Chapter Text
"It's your fault! You're definitely the heir of Slytherin!" These were the words Ron Weasley uttered before running out of the hospital wing, leaving Harry stunned.
"Ron..." Harry whispered, stunned, unable to believe what had just happened.
A few minutes ago he was preparing for the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, when Professor McGonagall appeared and asked him to accompany her.
And so, he and Ron followed her to the hospital wing, where they found the petrified body of their great friend, Hermione Granger. This broke Harry's heart, but what happened next was worse.
"How... could he?" Harry whispered tearfully. The entire castle had suspected him ever since he revealed his ability to speak to snakes; his only anchor was Ron and Hermione, who believed in him.
And now, he had lost them both at once, Hermione petrified, and now, Ron himself thought he was responsible for it.
"I'm sure Mr. Ronald Weasley didn't mean that, Mr. Potter, he's just... shaken by recent events, everyone is." Madam Pomfrey tried to comfort Harry as she saw him crumbling.
But it didn't work; in fact, it only confirmed something... He was alone. All the students in that castle were shaken by recent events, and EVERYONE decided he was the prime suspect, simply because he could talk to snakes.
And now, the only person who believed him was in that bed like a stone statue. Harry looked at his friend and had to struggle not to shed tears.
Hermione, an energetic girl who always spoke loudly about her studies and magical theories, now lay there silent. Harry touched her outstretched hand to feel it; her skin, normally a bright, vibrant color, now displayed the gray hue of a lifeless rock, her welcoming human warmth now extinguished by the relentless cold of a statue.
"I'll... leave you two alone..." Madam Pomfrey said politely before stepping away out of respect for the child's grief.
But to Harry, he thought Madam Pomfrey was simply afraid to be near him, afraid of becoming the next statue; everyone in that damned castle behaved that way!
"But why? Why did it have to be you of all people? What do I do now, Hermione? I don't know what to do... What would you do?" Harry whispered as his tears fell onto Hermione.
Harry was lost. Hermione was the brains of the group; without her, he and Ron didn't know what to do. She was the one who guided them in the search for the Philosopher's Stone in their first year, she was the one who researched the Chamber of Secrets, she was the one who suggested and learned how to prepare Polyjuice Potion so they could investigate Draco.
Without Hermione, Harry knew he had no chance of finding the culprit behind all this. He didn't have Hermione's intelligence to deduce or her ability to search for answers by sifting through tons of books in the library.
"No... I won't accept this! I'll get to the bottom of this, alone if I have to, but I will!" Harry whispered to himself as his tears dried.
Now, no longer able to deny the reality staring him in the face—that he was alone and that his only friend was a stone statue right in front of him—all he could feel was anger.
Anger at all the imbecile students in that castle who fawned over him for being "The-Boy-Who-Lived" but abandoned and despised him at the first sign of trouble; anger at the teachers for not being able to do anything about it; anger at Dumbledore for allowing all this to happen. Wasn't he the most powerful wizard in the world? Where was that power now?
And Ron... Ron, he was the one who hurt Harry the most, his first real friend in that new world, the first to speak to him, and someone he came to see as a brother, alongside the twins Fred and George after spending the end of the summer at the Burrow. And he simply accused him, abandoned him, just like all the others.
"Let him go! I don't need him! I'll go after this... I'll finish what Hermione started... And find out about the Chamber of Secrets!" Harry said, stifling the pain in his chest. Crying or losing himself in anger wouldn't bring Hermione back, wouldn't defeat the monster in the Chamber of Secrets, and certainly wouldn't find the culprit behind opening it. He needed to act.
After lamenting enough, Harry went straight to the Gryffindor dormitory. He needed to think about what to do, and what Hermione would do, so he decided to sit alone in one of the armchairs in the Gryffindor common room to be alone with his thoughts. He had barely paid attention to Professor McGonagall's announcements, although he had heard the part about the school closing if the culprit behind the attacks wasn't caught. This meant he would have to be quick, solve this mystery quickly.
Harry first began to think about the monster that lived in the Chamber of Secrets. He remembered Hermione researching it, and unfortunately, he didn't know where her notes were. However, now, with a calmer mind, he reflected and came to a simple conclusion:
The monster was some kind of snake.
It was the most obvious conclusion; after all, the symbol of Slytherin house was a snake, and if the voices only he could hear in the corridors were the monster's, it would make even more sense for it to be a snake. Only he could understand the monster because he was a Parselmouth, and considering that Salazar Slytherin was also a Parselmouth and passed this characteristic on to his descendants, it would make sense for the monster to be a snake—it would be easier to control it that way.
Well, the next point would be to find the culprit. Unfortunately, besides that memory shown to him by Tom Riddle's diary, it was the only clue he had, and he doubted Hagrid was the culprit.
'Wait... The diary...' Harry thought to himself as he connected the dots.
Before today, the last case of petrification had happened on December 18th, and today was May 8th, a five-month interval, while the case before the one in December happened in mid-November, an interval of only one month.
Which meant that something had changed, and he knew very well what had changed: the diary. He remembered finding the diary in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom at the end of January, a month after the last attack, and since then, no further incidents.
But then, the diary he kept in his dormitory was stolen yesterday, and literally a day later, new attacks occur.
'This is too strange to be mere coincidence... So, whoever is in possession of Tom Riddle's diary is probably the culprit... But could it... mean...' Harry began to think more deeply as he started to recall the memory the diary showed him.
The incident of the Chamber of Secrets being opened 50 years ago and Tom Riddle himself blaming Hagrid for it, it all seemed to make more sense now.
'Could it have been Tom Riddle who opened the Chamber of Secrets 50 years ago?' Harry thought as this logic flooded his head.
Now it all made sense, he had blamed Hagrid to get away with it, so he wouldn't be discovered.
Harry felt anger burning in his chest, that damned man had used Hagrid as a scapegoat to cover up his own crimes, he had caused Hagrid to be unjustly expelled from Hogwarts.
'Well, this still doesn't help to figure out who's guilty these days, but it's a clue...' Harry thought as he stood up from the armchair, already forming a plan in his mind.
'I need to talk to Hagrid, maybe he knows something I don't. Professor McGonagall mentioned curfew, but with my invisibility cloak I can go to Hagrid's hut without being seen...' Harry thought as he went to his trunk to get his cloak; he would leave tonight after curfew.
'I'll get to the bottom of this... I'll find the culprit, and when that happens... I'll burn that damned diary along with the culprit!' Harry thought angrily as he left to prepare his plan.
The night of May 8th had arrived, and Harry was ready to put his plan into action. It was super simple to put on the invisibility cloak and walk through the corridors, although he knew he had to be careful, after all, the monster might be on the loose. He only hoped that the invisibility cloak could protect him from said monster as well.
'I hope Hagrid is willing to tell me something...' Harry thought as he walked to the half-giant's hut and knocked on its door.
"Who's there?" Hagrid's voice echoed as he opened the door with a crossbow in hand, ready to defend himself. "Hello? Anyone there?"
"Hagrid, it's me." Harry said as he took off the invisibility cloak.
"Oh! It's you, Harry? Sorry, I thought it might be... No, it's nothing, never mind, would you like to come in? Come on in, I've made some tea." Hagrid invited him in, although Harry noticed that Hagrid was very nervous about something. "Hagrid... Are you alright?" Harry asked as he watched Hagrid pour the tea into his cup.
"Yes, I'm fine, nothing to worry about, Harry." The half-giant tried to reassure him, but Harry recognized the lie in his voice.
"Hagrid, I need your help. I've discovered more about the Chamber of Secrets, but I only have clues, nothing concrete. I need information. Do you know anything? Anything at all?" Harry finally asked.
Hagrid seemed to freeze for a moment, and Harry swore he saw him grow paler for a moment, but the half-giant quickly recovered, though he still seemed hesitant to speak.
"Look, Harry, this is a delicate matter, and I need..." Hagrid began to say, but was interrupted by a knock on his door. "Damn it, quick, hide under the cloak, and don't say anything!" Hagrid quickly instructed Harry to hide.
And Harry reluctantly obeyed, once again covering himself with the invisibility cloak and staying in a more secluded corner of the cabin.
Hagrid went to the door of his hut and opened it, being greeted by two men, one of them being Dumbledore and the other, an old man in aristocratic clothes.
"Ah, Professor Dumbledore," Hagrid said, looking slightly relieved.
"Good evening, Hagrid, may we come in?" Dumbledore asked.
"Of course, of course, make yourselves at home," Hagrid said.
'Who's the other guy? He seems important,' Harry thought as he looked at the man accompanying Dumbledore.
"This is serious, a very serious matter, Hagrid. Four attacks against Muggle-born students. Things have gone too far, and the Ministry needs to act," the man said in a serious tone.
'The Ministry? Does this man work for the Ministry? But what does he plan to do?' Harry thought as he watched the conversation unfold.
"But... Mr. Fudge, I never... Professor, you know I never..." Hagrid stammered, seeming to grow increasingly nervous.
"Know one thing, Cornelius, Hagrid is someone I trust completely," Dumbledore said in Hagrid's defense.
"Look, Albus, Hagrid's record unfortunately weighs against him, and unless it's proven that someone else is guilty, I unfortunately have no choice but to take him," the man identified as Cornelius Fudge said.
"Take me? Where? To Azkaban prison?" Hagrid asked, looking even more nervous.
"I'm sorry, but I have no other choice," Fudge said.
'What?! Arrest Hagrid?!' Harry thought, shaken, a slight anger growing within him as he saw the story from 50 years ago repeating itself.
However, before he could finish his train of thought, the door to Hagrid's hut opened again, revealing Lucius Malfoy.
"Minister Fudge is here already, well, that speeds things up." Lucius said in his usual arrogant tone as he entered the small hut.
'Malfoy? What's he doing here?' Harry thought, confused.
"What are you doing here? Get out of my house!" Hagrid said, looking annoyed.
"Believe me, I don't get the slightest pleasure from being inside your... do you call this a house?" Lucius said in a tone that showed disgust as he looked around the small hut. "Well, I just came to deliver some news to Headmaster Dumbledore."
"And what exactly is this news, Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked.
"I, and the other Hogwarts counselors, unanimously voted for your suspension, Headmaster." Lucius said without any shame as he picked up a small rolled-up parchment and handed it to the headmaster. "The twelve signatures are here. We believe you are not the most suitable to continue, and with all the attacks happening, there won't be any Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts... That would be an inestimable loss." Lucius said with an arrogant smile on his face.
Harry felt fury rising in his chest. He could smell the lies from afar. Lucius was clearly enjoying what was happening, since he was even worse than his son, and he only used this to remove Dumbledore from the scene.
"You can't remove Professor Dumbledore. If you remove him, the Muggle-borns won't stand a chance. There will be many deaths! Mark my words!" Hagrid said angrily.
Harry, even though he was beginning to suspect something, still agreed with Hagrid: Dumbledore was still an extremely powerful wizard, and his presence was probably still keeping the perpetrator of the attacks restrained. Harry thought that perhaps this was the reason the attacks happened in isolation instead of en masse; if Dumbledore left, the heir of Slytherin would no longer have any reason to hold back.
'Could it be... he's the culprit?' Harry thought as he looked at Lucius, trying to connect the dots.
It seemed to make sense; Lucius seemed far more capable than his son, and he clearly shared the same beliefs. The fact that he was keeping Dumbledore away from the school supported this theory, as it would remove the biggest obstacle to his plan to eliminate Muggle-borns.
'Lucius Malfoy, could he be the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets?' Harry thought as the theory seemed to make more and more sense.
'Calm down, Hagrid. If the council wants me to step aside, of course I will.' Dumbledore said in his usual calm tone.
'WHAT?! How can he just step aside like that?!' Harry thought, looking at Dumbledore.
'But you'll find out that Hogwarts will always be here to help anyone who asks us.' Dumbledore said, seemingly looking at Harry.
Harry's eyes widened as he realized Dumbledore seemed able to see him, but this surprise was quickly overshadowed by more doubts and frustrations.
'Is he just going to leave us alone to deal with all this? Again?!' Harry thought, frustrated. Everyone talked about Dumbledore and his power, but it seemed that whenever things really mattered, he was never there to solve the problem.
That was the case during Voldemort's attempt to obtain the Philosopher's Stone, and it looked like it would be the same again with this Chamber of Secrets.
"Fine words, Headmaster, let's go," Lucius said as he left Hagrid's hut.
Harry noticed Dumbledore looking at him for another moment before leaving the hut.
'Again, it seems I'll have to be the one to solve the problem.' Harry thought, frustrated, understanding the Headmaster's message.
"Well, come on Hagrid, please don't make this any harder," Fudge said.
Harry glared at the man angrily. From what he'd heard, he was the Minister of Magic, and instead of doing something to find the culprit, he'd simply come here to arrest Hagrid because it was easier than orchestrating a real investigation.
'This is our Minister of Magic?' Harry thought, disappointed. This was the first time he'd seen the man, but he was already disappointed by his behavior.
A Minister who chose the easy way out instead of trying to solve the problem was certainly not someone to be trusted. That was something Harry would remember.
"Right, Mr. Minister, I only have one thing to say. If anyone is looking for something, they should follow the spiders; they'll show the way. That's all I have to say," Hagrid said, glancing at Harry from under the Invisibility Cloak.
'Spiders?' Harry thought, understanding that the message was for him.
"Oh, and someone needs to feed Fang while I'm gone," Hagrid said as he left the hut, followed by Minister Fudge.
With everyone gone, Harry finally emerged from under the Invisibility Cloak, his face contorted with frustration and anger.
"Useless, useless all of them! Each of them just does what they please instead of trying to solve the problem!" Harry let his frustration out as he processed everything he had seen.
The Minister simply using Hagrid as a scapegoat to make it seem like he did something, Dumbledore doing nothing, again, and Lucius, honestly, he was now the prime suspect in Harry's mind for being responsible for opening the Chamber of Secrets.
"Unfortunately, without proof I can't do anything, I need to find a way... Maybe the spiders Hagrid mentioned..." Harry said as he tried to think of his next move. "Hermione... What would you do if you were here?" Harry said, wishing his friend was by his side.
Two weeks, two weeks of achieving nothing, two weeks in which his friend was petrified, Hagrid imprisoned, and Dumbledore absent, although, contrary to what he thought, Dumbledore's departure did not cause mass attacks.
This meant that either the culprit was still afraid of drawing attention and therefore decided to wait a little longer before starting the attacks in earnest, or perhaps the teachers' security measures were really making a difference. However, Harry didn't want to test the patience of the Heir of Slytherin, especially if the person was Lucius Malfoy, as he suspected.
Unfortunately, Harry was running out of options or clues to follow. That is, until Herbology class that day, Harry noticed a trail of spiders that seemed to be fleeing Hogwarts, and this immediately reminded him of Hagrid's words.
"Follow the spiders..." Harry said as he watched the spiders; they were walking together and heading towards the Forbidden Forest.
"Great, it always has to be that damn forest!" Harry grumbled as he watched the spiders scurrying towards the forest.
"Well, it's the only clue I have, I'll investigate tonight..." Harry whispered as he planned another night where he would have to disregard curfew and the constant vigilance of the teachers.
"At least this will be better than listening to Draco bragging through the corridors of Hogwarts," Harry said to himself.
After another long day of classes at Hogwarts, Harry prepared to go investigating in the forest. Again, going out at night wasn't easy because of all the security measures implemented to keep the students safe; however, not everyone had an invisibility cloak like him.
So, on another silent night, he put on the cloak, grabbed his wand, and followed the trail of spiders that roamed all over Hogwarts, to the Forbidden Forest. Despite everything, Harry couldn't say he wasn't afraid.
That forest was dark and dangerous, but his friend needed him, so, like a true Gryffindor, he swallowed his fear and entered the forest.
"Lumos..." Harry whispered the light spell, causing a globe of white light to ignite at the tip of his wand to help him walk through that dark forest.
The spiders increased in number and size, but they all continued in the same direction, and Harry followed them. He continued walking through the forest until he found the entrance to a depression where spiders seemed to descend, and he decided to follow them.
The place was a little different from the rest of the forest; it was full of webs scattered everywhere, and he sometimes saw a spider that was too big even by the standards of the spiders he was following.
grrgmmm... rgmmmm...
"Hum!" Harry pointed his wand in the direction of a hissing sound, but saw nothing. "What was that?" Harry wondered, somewhat apprehensive. He felt a great discomfort run down his spine; he had the feeling that he was being watched.
"I won't find out anything by standing still," Harry said as he continued his walk until he reached the end of the path, which is when he decided to take off his invisibility cloak.
"Who's there? Hagrid, is that you?" A deep, terrifying voice echoed through the forest, taking Harry by surprise, but he quickly recovered.
"I'm a friend of Hagrid's!" Harry said, hoping those words would appease the owner of the voice.
That owner soon revealed himself, and from the midst of the misty, domed web, a spider the size of a small elephant emerged, very slowly. There was grey on the black of its body and legs, and each of the eyes in its ugly, pinched head was milky white. It was blind. "Hello..." Harry said, clear fear in his voice. He never thought he would face a spider the size of an elephant. "Are you Aragog?" Harry asked, remembering the diary entry and the spider Hagrid had back then.
"Yes, Hagrid has never sent a human to our nest before..." the giant spider said, staring at Harry with its eight black eyes the size of dessert plates.
"Hagrid is in trouble. There have been attacks at the school, and they think it's his fault. They think he's the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets, like 50 years ago." Harry quickly explained, thinking that talking about Hagrid's situation might make the giant spider sympathize with him.
"That's a lie!" Aragog said, sounding slightly angry. "Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets." "He was innocent!"
"So, I believe you're not the monster, right?" Harry already knew that Aragog probably wasn't the monster, since, if his theories were correct, the monster was a type of snake, and perhaps Aragog knew what kind of snake.
"Exactly, the monster was born in the castle, I was brought from a distant land, in a traveler's pocket, I was given to Hagrid when I was just an egg." Aragog said.
"That's what I imagined, so you know what kind of monster exists there, the one that killed the girl 50 years ago?" Harry finally asked the question.
"We haven't talked about it! We haven't named it! I never told Hagrid the name of that terrible creature, although he asked me many times." Aragog replied, Harry could identify the slightest trace of fear in his gruff voice.
"The dead girl was found in the bathroom, and when I was accused, Hagrid brought me here. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all thanks to Hagrid's kindness..." Aragog said.
"Family?" Harry asked, looking up and seeing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of spiders ranging in size from large lizards to large dogs, all descending from the treetops towards him.
"Well... Thank you for the information, but I believe I must go now..." Harry said nervously, taking a step back.
"Go? I think not. My sons and daughters do Hagrid no harm under my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat when it so willingly roams our nest. Farewell, friend of Hagrid." Aragog said in his gruff, indifferent tone.
"Grrmm..." Harry groaned as he retreated and quickly pointed his wand, ready for combat.
"Diffindo!" Harry yelled as he pointed his wand at a dog-sized spider, opening a deep cut in the spider's body, which began to writhe.
"Depulso!" Harry shouted another spell, sending three spiders flying backward with moderate force.
"Congelo!" A spider's legs were frozen to the ground.
"Damn it..." Harry groaned as he realized the spiders were beginning to surround him. "Incendio!" Harry conjured a jet of fire from the tip of his wand, creating a ring of flames around him.
The fire seemed to push the spiders away, but he knew it wouldn't last forever.
"Get away!" Harry yelled as he pointed his wand at the spiders, which seemed more wary than before and were slowly retreating. "Damn it, damn it, there has to be a way!" Harry cursed as he tried to think of a way out of there.
He looked around, searching for something they could use to their advantage, until his eyes landed on something, a white object of considerable size, resembling a cocoon of silk the size of a small car, hanging from a web at the top of a tree.
'Could these be eggs?' Harry wondered. 'Maybe I can use this!' Harry thought as he pointed his wand at the silken bag. "Accio egg!" Harry uttered the incantation, and soon, a small, round object the size of a golf ball flew straight into his hand.
"Get away!" Harry shouted as he pointed his wand at the egg in his hand. The spiders, already wary of the fire, seemed to grow even more wary for a moment before beginning to advance again and surround him. They couldn't cross the fire, but they knew it would eventually go out. For them, the important thing was to keep the human trapped.
'Tsk... Damn it, would they find me under my invisibility cloak?' Harry thought in frustration, realizing he was running out of options.
VRRUUUMMMMMM!!!
However, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a car engine, followed by the light of the car's headlights.
"What?!" Harry wondered as he looked towards the light and saw Mr. Weasley's flying car driving towards him, causing the acromantulas to scramble to avoid being run over, until it stopped in front of Harry and opened its doors.
"Well, that's convenient!" Harry said as he ran to the blue Ford Anglia and quickly got in, as the acromantulas had already started advancing again.
"Arania Exumae!" Harry uttered as a flash of blue light shot from his wand and hit an acromantula near the car door, throwing it away.
"Come on, it works!" Harry said as he placed his hands on the steering wheel and began to reverse, the spiders continued to advance, surrounding the car and some even climbed on top of it. But Harry didn't stop, he kept driving until he got out of the depression that was the spiders' nest.
"Come on, come on, Ron made it look so easy!" Harry grumbled as he tried to maneuver the car away from the scene, seeing the giant spiders emerging from their nest.
Harry pressed the accelerator as hard as he could, sending the car speeding in the opposite direction. Driving through a forest wasn't easy, as he had to keep his eyes peeled to avoid the trees.
"They just don't give up!" Harry said as he watched the spiders climb the trees, positioning themselves in front of the car and doing everything they could to surround it. "There's only one way! I need to get up!" Harry grabbed the car's gearshift and tried to pull it to make the car go up, but it was stuck. "Come on, come on! IT WORKS!!!" Harry shouted as he pushed harder on the lever; the acromantulas were again trying to climb onto the car.
"LET'S GO!!!" Harry yelled as he pulled the lever with all his might, disengaging it and finally launching the car into flight, leaving the Acromantulas behind. "YES!!!" Harry cheered as the car soared out of the Forbidden Forest and headed towards Hagrid's hut, making a rather ungraceful landing in the half-giant's backyard.
"Ahhh... It's over..." Harry finally breathed a sigh of relief as he got out of the car. "Well, I don't know how that happened, but thank you." Harry said, thanking the car.
The car simply closed its door and then began driving itself back into the Forbidden Forest before disappearing into the darkness.
"Well... That didn't amount to much, but at least now I'm absolutely certain Hagrid was innocent, but still no clues as to who the culprit is." Harry thought, somewhat frustrated that the adventure had yielded nothing. "Huh? Oh wait, there's this!" Harry said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the small Acromantula egg he had stolen.
"What do I do with this? Honestly, the wisest thing to do would be to crush it." Harry pondered, looking at the small sphere the size of a golf ball.
"But... I guess I'll keep it for now, maybe it'll be useful... Although, maybe I should find a way to preserve it, it would be kind of bad if this thing hatched inside the school. Or at my aunt and uncle's house... Although I don't think I'd mind much if they were eaten by giant spiders." Harry said to himself humorously as he put on his invisibility cloak again and started walking back to the castle; he really needed to sleep.