all launched into an explanation about the Deathday Party, ‘… there were hundreds of ghosts, they’ll tell you we were there –’
    ‘But why not join the feast afterwards?’ said Snape, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight. ‘Why go up to that corridor?’
    Ron and Hermione looked at Harry.
    ‘Because – because –’ Harry said, his heart thumping very fast; something told him it would sound very far-fetched if he told them he had been led there by a bodiless voice no one but he could hear, ‘because we were tired and wanted to go to bed,’ he said.
    ‘Without any supper?’ said Snape, a triumphant smile flickering across his gaunt face. ‘I didn’t think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties.’
    ‘We weren’t hungry,’ said Ron loudly, as his stomach gave a huge rumble.
    Snape’s nasty smile widened.
    ‘I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful,’ he said. ‘It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest.’
    ‘Really, Severus,’ said Professor McGonagall sharply, ‘I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn’t hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong.’
    Dumbledore was giving Harry a searching look. His twinkling light-blue gaze made Harry feel as though he was being X-rayed.
    ‘Innocent until proven guilty, Severus,’ he said firmly.
    Snape looked furious. So did Filch.
    ‘My cat has been Petrified!’ he shrieked, his eyes popping. ‘I want to see some punishment !’
    ‘We will be able to cure her, Argus,’ said Dumbledore patiently. ‘Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made which will revive Mrs Norris.’
    ‘I’ll make it,’ Lockhart butted in. ‘I must have done it a hundred times, I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep –’
    ‘Excuse me,’ said Snape icily, ‘but I believe I am the Potions master at this school.’
    There was a very awkward pause.
    ‘You may go,’ Dumbledore said to Harry, Ron and Hermione.
    They went, as quickly as they could without actually running. When they were a floor up from Lockhart’s office, they turned into an empty classroom and closed the door quietly behind them. Harry squinted at his friends’ darkened faces.
    ‘D’you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?’
    ‘No,’ said Ron, without hesitation. ‘Hearing voices no one else can hear isn’t a good sign, even in the wizarding world.’
    Something in Ron’s voice made Harry ask, ‘You do believe me, don’t you?’
    ‘Course I do,’ said Ron quickly. ‘But – you must admit it’s weird …’
    ‘I know it’s weird,’ said Harry. ‘The whole thing’s weird. What was that writing on the wall about? The Chamber has been opened … what’s that supposed to mean?’
    ‘You know, it rings a sort of bell,’ said Ron slowly. ‘I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once … might’ve been Bill …’
    ‘And what on earth’s a Squib?’ said Harry.
    To his surprise, Ron stifled a snigger.
    ‘Well – it’s not funny really – but as it’s Filch …’ he said. ‘A Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn’t got any magic powers. Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but Squibs are quite unusual. If Filch’s trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a Squib. It would explain a lot. Like why he hates students so much.’ Ron gave a satisfied smile. ‘He’s bitter.’
    A clock chimed somewhere.
    ‘Midnight,’ said Harry. ‘We’d better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else.’
    *
    For a few days, the school could talk of little but the attack on Mrs Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone’s minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might come back.