Two months had passed before she knew it. And she settled in quite well. Potions quickly became her best class. Snape was her favourite professor.
Her worst class was Defence Against the Dark arts mainly because Lockhart was a real phony in her eyes. He spent most of his classes reading passages from his books. And some things just seemed strange to her, even though she was new to magic. Like when he told her how he got rid of a banshee, whatever it was. In his words, he did a spell that took away the voice of the banshee. That was possible, but only temporarily, according to Flitwick.
It was all a bit strange. Ginny acted strangely. For most of the time, she was just being Ginny. One her closest friends. But there was one time when she really seemed out of it.
She seemed to be sleepwalking through the dungeons one night. And when she or Luna asked about it, Ginny always said she had no memory of it.
Briget Rookwood started to become a real enemy. So was Draco Malfoy.
It was November now. The weather was changing. There was a chill in the air. On a beautiful autumn Monday, she was walking in the gardens when she heard a commotion around the Quidditch pitch. When she went over she saw two groups of people. One was dressed in green and the other in scarlet.
At the front of the green group was Draco Malfoy. When Avalon arrived, Ron and Hermoine were in the middle in the small gap that was separating the two groops.
She couldn't quite hear the argument, but she heard Draco call Hermoine a Mudblood. Then she saw Ron grab his wand, which was held together by tape.
He said something and then the light that was supposed to come out of the tip burst from the tape. It bounced back and hit Ron. By the time Harry and Hermione managed to lift him off the ground, he had gone very pale. They quickly rushed past her.
While they were eating dinner, she started to tell Luna all about what she had seen. "Should I go to Snape with this?" She asked Luna about it. "Oh no, he only seems to be fond of you. He doesn't care for Ron." Luna answered.
After eating Dinner everyone needed to go through the same corridor to get to their common rooms.
What they found was Harry standing alone against the wall. Mrs Norris, the caretaker's cat, was hanging from the ceiling by her tail. And there were words written on the wall, in what looked like blood.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir beware,"
The teachers quickly joined them. Avalon glanced over at Ginny, who had an extremely frightened look on her face. "Look at Ginny," she whispered to Luna. They carefully made their way over to her as Dumbledore examined Mrs Norris.
"You all right?" Avalon asked Ginny who shook her head quickly. "It's just so awful." She said, sobbing. "She's not dead Argus." Dumbledore's voice cut through. "She's just been petrified." He added. Avalon threw an arm around Ginny's shoulder.
"See, it will be alright. Dumbledore is sure of it." Avalon told her. "What if they can't save her." Ginny asked her. "I'm sure they can Ginny. Dumbledore is sure."Avalon answered. "But he . Can . Be. Wrong." She said between sobs. "Yes. He can." Luna chimed in. "Luna, you are not helping." Avalan whispered.
"I am, even though they can make a mistake, but at least there is a chance. A lot of people don't even get that. Luna added. Ginny smiled a little. "Thank you." She said.
Professor McGonagall addressed the students. She told them to make their way to the common rooms. The students quickly listened. There was no other topic of conversation than the so-called Chamber of Secrets and what had happened to the Caretaker's cat for the next few days.
Every time Avalon ran into Ginny, she seemed to grow paler. Luna and Avalon were worried about her. In the Potions class, no one was able to keep their mind on their potions at all. This was to the great annoyance of Snape. He even made the class stay later. Avalon stayed behind after that.
"Professor," she began. "Yes, Avalon?" he asked her. "I don't have long, sweetheart," he added. "What is this Chamber of Secrets?" she asked. "It's a myth, Avalon. Nothing to worry about." He said. "But what is it?" her question was. "Nobody will tell us. She added. "I know. We are forbidden to speak of it." He replied.
Avalon looked at him. "Is it that dangerous?" she asked. "I don't know." He said. "I've heard the legends. But no one knows if they are true." He said.
"But what are those legends? "Avalon asked, looking into Snape's eyes. "OK, fine, but don't tell anyone I told you." He said as he pointed to a chair. She sat down.
"We must go back to the earliest days of our school for this story. It was founded a thousand years ago. There were four founders. Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helena Huffelpuff. As to who we should teach, they had different ideas. Hellena Huffelpuff was in favour of anyone with magic. Regardless of who they were. Rowena Ravenclaw was in favour of those who were very clever.like yourself if I’m not mistaken.” Snape said to her.
"Godric Gryfindor wanted to teach the brave, and if you ask me, the reckless. And Salazar Slytherin thought that only pure-blooded wizards should be taught to use magic. But because his view was not shared by the others, he decided to leave..”
“ But before he did, they said he built a room within the school known as the Chamber of Secrets, which he sealed with blood magic. And it is said that a monster was born in it. One that, if awakened, will rid the school of those who, in the eyes of Slytherin, are unfit to learn magic." He finished his story.
"But what can wake this monster than?"Avalon asked.
"The only true heir of Salazar Slitherin. He or she can open the chamber and control the monster." He replied. "But Avalon, this is a legend. The school has been searched. Every generation of headmasters has searched. But it has never been found." He added.
"But then what has happened to Mrs Norris?" Avalon questioned. "There are ways to petrify a being. Potions, curses. I don't know what happened'. Snape answered.
"And what about Harry?" she asked. "What about him." He barked. "I'm sorry." he added quickly. "About Harry... I don't think he has anything to do with this." He said. "Why do you think that?" She asked.
"For two reasons. Even though he thinks he is, he is not clever enough. 2 This is not something a second year can do. Not on his own," the bell rang.
"I have a new class, Avalon. You should go." he said. She left the classroom quickly. Back in the dormitory on Luna's bed, she told her classmates and a visiting Ginny everything she had learned.
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"If even Snape thinks that Harry is innocent, then he definitely has to be." Luna said. Ginny was strangely quiet. Her personality had been so bubbly before. she seemed like a wallflower now. But every time they asked her if she was all right, all she would say was: "I'm not sleeping well. So, after a couple of weeks, they just stopped asking her.
Avalon noticed that she carried a black book with her wherever she went. That weekend was the first Quiditch match of the season. Avalon had never seen a quiditch match before. But she had found out. It was like football for the wizarding world.
Just about everyone had their own favourite Quidditch team. Ginny told them. She dreamed of one day playing for the Hollyhead Harpies. They were the only all-girl Quidditch team in the whole world. Her twin brothers used to tease her about it. They said she would never make it because girls could not play quiditch well. She always smiled at them. She told them that one day they would eat their words.
Gryffindor versus Slytherin would be the match. They all made their way to the Quidditch pitch 30 minutes before the match was due to start.
Avalon had never seen the pitch from the inside before. It was as big as a football pitch with seats raised about 2 metres off the ground. On each side of the pitch were 3 rings even higher. It reminded Avalon of those soap bubble blowers.
A whistle blew. The 2 teams walked to the centre of the pitch with brooms in hand. The witch Avalon had seen at the table at the beginning of the term feast was in the middle. She had short hair and cat-like eyes. She said something to the players and then blew her whistle and the team mounted their brooms and took off.
The Gryfindor team included the Wasley twins, Harry Potter and some older students that Avalon had only seen around dinner time.She recognised the team captain as a boy with the name Wood. She did not know the names of the other members of the team.
Draco Malfoy was the only one she knew from the Slytherin team. The match had started. The Slytherins were a blur in the sky. In the blink of an eye, they had 3 goals on their board. Ginny and Luna tried to explain to her how to play. But suddenly there was a grey ball chasing Harry. It was followed by the Weasley twins. The Weasley twins were chasing the grey ball and knocking it away all the time.
There was a time-out after a while. Soon they were back on their broomsticks. The twins left Harry alone. But the strange grey ball still followed him. After a while he dived down. Draco was on his tail. Almost on the pitch itself, Harry pulled himself up and reached out. It looked like he was grabbing something, but the grey ball connected with his arm and Harry crashed to the ground.
A few of the teachers, Ron and Hermione, made their way over to the pitch. Lockheart sat down next to Harry. He pointed his wand at Harry's arm. It seemed as if something had gone wrong. Lockheart bent Harry's arm at a very odd angle and it just snapped back like a rubber band. He was quickly rushed off the pitch.
"Great, he's going to be back in the hospital wing. My mum will have a fit." Ginny said. She walked off quickly.
"She's been acting weird." Luna said. She was being devastatingly honest again. "I know Luna." Avalon replied. "Do we have to tell a teacher?" Avalon asked. "I have no idea," Luna replied. "Maybe we should wait a little longer." She added. Discussing what to do, they made their way back to the castle.
Dinner came and went, they saw no Ginny, which worried them. They were walking back down the long corridor when they saw someone lingering in the corridor. It was near where Mrs Norris had been attacked. And that someone looked very much like Ginny.
"Hey Ginny why were you at dinner? Asked Avalon. Ginny turned around. Her eyes looked very strange and she quickly ran away.
"Ginny wait." Avalon shouted. She and Luna ran after her. "GINNY!" it seemed as if Ginny had disappeared as they rounded the corner. "Ginny?" Luna yelled. They saw someone lying on the ground around another corner. Avalon screamed. "Who's that?" Luna asked. When they were next to the person on the floor it turned out to be Collin Creavey. He was lying on the floor, not moving, as if he had been carved out of stone. He was holding his camera up to his eye.
"Luna i will stay here, you get Snape, tell him I need help." Luna's gaze was blank. "Luna, now!" she nodded and ran out of the hall as quickly as she could. Avalon took off her cloak. She rolled it up and put it under Collins head. She did not know what else she could do.
A minute later, Professor Snape ran into the corridor. He looked extremely worried."Avalon!" he called out. "Over here," she shouted. A second later, he was running around the corner. He quickly knelt down and said,
"Avalon, are you all right?" "Yes, I am fine. Its Collin," she said. Snape stood up. He looked at the boy. "Avalon, go get Professor Dumbledore. Miss Lovegood, go to Professor McGonagall and tell her a Gryfindor has been attacked." Luna ran off in a hurry. "Avalon!" Snape called before she rounded the corner. "Yes?" she asked. "Be careful." He said. She nodded and ran away quickly.
At the staff room door she knocked. Lockheart opened it. "Ah, Miss Prince, how can I be of assistance?" he asked.
"Dumbledore." she said, panting. "No my dear, I am Professor Lockheart." he said with a smile. "I need Dumbledore." A few seconds later, Dumbledore was standing behind Lockheart.
"Professor Collin has been attacked. Professor Snape wanted me to come get you." She said, still out of breath. "Yes of course." Dumbledore said understandingly. He pushed Lockheart gently aside.
"Has his head of house been alerted?" He asked as they ran through the corridors. He was surprisingly quick for his apparent age. "Yes. Luna is on her way." she replied. Snape was examining Collin when they reached the corridor.
"thank you miss Prince." Snape said in a strangely stiff voice. "I don't know Albus. This isn't a spell or a potion." Snape said to Dumbledore. "I see." he said. Professor McGonagall and Luna came running in a few seconds later. Just like Dumbledore, she was surprisingly quick on her feet. She stopped dead in her tracks. She saw Collin.
"What does this mean Albus?" she asked. "I have no idea yet, Minerva. First things first. Miss Prince and Miss Lovegood. You will go to your common room at once. No, before you ask, you are not in any trouble. But you girls need to be safe, so I want you to go to Ravenclaw Tower and stay there. We will inform you as soon as possible," the girls began walking.
"Severus," they heard Dumbledore ask, "can you get Fillius, Pomona and Gilderoy for me? "Hang on a second." Avalon said.
"We really should be going, Avalon. It could be dangerous. We could be next." Luna said as she pulled Avalon along with her. In the common room, Avalon was looking at Luna.
"Snape's name's Severus?" she asked. "Yes of course, didn't you know that?" Luna said with her brutal honesty once again.
"No," she said. It was all falling into place for her now. Why he was so nice to her. How he knew her middle name. He was her aunt Eileen's son. He was the one who had sent her all those wonderful presents. She still did not understand why, though, and why he did not just tell her who he was.
"But why do you want to know?" Luna asked her, interrupting her train of thought. Avalon smiled. And she quickly told Luna all about being adopted. And how, as she now understood, Snape was sending her amazing birthday presents. Luna had been a silent listener.
"Well, he seems to like you, then." Was all she said afterwards. A few seconds later they had a big laugh about it. It felt good. Laughing again. A couple of minutes later, Professor Flitwick stepped into the common room and said. "Gather round, everyone. I have news," The common room was filled with the entirety of Ravenclaw.
"As you may or may not be aware, there has been an attack on a student. It's not one of us, so don't worry about your friends." He said. "Having said that, due to this attack, we've got some temporary rules which are going to apply right now.”
“All students will have to be in the common rooms by 6 pm and no later than that. Dinner will be served in the common rooms for all students.”
“All students must be accompanied by a professor between classes," he said. There were some gasps of outrage.
"Listen children. Our concern is your safety and security. That is all that matters to all of us. And if the culprit behind these attacks is not found soon. The school may be closed.” He said, sounding very concerned.
"Miss Prince." Flitwick called, "Yes Professor?" she said sounding worried. "I have your cloak. Thank you for being so considerate." He said as he handed the cloak back to Avalon.
"Thank you, sir." She said to him. "Professor Snape wanted me to tell you to be very careful and stick to the new rules, no matter how frustrating they may be." He said smiling. "You are a very special person." Flitwick added. Before he left the common room.
"This is serious." Luna said. "What I want to know is, where is Ginny, and what was she doing there?" Avalon said. Luna nods. "But we're stuck here now." Luna said. "I know. But We have to find out." Avalon said. She looked really worried.