Chapter 22

Curiosity

Harry froze upon making it around the corner. After running in the direction of the voice, Ron and Hermione in close pursuit, he wasn't sure what he'd expected. The voice had said something about being able to smell blood, though Harry had somehow brushed that off. All he knew was that someone was in danger and he had to do something about it. 

Now, in the corridor, they saw it. Words, visible through the darkness by the torchlight. 'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.'

Harry was only beginning to process what that meant when Ron jolted him out of his reverie. "What's that thing hanging underneath?"

They drew closer, and all three recoiled in shock. Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, was hanging, stiff as a board,  by her tail from one of the torches on the wall. 

Harry gasped and heard two identical ones coming from Ron and Hermione on either side of him. "Let's get out of here," Ron said, turning away. 

Harry was unsure, wanting to run for help, but it wouldn't look good to be here. Of course, Nick could testify that they were at his party, but the whole thing looked like a very rushed job. He didn't want to be blamed for anything, and besides, he'd heard dark things about the Chamber. Remus and his father used to whisper about it as they looked over the old map they used to use in school, wishing they could find it and plot it.

As they made to leave though, the sound of students coming up the stairs came from either side of them, accompanied by the usual happy chatter. That faded into silence as they made their way to where the three of them were, and everyone crowded around them. 

He supposed he should have expected the following events.

Filch came over, and upon seeing Mrs. Norris, fell into a fit of hysteria, and immediately blamed the three of them, namely Harry, for what had happened to her. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape followed. 

McGonagall was simply stunned by not only the writing on the wall but also the state of Mrs. Norris. Dumbledore was trying to calm Filch as well as the rest of the students down, and for the first time, Harry was thankful for the old man's presence. 

After Lockhart offered them his office so they could sort out everything out of the eyes of the students, Snape had to put his two cents in. He had no proof whatsoever, but since Harry was James Potter's son, of course, he had to be responsible for every bad thing that happened around the school. The jealous prat. 

At last, they were dismissed, and Harry silently thanked Dumbledore. For whatever reason, the old man had helped them out, though Harry wasn't sure why. Dumbledore despised him, he could have left him at the mercy of Snape, who would take great pleasure in deducting 100 points from Gryffindor each, as well as a month's worth of detentions. 

As they were making their way back to the common room, Hermione paused, looking thoughtful. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you suppose they thought it was you?"

Ron cut in. "Well Filch just went mad because of his cat, didn't he? And Snape... well..." He exchanged a dark look with Harry. "He'd take any excuse to get us in trouble."

"I don't know," Hermione said, still pondering. "Snape looked awfully angry when Draco mentioned Harry being the Heir of Slytherin."

Ron scowled. "Draco?"

Hermione flushed. "Yes, Ron. That's his name."

"Back to the point," Harry interjected, not wanting to deal with an argument with the two of them now. 

"Yes," Hermione said, all too happy to divert from the subject, though still glaring at Ron all the same. 

"Wait a minute," Ron said. "It just doesn't make sense 'Mione. There's no proof of Harry being the Heir of Slytherin. Besides, he's a Gryffindor for Pete's sake!"

"The hat considered putting me in Slytherin..." Harry mumbled.

Ron looked at him incredulously, and Harry tried not to make eye contact with either of them.

"I don't think you're the heir. If it was your bloodline, honestly Harry, I'd be looking at Miles."

"Aren't you friends with him?" Ron asked. 

Hermione looked mortified, realizing what she'd implied. "Oh no, I didn't mean it like that! I don't think either of them could be the Heir, but if Snape had to think that one of them was, well, I'd think he'd choose Miles."

The conversation rang in his ears even after he'd reached the dormitory, and continued as he changed into his pajamas and pulled the curtains of the four-poster around the bed. Miles just couldn't be the Heir. 

But at the same time, he had left Nick's party early. He might not have gone to the Great Hall straight away, or at all. Then again, this was Miles. He wouldn't scare anyone intentionally, and Harry just couldn't imagine him finding a way to petrify Mrs. Norris. The old cat certainly wasn't liked by the students, but this was a little too far. 

He just didn't know. 

☆

The events of the last evening had shaken up everyone, but Miles was more curious than anything. Who was the heir? Draco had told him that while he'd been joking when they saw the writing on the wall, people thought Harry was the heir. 

Miles didn't buy it. He knew for a fact Harry would have been at Nick's party, and besides, the genuine confusion that they displayed when confronted at the scene was too real to have been acting. Especially for Ron, who Miles knew for a fact was terrible at concealing his emotions.

He'd gone to the library to read up more about the Chamber. Of course, he'd heard of it. Sirius had told him that his family, the Blacks, had been fascinated with the idea of the Chamber, and his father Orion had even attempted looking for it, though to no avail. 

Madam Pince had been uncharacteristically annoyed when he asked for a copy of A History of Magic. "No one bothered reading it before, but now..." she muttered darkly, as she scanned a bookshelf. Finding the book, she thrust it into his arms. "There. That's the last one. Be sure to bring it back when you're done."

He pored over the book that night but was disappointed to find that there was little to no information about the Chamber of Secrets, and anything that he did find was common knowledge. Yes, Salazar Slytherin was rumored to have created it and concealed it within the castle, and only his heir would be able to find and open it.

The next day, he brought the book back, only to find Hermione at Madam Pince's desk, asking for her own copy of A History of Magic. 

"Here," he said, placing his copy on the desk. 

"Thanks, Miles," she said, smiling gratefully at him.

"I've got to tell you though, there isn't much on the Chamber in there."

"Really?" she asked, face falling. Then she brightened. "Perhaps there's something you missed! There could be a code of some sort."

Miles shrugged, not convinced, though he didn't want to dampen her spirits. Besides, maybe he had missed something. It wouldn't hurt to have Hermione look through it at least, and he certainly didn't mind doing research with her. It was nice to know that he had something in common with someone in Gryffindor house.

She checked out the book, and they retreated to a table in the back, where Hermione began her own scanning of the volume. After about fifteen minutes, which Miles spent twiddling his thumbs, she shut the book with a sigh.

"Nothing."

"Mhm," Miles hummed.

They sat there in silence, each mulling the matter over. Just as MIles thought she would give up as well, Hermione suddenly spoke, startling him. "Wait!"

"What?"

"You have friends in Slytherin!"

Miles, baffled, opened his mouth to respond, but abruptly closed it as Madam Pince stalked over to them, and silently pointed to the library door. In equal silence, Miles and Hermione quickly got out of there, though burst out laughing once they were in the corridor. Once they'd gotten that out of their system, Miles remembered Hermione's earlier exclamation as he was walking her to the Gryffindor common room.

"So yes, I do have friends in Slytherin."

"Right," she nodded. "And most of them come from pureblood families with long ancestries. I think that there's got to be some information passed down about the Chamber or at the very least about Salazar Slytherin."

Miles mulled it over. She had a very good point. He knew for a fact that the Malfoys and Greengrass' had quite a lot of Slytherin pride, so naturally, they would at least have some information about the house's history.

"I'll ask them," he suggested, though he knew that was what she'd indirectly asked him to do.

They'd reached the common room, and she smiled at him. "Thanks, Miles. It's nice to know that I know someone willing to help me out with this sort of thing."

He grinned. "It's no problem at all." He turned away, then looked back. "Though I'm sure Harry and Ron would help too. They just have their own way of it is all."