As Harry and Ron came running down to the second floor, first they put the real Crabbe and Goyle’s shoes that they had taken, outside the broom closet in which they had locked them. After that, they swiftly made their way to the second-floor bathroom, where Neville and Hermione were waiting for them. They first had planned that they all would sneak into the Slytherin Common room, but as only four students from the whole house decided to stay back, they used a simple rock-parchement-wand to decide who would go to the common room. Ron and Harry won.

By the time they entered the bathroom, all of their disguise had faded and they had reverted back to their original self.

“How did it go?” Neville asked, as soon as they entered the bathroom.

“It went well,” Ron said with a smirk, “Very well in fact… Do you remember my dad conducted the raid on Malfoy’s house? And he didnt find anything incriminating, well, Malfoy just told us that there is this hidden chamber under his drawing room,”

“Interesting,” Hermione said sarcastically, “But Neville was asking about Chambers of Secret. Did Malfoy tell you guys anything that could be useful to us,”

It was then Harry added, “Well he isn't the heir. Nor is Ronan. But he did give us an important clue,”

“Apparently the chamber was opened fifty years ago,” Ron said.

Neville didnt buy it, “Are you sure that Ronan does not know anything?”

Harry nodded, “Yes. We asked both of them in front. And they denied it. Also…” Harry stopped midway, and all of them noticed his silence.

“What is it?” Neville asked.

“It might be.. My imagination. But… I think Ronan knew that we were imposters,” Harry said with uncertainty.

“What? How?” Ron asked, “Draco didnt seem to notice anything… Then how did he?”

“Do you not know anything about Ronan?” Hermione said, “He is a very cunning and intelligent man. There might be a chance that he might have noticed something about you guys,”

Neville then asked, “Harry what makes you think that Ronan knew about you guys?”

“It was Ron’s hair,” Harry said, “It started becoming red. Ronan noticed it, and he deliberately turned Malfoy’s attention away from it. I think he knew who I was.”

“That might be a problem,” Ron said, “If he knows that we brewed Polyjucie Potion, he could get us in trouble,”

“Ronan would never do that,” Hermione said, thinking deeply, “He would might blackmail us later. But he won't snitch until it is beneficial to him somehow,”

“You know a lot about him,” Ron snapped,

Angrily Hermione snapped back, “He is a good friend. Also, if you think about it.. Since we have met the guy, he has never made any snide remarks or tried to make our life difficult,”

Harry added, “Well he also sort of like defended us when Malfoy was berating us,”

Neville then put his hand on his head, “This is a fine mess.” He whispered, “We brewed this potion, and for what? We are clueless as we were before,” Everyone nodded.

***

After permission to open the Club, the problem that Ronan faced was to secure the place. He knew that there would be students who would be too nosy and curious and they would try to break into the club. So he needed a way from which he could make sure that no one without proper authorization would enter the club. So he went to the Room and asked for the things that he needed. And he got his hands on Protection from Unwanted Intrusion.

It was a very very useful book that talked about different types of magic from which one wizard could protect their homes. It had information on charms that could repel muggles, make the house invisible when under the magic dome, and much more useful stuff. It also had a magic called Fidelius Charm, but it was too difficult for him to perform. But with the help of the book, Ronan was able to add some security measures to his club room

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That morning, when he woke up, he first fed some leaves to Donatello. His turtle was growing up to be this cute little thing, which he really adored. As he was done, he was about to go on his usual routine when he saw the night lamp on his nightstand had gone black. Previously he had performed a simple spell on his Club Room, because of which if someone entered the club without a password, that lamp would become black.

There was a chance that Peeves might have gone into the room, that guy zooms in and out of Hogwarts. But still, the day after he performed a probe on Ginny, this happened. He got a tad bit suspicious…

Ronan was heading towards the Club Room. He was thinking about the repairs that he was supposed to do today. As he turned the corner, he bumped into someone and fell down. He looked up to see that he had bumped into a redhead girl, in her pajamas. Seeing her, he was startled but maintained his composure.

He got up, brushed his pants, and gave her a hand as well, which she shyly took. Ginny then whispered, “Thanks,” and then she pushed her up.

“I am sorry, didnt see you there,” Ronan said.

“I should be the one to apologize. I was not thinking straight.” She said.

“Your name is Ginevra, right?” he asked.

She became irritated, “Please call me Ginny. Everyone does so,”

“Ginny… A pleasure to meet you. I think you already know who I am,” he said, she absentmindedly nodded.

Ronan had a feeling that their meeting was not a mere coincidence. So he asked, “Ginny.. What are you doing so early in the morning?” he figured that he caught her off guard.

She looked like an owl caught in light at night, she took a step back, “I… Nothing… I just came here for a walk. That is it,”

Seeing her expression, he couldnt tell whether she was possessed or she was in control. He couldnt send a probe, otherwise, that would surely alert the diary if she in fact possessed right now. So he decided to probe for more information. “You seem disturbed. Are you okay?” he asked looking concerned.

“I am fine,” she said slowly.

“You dont look fine,” he said, “You know what… TWEAK!” And suddenly a house elf popped out of nowhere before them. Tweak is a young elf who works in Hogwarts kitchen. Ronan got acquainted with the fellow when the Weasley twins told him about the way to the kitchens.

“Could you please get Miss Weasley over here some hot cocoa and bring to the club room.” Tweak bowed, “Certainly sir,” with that, Tweak left with a pop.

“This way,” Ginny looked hesitant at first, but soon followed behind him…

Ginny silently sipped the hold coco in his office, while her eyes were moving around the room looking at the puppets and the posters of fighters that Ronan made in his free time. She didnt say anything, nor he forced her to say anything. He just sat on his desk, staring at her without any emotions in his eyes.

His technique worked, and soon Ginny became uneasy and started talking, “So, what is this club about?”

He shook his head, “We are not here to talk about my club, Ginny” he said in a rather aggressive tone, he had a plan in his mind.

Ginny looked a little taken aback, “What do you mean?”

With a sly smile, he said, “I am here to talk about what Longbottom and his gang are doing. And you will tell me everything there is to know about their plan, otherwise I will have you hand over to the authorities with his gang,”

She looked like she had no idea what he was talking about, so he snapped at her, “Oh, dont you dare give me that look. You have been nervous since last night. I saw you, everyone was having fun. Yet you were downtrodden. You seem nervous. Hell, Neville who is basically the most suspicious person of them all was having fun, but you… You were really nervous about something. And today, just after I came to know that someone broke into my club, I found you on this floor. What are you hiding?”

Ginny took a minute to unravel everything, just like he wanted. Basically, he wanted to know whether Ginny was possessed or not. If she was, the entity will surely jump the gun and go with the bullshit that he came up with. But if she is really Ginny, then she would surely tell him some of the symptoms when someone is possessed. This was the most basic ruse that he came up with, but he figured there was no harm in trying it.

“I dont know.. What you are talking about… I dont know what Neville or his friends are doing” she started tearing up, “I…” Ronan noticed that her hands went to her pocket, he thought that she would be taking out a handkerchief or something. To his surprise, she took out her wand.

He was so flabbergasted seeing this, his mind froze for a second. When tried using his telekinesis to take the wand from her hands, by that time it was too late. Darkness took over his eyes…

***

Ronan woke up, he looked around and found himself in his club room. He had been sleeping on his desk, he looked around trying to figure out how he came here, as he had no recollection of ever coming here. Brushing it aside as fatigue, he got up to stretch his body. But it was then he felt a sudden pain in his head, which made him sit down again.

He sensed his magic, only to realize that something was wrong. Out of the three layers of Occlumency that he had, the first one was completely destroyed. The second was damaged, but not to a large extent. While the third layer was definitely unharmed. Seeing this he realized that someone just tried to mess with his brain.

Immediately he looked for his wand, to find it on his desk. With his wand grasped in his hand, he quickly looked around the room. He got up and ran outside, it was dark outside. It was nighttime with no one in sight. He tried thinking about the last thing that he could remember. He realized that the last thing he remembers is that he went to sleep on his bed, the day before Christmas Eve. Other than, he had no memory.

To see what day was today, and how much his memory had been altered with, he immediately started running to his common room…