Where am I...? Brooklyn asked himself numbly, realizing he was dreaming, but he couldn't recognize anything at all in the swirling blue green mist, and his body was weightless, mind drifting lazily in a soft daze, feet walking across a stone floor in a dark room, approaching that same sink. His mouth opened out of Brooklyn's own control; speaking in Parseltongue.

"Come out for me, my pet..."

A terrible hissing noise sounded, the familiar haunting yellow eyes emerging from the darkness below him.

Master... The monster hissed in an icy voice, and Brooklyn commanded it to follow him as they journeyed out of the room. Before he knew it, he was standing in a corridor, turning a corner and spotting a human boy in yellow Hufflepuff robes, standing next to a ghost. The ghost turned and his eyes widened in horror, resulting into his body going grey and ashened, head falling off his neck and hanging there.

As for the boy, he spotted Brooklyn through the ghost, and gave a startled scream, his face freezing up. Brooklyn felt himself passing out after that, vision turning dark, strange high cold laughter echoing around him.

...

The gargoyle shot awake, looking around, lying down in an unfamiliar corridor, the diary open beside his right hand.

Brooklyn felt strange and woozy, placing a hand on his head. The last thing he had remembered was simply going to find Harry and talk to him after his homework study session until he had yet another blackout. He took steady breaths before looking before him. And his eyes widened.

For there was Nearly Headless Nick, his body ash colored as he simply floated there, along with Justin Finch-Fletchley, now Petrified.

No, no! Not again! Brooklyn panicked inside, backing away in fear from the bodies. Hearing footsteps, he quickly ducked behind a suit of armor, and Harry came in.

Brooklyn really badly wanted to be out there with Harry, but he felt frozen in his hiding spot, unable to reveal himself; crying inside about once again failing to protect the victims of attacks. He didn't know how much longer he could stand for all his fainting spells.

Harry was gazing down at Justin, a look of fear and shock on his face.

Get out of there, little brother! Brooklyn yelled silently, his tail swishing nervously, and groaning as out of all people, Peeves appeared.

Peeves began mocking Harry until he spotted the two victims.

"ATTACK! ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTACK!"

Damn you, Peeves! Brooklyn's eyes were glowing in fury, as the doors crashed open, students and teachers rushed out, circling them all.

Brooklyn quickly bolted before the crowd could see him, ducking down into the shadows.

Back in the safety of the dormitory, Brooklyn informed Tom of what happened.

There was another attack, Tom, and I blacked out again!

Brooklyn, we've already been over this, you can't freak out about these attacks every time. You need to be calm-

But he interrupted, his face burning with with anger. He can't be calm at a time like this!

How can I? I now speak freaking Parseltongue, and have blackouts whenever people are getting hurt! This is the third time you tell me to ignore all this instead of helping me!

Just please tell me what had happened.

It was a boy I met in the Dueling Club, Justin Finch-Fletchley, who is in Hufflepuff. The last time I saw him was when he had snapped at Harry for speaking Parseltongue to that snake to save him. I got angry and tried to tell Justin that my brother was only trying to help, but he didn't listen and just walked away. Just as we were getting to know each other, too!

Maybe Justin got what he deserved for treating your brother like that. And what about that Gryffindor ghost. Was he there?

Brooklyn stared at those words. Yet again, Tom replied quite coldly, like when Mrs. Norris and Colin were attacked. Why was Tom behaving this way?

And how did he know that Nick was attacked? He didn't even mention the ghost.

Uh, yes. But he was no longer silver colored, but dark and ashened. Who can harm a ghost like that?

I don't really know, but you probably have to know powerful dark magic to be able to take out a ghost.

Yeah! And they blamed Harry again for the attack! But what about me, Tom? I can't seem to control myself whenever I suddenly faint out of nowhere! I-I still feel like I need to see somebody about this, either Pomfrey, McGonagall or Dumbledore for help!

What will you tell them?

Brooklyn cast his eyes down. Now he wasn't so sure. It would mean risking him getting relieved from his guardian duties. And would they really believe his stories about fainting right before the attacks, and being able to speak snake?

Are you still there?

Jumping a little, Brooklyn nodded as he wrote back.

Yeah, just thinking.

You can get through this year, Brooklyn if you continue to keep this between us. And let's hope that whenever the Polyjuice Potion is ready you can get some answers out of Malfoy if he really is the Heir of Slytherin.

The gargoyle smiled, though he doubted even more now about Malfoy being the bad guy, like Snape. But something was starting to unease him about Tom, but he wasn't sure what.

I wish you were here, Goliath. You would know what to do!

...

Brooklyn was relieved when Christmas break started, for most of the students were going home for the holidays except for him and his friends, and apparently Malfoy was staying, too.

He lay on the chair in the Common room, enjoying the peaceful morning as he watched Harry play Exploding Snap with Fred and George.

Christmas morning was celebrated the next day with the usual presents, and Hermione giving the news that the potion was finally ready.

About time, too! Brooklyn thought. Then his owl suddenly sat on his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek. He smiled, stroking him.

"Hey, Wyvern. You're lucky to be an owl, you know." He murmured softly, his thoughts still trapped in this darkness that he felt like he can't escape from. He couldn't wait for this year to end!

Hermione had ushered them all out into the hallway later that day to discuss their plans. She had filled two cakes with a sleeping draft, and they all voted for Brooklyn to transform into Marcus Flint.

Earlier, Late Christmas Morning

"Really? You want me to turn into Marcus Flint?" Brooklyn snapped, pacing back and forth.

"He's the only Slytherin next to your size, Brook, and I already chose Millicent Bulestrode," Hermione persisted. "He and her were supposed to go home for the holidays, so we can say we've decided to stay!"

Brooklyn ended up collapsing onto the couch in defeat, knowing he would always lose an argument with Hermione. "Ugh, fine," he grumbled. "You always win, anyway!"

Harry and Ron both smiled humorously. "This is gonna be hilarious!" Ron snickered. Brooklyn ended up punching him (not too hard) in the arm.

"Hey!"

Present

Brooklyn still was worried about what the potion will do, and it would seem that Ron and Harry were also in the same thoughts. While he stayed silent, they babbled about what could go wrong.

Eventually they carried out their plan, Harry and Ron lured Crabbe and Goyle into eating the spiked cakes, making them pass out, taking their hairs and shoes.

Brooklyn had his own mission to get a piece of Flint: sneaking up behind the troll after luring him into a shady hallway with a false note from one of his friends and pouncing on him from behind in the dark while nobody was around. Call it payback for, well, everything. Brooklyn was sure that Flint won't mind missing the train to London.

Ripping out some of Flint's hairs after stowing him in a closet with Crabbe and Goyle, Brooklyn joined his friends in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, ignoring the out of order sign as he went in, just in time to see Hermione stirring it.

"So, this is where it begins," Brooklyn sighed, staring in distaste at the bubbling goop in the cauldron. Hermione nodded.

"We just need to add the hairs and drink it. I also pulled spare robes out of the closet. You three will need them."

She ladled the potion into four glasses, handing them to Harry, Ron, and Brooklyn.

As they added their hairs, the potion sizzled, and Brooklyn's turned black, with a terrible stench coming from it.

Ugh, if this is what the essence of Flint is, it looks like somebody mixed black licorice with skunk spray, or worse! Brooklyn thought, holding the glass arms length away from him.

Eyeing the other's potions, he agreed that either Hermione's potion or Harry's potion looked just as bad as his did.

Hermione grimaced smiled at them. "Cheers," she said jokingly, as they drank. Brooklyn pinched his nose, almost spitting it out after drinking just one sip, which tasted like rotten meat mixed with poop.

That's when his insides began to writhe like he had swallowed snakes, making him gasp as he doubled over the sink near him. Ron looked up, his face pale. "I think I'm gonna be sick!" He croaked, and he along with Harry and Hermione went into their own bathroom stalls, while Brooklyn was forced to stay outside, giving out a screech as he felt the potion take action.

He sunk to the floor, panting, as his skin began bubbling like hot wax, stomach churning, and he held a hand over it in pain.

Brooklyn clenched, shaking all over as his body then shrank a few inches, his red skin going tan and his white hair turning black and shortening.

He shut his eyes, praying that it would end soon.

Finally, after a couple minutes, the pain subsided, and Brooklyn opened his eyes, looking into the mirror.

Flint's face stared back at him; full of surprise and disbelief as he held up his hands, looking over at them in amazement.

So, it did work! Brooklyn thought, relief spreading through him, though he still didn't like taking the form of the loathsome Slytherin captain.

He struggled to his feet, somewhat not used to being a human again as he looked towards the stalls, wondering where his friends were.

"Guys?" He called in Flint's snide voice. "Are you okay?"

Two of the stalls opened, and Crabbe and Goyle came out, both open mouthed at the sight of Brooklyn's form.

"It's incredible that this stuff actually worked on you!" Ron gasped, his voice changed to Crabbe's. Then Brooklyn knew that Harry had turned into Goyle, who looked weird with glasses on.

Brooklyn gave a smirk, placing his hands on his hips. "Guess Hermione was right once again," he praised, but he suddenly noticed that she didn't appear yet.

"Hermione? Are you done yet?" He asked in a worried voice, going over to her stall and knocking on it.

"I-I don't think I'm going to be able to come after all! Just go! You're wasting time!"

Surprised, Brooklyn looked over to Ron, who shrugged. But Harry handed him robes. "You may have to lose that loincloth, Brook. Er, it's probably not the best dress code for a Slytherin."

Brooklyn looked down at himself and saw that he was practically naked, with his loincloth nearly too big for him now, and he blushed, taking the clothes and quickly running into a bathroom stall to change.

Ron leaned in over to Harry. "Now that's something you don't see every day," he muttered in an awkward voice. Harry agreed.

...

After a while, the trio turned Slytherins went along their way, trying to find the Slytherin common room.

Ron then spotted a teen girl walking by. "Hey! There goes one of them now!" Brooklyn walked up to her.

"Um, excuse me, but we forgot our way to our common room," He said, feeling rather awkward. Then he realized his mistake when she gave him an irritated look, and that's when he noticed her Ravenclaw robes.

"I beg your pardon? Our common room? I'm a Ravenclaw!" She snapped, turning on her heels and walking off.

The trio ran along the passage way, now knowing that this was gonna be much harder than they thought.

Just as they were getting desperate, Brooklyn spotted another, and he tugged on Ron's robes.

Ron looked and smiled, but then their faces fell as Percy of all people came into the light, and Brooklyn knew they were in trouble.

Percy eyed them suspiciously. "What are you doing down here?" Ron gasped. Brooklyn quickly shook his head at them, trying to tell Ron not to say anything stupid.

"That, is none of your business, it's Crabbe, isn't it?"

"Wh-" Brooklyn jabbed him with his elbow. "Oh, yeah."

Then Percy looked over at Brooklyn, who shuffled his feet nervously.

"I thought you went home," he said in a questioning voice. Brooklyn gave a nervous smile as he tried to explain, until Malfoy's voice broke in.

"Crabbe, Goyle! Where have you two been?"

The gargoyle never thought he'd be pleased to see his rival as he came toward them.

Malfoy then saw that Harry still wore his glasses, and Brooklyn gave a small inward groan. Why didn't Harry remove them?

"Why are you wearing glasses?" Malfoy asked suspiciously. Harry quickly took them off.

"Reading," he muttered in his deep voice.

Really? That's the best excuse? Goyle can't read! Brooklyn snapped silently, folding his arms.

But it seemed that Malfoy wasn't too disturbed by Harry's answer, when he turned his gray eyes onto Brooklyn.

"What about you, Flint? Thought you were going home this year," he said, glaring. Brooklyn did his best to remain composed.

"Yeah, uh, decided to stay at the last minute," He mumbled, eyes shifting nervously. Malfoy just smiled as he turned back to Percy.

"And what are you doing down here, Weasley?"

Percy glowered at him. "Mind your attitude, Malfoy! I'm a Prefect!"

Sneering at Percy in return, Malfoy beckoned to the trio to follow, with Brooklyn struggling to not apologize to Percy for Malfoy's behavior.

A while later, they approached a stone wall near the dungeons.

"What's the password again?" Malfoy asked.

"Er-." Harry said. Brooklyn stayed back a bit, not wanting to be the one to remember this password, but was spared when Malfoy himself remembered.

"Oh, yeah, Pureblood!" The wall slid open to his words. Brooklyn rolled his eyes. Tch, some password. I wonder who was brilliant enough to come up with that!

The Slytherin common room was very different from Gryffindors, and by the small temperature drop, he saw that they could be under the black lake. Fortunately, there was at least one fire going under the mantelpiece. Brooklyn looked around. Not exactly his kind of place to call home.

Malfoy sat down onto the couch there, while the rest of them just stood. He raised his brow.

"Well? Sit down," he gestured/demanded, and the trio sat down on the other couch nervously.

Malfoy lounged out, looking quite smug to Brooklyn, who just sat there, swinging his legs and looking at the fire.

"Heh, you didn't know that the Weasleys were pureblood, the way they behaved. They're an embarrassment to the Wizarding World, all of them!"

Ron clenched Crabbe's hands into a fist, his eyes narrowed.

"What's up with you, Crabbe?" Malfoy asked.

Brooklyn nudged Ron's arm again and he cleared his throat. "Stomachache."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Well, get up to the Hospital Wing and give those Mudbloods a kick for me," he laughed, making Brooklyn's blood boil again when he said Mudblood.

"You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hadn't done a report on all these attacks, I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. Father's always said that Dumbledore was the worst thing to ever happen to this place!"

To Brooklyn's surprise, Harry had shouted, "You're wrong!"

He flinched when Malfoy stood, eyeing Harry with a mean and disbelieving look. "What? You think there's somebody here who's worse than Dumbledore? Do you?"

Brooklyn ended up answering instead of Harry. "Perhaps... Harry Potter?" Harry gave him a grateful look.

Malfoy then smirked cruelly at his answer. "Go on, Flint. You're absolutely right, 'Saint Potter!' And people actually think he's the Heir of Slytherin?"

Brooklyn continued. "But then he must have some idea who it could be!"

"Come on, guys. I told you yesterday! How many times do I have to tell you?" Malfoy huffed, as he found a loose present. He shook it.

"Is this yours?" He asked Harry, who shook his head no. Malfoy then pocketed it. Brooklyn frowned at that.

Then Malfoy had a mysterious look on his face. Brooklyn tensed. Here it comes!

"But my father did say this: he wouldn't tell me who opened the Chamber, only that they were expelled. The last time the Chamber or Secrets was opened; a Mudblood died. It is only a matter of time until one of them is killed this time! As for me, I hope it's Granger!"

You son of a- Brooklyn hissed silently, hands clutched into fists, while Ron stood up, Harry grabbing him and shaking his head. Malfoy stared in confusion.

"What's the matter with you lot? You're acting very odd!" More than you know! The gargoyle thought savagely to himself. Once they were home free, he was eventually gonna ask Tom some questions.

Harry pushed Ron back. "It's his stomachache," he answered.

Brooklyn suddenly winced a little in pain, feeling his stomach squirming. Looking over, his eyes widened as he saw that Ron's hair was turning red and Harry's scar reappearing. He himself could feel his hair growing out. They were running out of time!

The trio quickly stood up, making lame excuses and rushing out of there, back to the bathroom.

Brooklyn was growling even more in pain, feeling his wings starting to come out of his back.

"You okay?" Harry asked. "Feeling great. Just not used to this Polyjuice stuff!" He snapped back in irritation, as they finally burst into the bathroom, Brooklyn stumbling to the floor, his skin feeling hot as he turned back.

He gazed down at himself after a while, sighing in relief at the sight of his taloned hands once more. Thank the gods! He prayed silently, never, ever wanting to experience this again for a long time!

"That was close!" Ron gasped, back to his normal form too.

"Hermione! Come out! We have loads to tell you!" Harry called out. Brooklyn knocked on her stall.

"Go away!" She cried back. Moaning Myrtle suddenly appeared, and Brooklyn had never seen her so happy before.

"What's gotten you so cheerful?" He asked, brow raised. Myrtle giggled.

"Ooh, wait 'till you see! It looks awful!" She chortled, as the bathroom stall finally opened.

Brooklyn saw Hermione, and his mouth fell open. What he saw brought back, er, memories.

Hermione's face was covered in dark brown fur, two pointed ears coming out of her head, and a tail from her behind. Her eyes had turned yellow and feline-ish. To him, she reminded Brooklyn of Maggie, the gargoyle mutant. Without wings, of course.

Ron was snickering at the sight of her furry face while Hermione hid herself with her robesq. Brooklyn winced, remembering the time of when Maggie had first tried hiding herself from the rest of the world when she first transformed, thinking she was hideous.

He gently approached her. "I-it was a c-cat hair! M-Millicent B-Bulestrode must have a c-cat! And Polyjuice Potion wasn't supposed to be used for a-animal transformations!"

Brooklyn took her hand. "We'll help you, Hermione. Come, let's take you to the Hospital Wing." She nodded, sniffling as he led her out.

As they left, Moaning Myrtle laughed at their retreating backs, but Brooklyn ignored her, more focused on helping his friend.

"Wait 'till everybody finds out you've got a tail!"

Brooklyn shook his head. Who would have thought that we'd find Myrtle's funny side after all?