"But how, I cannot say ....." Dumbledore said.
"Ask him!" shrieked Filch, turning his blotched and tearstained face to Harry.
"No second year could have done this," said Dumbledore firmly. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced ..."
"He did it, he did it!" Filch spat, his pouchy face purpling. "You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found — in my office he knows I'm a... I'm a ..." Filch's face worked horribly. "He knows I'm a Squib!" he finished.
"I never touched Mrs Norris!" Harry said loudly, uncomfortably aware of everyone looking at him, including all the Lockharts on the walls. "And I don't even know what a Squib is."
"Rubbish!" snarled Filch. "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"
"If I might speak, Headmaster," said Snape from the shadows, "Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong ti," he said, a slight sneer curling his mouth as though he doubted it. "But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why wasn't he at the Halloween feast?"
"Umm... Professor, actually Nick, the Gryffindor tower ghost, invited us to his deathday party. We were there." Chris said answered quickly.
"But why not join the feast afterwards?" said Snape looking at Chris, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight.
"Because..... Because.." Harry stamred.
"Because the feast ended Professor. We wanted to visit the Great Hall but before we could, we realized the feast ended." Chris said confidently looking at Snape.
But Snape's nasty smile widened as he noticed Harry's nervous face.
"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter and his friends are 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."
Professor Dumbledore looked at Harry and Chris for a few seconds. Chris didn't change her confident and calm expression. Dumbledore nodded.
"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said firmly.
Snape looked furious. So did Filch.
"My cat has been Petrified!" Filch shrieked, his eyes popping. "I want to see so punishnt!"
"We will be able to cure her, Argus," said Dumbledore patiently. "Professor Sprout recently managed to procure so Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs Norris."
"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in. "I must have done it a hundred tis. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep... "
"Excuse ," 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 Chris, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They went, as quickly as they could.
When they were a floor up from Lockhart's office, Harry turned into an empty classroom, Chris, Ron and Hermione followed him and closed the door quietly behind them.
"What are we doing here?" Chris said to Harry. "Harry, you don't think that you would have saved Mrs Norris if I hadn't stopped you, do you?"
"Are you crazy? If you hadn't stopped him, then we would be the first ones there. The entire school would have seen us with that cat. Though Filch still suspects Harry they don't have any proof." Ron answered.
"Yeah. You saved us there." Hermione added.
"Yes. If you hadn't stopped then maybe I would be returning ho by now. Thanks, Chris." Said, Harry. "But... Why didn't you told them about the voice?"
"I thought it was going to be sound very far-fetched. Especially when we don't have any proof and after hearing Professor Snape, I didn't want to say sothing, which could be used against us." Chris answered.
Harry nodded.
"Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the Wizarding world, Harry," Ron said.
Sothing in Ron's voice made Harry ask, "You all believe ?"
"Of Course we do," said Ron quickly. "But... you must admit it's weird...."
"I know it's weird," said Harry. "The whole thing is weird. What was that writing on the wall about? The Chamber Has Been Opened. . . . What's that supposed to an?"
"You know, it rings a sort of bell," said Ron slowly. "I think soone told a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once ..... might have been Bill. . ."
"And what about the second part? ... Enemies of the Heir... Who's the heir? And why only the muggle-borns are his enemy? Well according to Malfoy." Chris said.
"I am sure he knows sothing about it more than we do," Hermione said suspiciously.
"And what on earth's a Squib?" said Harry.
To everyone's surprise, Ron stifled a snigger.
"Well... it's not funny really .... but as it's Filch," he said. "A Squib is soone 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."
"That's really not nice of you Ron. Anyone could be bitter if they see so many people doing magic around them for years but couldn't do it by themselves. It's sad." Chris said and Ron shrugged.
A clock chid sowhere.
"Midnight," said Harry. "We'd better get to bed before Snape cos along and tries to fra us for sothing else."
After a long adventure, Chris finally fell into her bed. But as soon as she drifted to sleep her nightmares arrived.
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