Riddle And Grindelwald

15. Horror At Halloween

Tom decided not to release the Basilisk right away, as he wanted to map out the Chamber of Secrets in his head first.
He also followed through on his promise to teach Genevieve Parseltongue, so that she could enter the chamber by herself.
Now that they had found the chamber, Genevieve stopped having visions, even though she knew what she had seen, had not yet come to pass. For she still had no idea who the screaming Ravenclaw girl in the bathroom was.
When Halloween arrived at the end of October, Tom felt that it was time to unleash Slytherin's monster.
He wanted everyone to know that the chamber had been opened, so he planned on leaving the school a message.

"I can't believe you killed all the school's roosters" shuddered Genevieve, as she looked at the paint can Tom was carrying, which was full of blood.
"Don't get squeamish on me now. You know that I had to kill the roosters, as their cry is fatal to a Basilisk. Besides, you've seen animal blood before in Potions, so it shouldn't bother you" reminded Tom.
"Only in small vials. I've never seen that much blood at once. And it smells horrible" admitted Genevieve.
"Well, I'm not asking you to touch it. Just keep watch and make sure that no one comes this way"
"Fine".

Tom pulled out the paint brush from his pocket and dipped it into the blood.
Genevieve turned away and kept watch until Tom was finished.
"What do you think?" Asked Tom.
Genevieve spun around and looked at the wall, which now had a message on it, written in blood.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware. Well, it certainly makes a statement" admitted Genevieve.
Tom tipped the remaining blood out of the can and onto the floor, leaving an ominous pile of blood under the writing.
He then flicked his wand at the site, covering it in a charm.
"There we go. The charm will wear off in an hour. So no one will see it until after the feast, which means we can't be blamed for this" said Tom.

"When will you let the Basilisk out?" Questioned Genevieve.
"Some time this evening, after the Halloween feast" answered Tom.
"Well then, we'd better get going. We don't want to be too late to the feast" replied Genevieve.
"Wait, there's one more thing I need to do, to make sure no one gets suspicious of us"
"And what's that?".
Instead of answering, Tom stepped closer to Genevieve and placed his lips around her neck.

****
Genevieve did feel sightly awkward walking into the great hall with a large hickey on her neck. Especially as her and Tom were some of the last people to arrive.
But making out in an empty classroom was far less incriminating than what they had really been up to.
Genevieve couldn't focus during the feast, as she was nervous about what would happen that evening.
As the students ate, she knew that the caretaker patrolled the halls, to make sure no one had set up any Halloween pranks.
He had to see that the corridor Genevieve and Tom had been in was normal, so that they wouldn't become suspects.

Although Genevieve and Tom were usually some of the first people to leave the hall after dinner as they had other things to do. But that day, they had to one of the last ones to leave.
"Any minute now" Tom whispered in Genevieve's ear.
She looked down at her watch and her heart began to race.
The hour was up, and Tom's charm should have worn off, making the blood message visible.
Many students had already left the hall to return to their common rooms, so her and Tom were just waiting for someone to see the message and report it to a teacher.

A few minutes later the doors swung open and an out of breath Gryffindor boy ran into the hall.
"Headmaster, you have to come and look at this!" Announced the boy.
"What is it McLaggen?" Questioned Professor Dippet as he stood to his feet.
"The second corridor is covered in blood. And there's creepy writing on the wall" revealed the boy named McLaggen.
"What does this writing say?"
"It says that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened, and that the enemies of the heir should beware"
"Show me... Everyone else, return to your dormitories".

All the students lept from their seats and ran out of the doors before the teachers could stop them. As everyone was anxious to see this threatening message.
"And so it begins" Tom mumbled in Genevieve's ear.
As the students and staff members headed to the second floor, Tom slipped away, heading for one of the secret passages, so that he could access the Chamber of Secrets and release the Basilisk.
There were numerous pipes around the school which the snake could use to get around, so it didn't have to exit through the girl's bathroom every time.
And while most students were focused on the blood writing, the Basilisk could pick off any straggling Mudbloods, who were by themselves.

Although Genevieve wanted to be with Tom, she knew she couldn't, as that was not a part of his plan. So she headed to the second floor with the rest of the students.
When she arrived she saw a large crowd of people around the writing, and the teachers were right at the centre.
"I swear this wasn't here earlier. I checked this area while I was doing my rounds, during the feast" insisted Apollyon Pringle, the caretaker.
"That means whoever did this, did it after the feast had ended" replied Professor Dippet.

"We should make a list of all the students who left the feast early" Professor Merrythought whispered to the headmaster.
"Good idea. But for now, I don't want anyone to panic. We should send the students back to their common rooms. And once that's done we should reconvene in my office, and decide what to do next" replied Professor Dippet.
"You heard the headmaster, everyone return your dormitories at once" instructed Dumbledore.
Not wanting to get in trouble, the students dispersed, leaving the teachers alone.

When Genevieve reached the dungeons with the rest of the Slytherin's, she found Tom waiting for her in his favourite armchair.
He stood up and embraced her when she reached him.
"Well?" Whispered Genevieve.
"It's done. A third year Ravenclaw boy was attacked on his way to the bathroom. I'm sure the teachers will find him soon. And we can't be blamed, because we were all the way down here" grinned Tom.
Genevieve forced a smile, "And so, our reign of terror begins".
"By the time we are Head boy and girl, this school will be a much purer place, just like Salazar Slytherin intended" replied Tom.