Chapter 15-  A very fishy diary

“But if Riddle said,” Ron tried to reason.

“It was not Hagrid!” Harry cried agitated. “My dad has already told me that. I just don’t know why Riddle thought it was Hagrid.”

“Because he was hiding some dangerous creature,” Hermione said.

“What do you mean your dad told you? Why didn’t you tell us?” Ron asked angry.

Harry sighed. He, Hermione, Ron and Neville were in the common room discussing what Harry found out from a very strange diary that belonged to a boy named Tom M. Riddle. The boys had found the diary in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom, where someone had tried to get rid of it. For weeks Harry had kept the diary in his bag not knowing why.

Today, when he was ambushed by a dwarf dressed as a cupid, one of Lockhart’s bright ideas for Valentine’s Day, and tried to make a run for it, Harry spilled scarlet ink on all his books. Except Riddle’s diary was as clean as it had been before the dwarf had smashed the ink bottle. So, when he was back in his room Harry tried writing in the diary and found out it wrote back. Then Riddle showed him a memory where he had exposed Hagrid as the one that had opened the Chamber of Secrets. In Harry’s opinion Riddle got it wrong. Hagrid was known for liking dangerous beasts and probably was hiding something dangerous, but Hagrid would never consciously hurt anyone.

“My dad made me promise not to tell anyone Ron,” he said tiredly.

“Since Professor Black knows more about this than us maybe we should show him the diary,” Neville said, “I find a diary that talks back to you quite fishy.”

Harry looked at him and nodded, “Ok, tomorrow I’ll take it to him.”

“Why not now?” Hermione asked, “Its still half an hour until curfew.”

“Today is my dad’s night off. He’s probably at the Three Broomsticks charming some unsuspecting witch,” Harry said shuddering.

“Harry! I don’t need to hear that about a teacher!” Ron cried putting his hands on his ears, “Teachers are not supposed to have social lives. They are just teachers!”

“I know! It’s even worst for me. Parents aren’t supposed to have social lives either but every now and then I hear dad and Uncle Remus talking about some girlfriend or other. I am telling you, I will need a lot of therapy. It’s not going to be cheap!”

Hermione huffed, “You father and Uncle are quite young Harry. It’s normal.”

Harry looked at her and chuckled, “I know Hermione. I am just teasing. Though Uncle Remus’ girlfriend count isn’t as high as dad’s.”

“That’s not very responsible of Professor Black. To subject you to-“

“He doesn’t. I know about them, but I never met any of them. Dad and Uncle Remus say that they will only introduce a girlfriend when they find the one, as they put it. Dad never had anything serious with any woman. Uncle Remus had some but the few he had thought that he could have something more left him when he told them about his secret,” Harry said angry, “I definitely don’t like them!”

“That’s not right,” Hermione said.

“It’s not,” Neville said, “But it’s hard for people to give up their prejudices. Not many do. You’ll find Hermione, that we are a minority.”

“When that happens dad always tells Uncle Moony that they weren’t good for him anyway and that one day he’ll find a great witch that will like him the way he is. I hope he does. Uncle Moony deserves to be happy.”

Now that he thought about it he never heard Uncle Sev talking about any witch. Actually, Harry knew for a fact that on his days off Uncle Sev preferred to stay in the castle doing his researches and Potions experiments. Uhm, he’d have to find out why.

XXXXXXXXXXX

“And the diary was stolen?” Remus asked from his armchair.

Harry nodded from the couch, “I was going to show it to you after class. I left it in my trunk but when we got back to the Gryffindor Tower someone had gone through my trunk, none to gently, and the only thing gone was that diary.”

Sirius, who was seated next to Harry, frowned and crossed his arms pensively, “Who did you say the diary belonged to?”

“A Tom Riddle. Do you know him?”

“Never heard of him,” Sirius said, “Moony?”

“No,” Remus shook his head, “But Albus was already a teacher then. He may know. I never knew which student had told on Hagrid. We only found out why he was expelled now because Albus wanted to warn us.”

“But it wasn’t him!” Harry cried.

“No,” Remus smiled, “Hagrid was hiding an Acromantula that he had gotten as an egg. From what Dumbledore told us Aragog, Hagrid’s pet Acromantula, still lives in the Forbidden Forest and has a deal with Hagrid not to attack humans. Acromantulas are very dangerous but they don’t petrify their victims.”

Harry shivered. He was glad Hagrid was innocent, but honestly, a pet Acromantula?

“Anyway, there is nothing that you and your friends can do now. We’ll talk to Albus and see what he knows,” Sirius said, “Now, have you given a thought about what electives you’ll take next year?”

Harry groaned, “That’s all Hermione can talk about. Ron is taking Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. I would like to take the same as him, I like Care of Magical Creatures, but I hate Trelawney. She’s been predicting I’ll have a horrible death since I was three. Honestly, how thick can you be to scare a little kid like that?”

Sirius and Remus chuckled. The first time Trewlaney had scared little Harry by saying he was going to have a horrible accident, Harry had been scared of even getting out of bed. Sirius had not been happy. He had yelled at Trewlaney in front of the whole staff and had proceeded to stalk her as Padfoot, since back then she still didn’t know about his recently registered Animagus form. She had been a nervous wreck for weeks, seeing her own death everywhere.

“But I don’t know what else to take. Hermione is signing up for everything,” Sirius frowned at this and made a mental note to talk to Minerva about Hermione.

“Well, Muggle Studies is out since you spend two weeks a year as a Muggle. You don’t need it,” Remus said, “There is Ancient Runes and Arithmancy left. In your case, I recommend Arithmancy; it’s a lot like math and you always enjoyed it. Ancient Runes is basically learning a new language. You also had no problem learning Latin and French when we taught you but you didn’t really enjoy it.”

Harry nodded pensively. Ron wasn’t going to be happy, but Neville was taking Divination too so he wouldn’t be alone.

XXXXXXXX

“Hello Ms. Granger. Come in,” Sirius said happily from his desk.

“You wanted to talk to me Professor,” she said shyly entering the office. Sirius got up and pulled a chair for her. He sat in the opposite chair and said:

“Professor McGonagall and I have been talking about your elective choices. Now, we both think you are a very bright student and that you could take all of them as you asked for, but we want to think of all the pros and cons of the choice we’ll give you. Professor McGonagall will petition for a Time-Turner, do you know what it is?” Hermione shook her head. “It’s a device that allows you to go back in time in order to relive a certain period. This way, you’ll be able to take the classes that are at the same time. Now, this is very serious, there are many rules that you’ll have to follow. Meddling with time can be very dangerous so you will have to be very careful. I know you can do that.”

Hermione nodded seriously.

“As your teacher and Deputy Head of House I am presenting you all your options. But I asked Professor McGonagall to be the one to talk to you because I want to give you some advice as your friend’s father. It’s going to be very stressful to do so, your days will be longer than normal and you’ll have a workload bigger that what you are accustomed to. Not that I don’t think you can handle the work,” he said at her mutinous face, “But I want you to think carefully. As a teacher I shan’t speak ill of my colleagues,” he said and paused a bit. He whistled, looked to the side and then winked, “Okay, Professor Black is gone. Now, Harry’s dad can tell you that Professor Trewlaney can predict the future as much as Harry hates Quidditch.”

“Harry loves Quidditch!”

“My point exactly. You are Muggle-born and therefore Muggle Studies is a little redundant. If what you wanted is to have a Wizards perspectives on Muggles, which is what Harry’s mum had wanted when she signed up for the class,” he grinned at her nod, “Taking Muggle Studies won’t help you because the Muggle Studies teacher is Muggle-born. It’s for Wizards and witches to have a better understanding of Muggles, so Dumbledore decided to hire a Muggle-Born. If you want a Wizard’s perspective ask Neville or Ron. They can give you a better idea than Professor Burbage. Harry won’t help you there because he spends time in the Muggle World and I always made sure he knew about his heritage.”

Hermione nodded at his too.

“This leaves you with three electives left. That’s one more than what you have to take but it’s doable without the Time Turner. It will be stressful and you will still have a bigger workload than your classmates, but as I said I think you can handle it. So what I want you to do is go back to your dorm and think very carefully. If at the end of this school term you still want to take all the electives Professor McGonagall and I will both petition for a Time Turner. But I wanted you to have an informed decision and unfortunately I know that in her zeal to provide you with all you may want, Minerva may have not illustrated all the cons of this plan, just the pros.”

“Thank you Professor,” Hermione said brightly and left the office with a lot in her mind. Sirius dearly hoped she’d decide against the Time Turner but he wasn’t so sure she would. What he was sure was that whatever she decided, he’d be there to help. He hadn’t forgotten how Lily had been stressed out in their third year. McGonagall had offered her the same deal and by the end of the year Lily was a wreck, she ended up dropping Divination and Muggle Studies. Even though back then the Divination teacher was better than Trewlaney, Sirius thought that James constantly predicting she’d go out with him had played a big part on her choice.

XXXXXXXXX

He couldn’t believe his eyes. Hadn’t he been talking to her about her options just yesterday? And yet, as much as he was worried about her, his biggest thought was: thank God Harry wasn’t with her. He felt horrible for that. Shouldn’t he be worried about Hermione and Ms. Clearwater? He shouldn’t be relieved.

“I am too,” came a soft voice from behind him. He startled and turned to meet his best friend’s gaze. “You are wondering if it’s okay to be relieved that’s not Harry, Paddy. I know you. And I feel the same way. It’s normal. It doesn’t make you horrible. Just human.”

Sirius shook his head as to get rid of unpleasant thoughts, “When Madam Pince came to call us about two students being attacked and said one of those students was Hermione my first thought was Harry. How Harry was always with Hermione. How he could be the other student.”

“Me too. But he isn’t. He’s fine. And they will be too. We just need to find out what’s going on before something more permanent and horrible happens.”

At that moment McGonagall entered the Hospital Wing escorting three nervous looking students. Harry, Neville and Ron entered slowly almost afraid of what they would find. Sirius walked to his students and put a hand on Harry’s shoulder and another on Ron’s. Remus had done the same for Neville.

“Hermione is going to be fine. Just like the others. It may be hard to see her this way but you have to remember that she is just Petrified. Okay?”

They nodded.

“Before we let you see her we need to ask a few questions so we can understand what is going on,” Remus said gently. “They were found near the library and this was on the floor,” he said showing them a small circular mirror, “Do you know why?”

The three shook their head.

“Harry heard that voice again,” Neville said nervously, “Hermione said she had figured it out and that she had to go to the library. But that’s all we know.”

Remus looked at Sirius. They would have to go to Dumbledore. What did Hermione figure out?

XXXXXXXXXX

Things were definitely going down hill. Security had been tightened. Students didn’t go anywhere alone and to top it all Fudge had carted Hagrid to Azkaban and Lucius Malfoy had Dumbledore removed. Harry, Ron and Neville had been there, under the Invisibility Cloak, when that happened because they had wanted to ask Hagrid about Riddle. They didn’t have time. Dumbledore left them with a very cryptic message about asking for help and him never really being gone and Hagrid had told them to follow the spiders, which they had no intention of doing since they already knew what they would find.

Harry had asked his father who told him with a grim face that Dumbledore knew who Riddle had been and that if he found that diary again to give it straight to one of them. It was dangerous and they were almost sure it had something to do with how the Chamber of Secrets was being opened. Harry, Neville and Ron decided to keep a close look out for the diary but they didn’t get a clue of who may have taken it. At first they thought that it had to be a Gryffindor, but after remembering some of the more bold stories of the Marauders Harry realized that a password wouldn’t keep out someone who really wanted to get in Gryffindor Tower. That thought only served to dampen their moods even more.

The only good thing that happened was that the students that previously suspected Harry and Sirius decided that they were innocent. Apparently they thought that Harry would never attack Hermione and Sirius had been suspected only because he was Harry’s father. Speaking of Sirius, he, Remus and Severus had kept an even closer watch on Harry. Students had to be escorted from class to class by a teacher and Harry found it very coincidental that the three managed to be the ones that got the Gryffindor second years the most.

Malfoy was more unbearable than usual now that his father had managed to send away Dumbledore. He kept strutting around the place as if he owned it. In one Potions class he said he was surprised that all the Muggle-borns hadn’t already left, except he hadn’t been that polite, and was betting the next one would die. It was all Harry and Neville could do to keep Ron from attacking him.

Severus didn’t reprimand Malfoy and even indulged him when Malfoy proposed he should apply for Headmaster. But Harry saw the very small, almost imperceptible, twitch of Severus lips that told the people who knew Severus very well that he was holding back from strangling Malfoy by sheer force of will.

One morning, passing through Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom, Harry noticed several large spiders scurrying as if they were trying to flee as far away from the bathroom as possible. When he pointed this out to Neville and Ron, Ron promptly took some steps back and begged Harry not to follow Hagrid’s advice.

“I wasn’t planning to,” he said in a low tone so the rest of the class didn’t hear, “But he did say follow the spiders and have you noticed how you almost can’t find spiders in the castle anymore? It’s just weird. Almost like they want to be anywhere but here.”

Neville face suddenly enlightened, “You think that the spiders are scared of  whatever the monster is?”

“Makes sense,” he said looking pensively at the bathroom, “Dad said a girl was killed the last time.”

“So?” Ron asked.

“What if she never left? What if the ghost stayed behind?” Harry asked.

“Moaning Myrtle wears Hogwarts robes, so she died as a student,” Ron said following Harry’s train of though.

“We need to talk to her,” Neville said biting his lips, “It’s going to be almost impossible though. How do we ditch our escort?”

Harry bit his lip; he should tell his dad of his suspicions, but then he thought that his dad was the one to tell him about the dead girl, so he must have known about Myrtle. He probably already talked to her. Harry was just going to talk again and maybe catch something they missed. Yes, that was it. No need to worry his dad.