Amelia Merlin

Part Forty: The Chamber of Secrets

A/n hello my dearest readers! Please comment so I know how you feel! It's the most important thing to me! I'd rather see comments than votes to be honest! I love to hear what you guys think and feel! So please take some time to do so, but don't feel like you have to!

The only thing anyone discussed nowadays was the Chamber of Secrets. No one cared about Quidditch or who was dating who. Lavender even forgot about the whole drama between her and Amelia.

The thing about the Chamber of Secrets, is that no one knew a thing about it. So it made for very poor, but intriguing conversation.

One day during History of Magic, Hermione attempted something, no one had ever done before in that class.

She put up her hand to ask a question.

Professor Binns looked slightly scared when he called on her. "Miss-er-?"

"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets."

Dean jerked out of his trance, Lavender woke from her nap, and Nevilles elbow slipped off his desk.

Professor Binns looked irritated. "My subject is history of magic, I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He said in his wheezy voice, then continued his lecture. "In September of that year, a sub committee of Sardinian sorcerers-"

Hermione had raised her hand again, which unsettled the old ghost.

"Miss Grant?"

"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"

Nobody had ever interrupted the guy, living or dead and he clearly had no idea what to do in the situation.

"Well," he started slowly. "Yes, one could argue that, I suppose. However the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale...."

Every student was drinking in his words like gospel.

His lips pursed like a wrinkled old tortoise before continuing. "Oh very well. Let me see... the Chamber of Secrets... You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago..."

And so the dingy ghost told the class about the legend. How Slytherin had disagreed with the rest of the founders, and created his own chamber within the castle before leaving. This was the Chamber of Secrets and it contained a horror within, that could only obey the heir of Slytherin, and this horror would purge the school of all those unworthy to study magic.

When Professor Binns had finished, there were immediately questions.

"Sir, what exactly do you mean the horror within the Chamber?" Hermione started.

"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the heir of Slytherin alone can control." Everyone looked nervously around. "I tell you, the thing does not exist. There is no Chamber and no monster."

Then it was Seamus' turn. "But sir, if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherins true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"

"Nonsense, O'Flaherty! If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and head mistresses haven't found the thing-" Professor Binns was getting quite heated about the whole situation.

"But Professor, you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it-" Parvati joined in.

"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic, doesn't mean he can't, Miss Pennyfeather. I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore-"

Dean interrupted the ghost again. "But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't-"

"That will do!" He had had enough. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to history, to solid, believable, verifiable fact!"

And within minutes, the whole class was back to normal.

The next few days were buzzing with talk of the legend and Amelia's tunnel dreams were interrupting her more often than ever. During class, mealtimes, when she was studying or walking around, and especially in her sleep. It was frustrating as hell.

So in order to calm herself, she decided she needed to go see the Thestrels. It was important to her, for some reason the forest had been pulling Amelia towards it.

"Will you come with me?" She asked Cedric, when she told him what she wanted to do.

"The forest is forbidden!" He looked around, as though someone may have overheard. "We can't!"

Amelia scoffed. "I do it all the time!" Cedric could be so straight laced sometimes, it made her miss the times with Fred and George. But Fred was still being a buttface so she wasn't speaking to him.

Cedric considered the matter. "You're sure you need this?" His eyebrows raised quizzically.

"I wouldn't ask you to come with me if I didn't."

With a heavy sigh, he agreed. That was the nice thing about him, he was there for her, and he truly cares about her wants and needs. Unlike some people. They walked down the sloping fields to the lush forest.

"Do you know where they are?" Cedric asked, as she tugged him along by the hand.

"Of course!" Amelia laughed, since when did lying become so easy?

They walked for a good twenty minutes before she found them, it was surprisingly simple.

She stopped in her tracks and gazed at the Thestrels. Their wings stretched as they padded around the trees. Their black skin was exactly how she remembered it.

"Amelia?" Cedric sounded concerned, but his voice was far away from her. "Are you alright?"

"They're beautiful." She breathed. "I know what Hagrid meant, seriously misunderstood creatures."

"Are you sure you're okay?" He squeezed her hand. "You're just staring at trees..."

Amelia shook her head out of a daze. "Right, you can't see them." She walked him to the nearest skeletal horse, and placed his hand in its back. "Do you feel that."

"That is strange!" He laughed in wonder. "I've never seen anything like this!"

"Well you can't see anything like this." Amelia thought that was obvious but she said it anyways.

"Cheeky Amelia!" Cedric chuckled lightly, put a hand on her waist, and kissed her.

She felt warmth flood her. She felt every nerve in her body light on fire. She felt the sunlight dripping through the trees and heating her skin.

When she broke away from Cedric, Amelia felt a bit breathless.

"You are something else Amelia Merlin." He looked in awe of her.

She grinned, "We'd better get back, or someone will start to miss us!"

"True, I don't know what the school would do if you weren't there!"

"Probably blow up." She shrugged.

"Oh defintely! Children would weep." Cedric's laugh made her insides dance.

They walked hand in hand through the trees, laughing with each other, then they reached the grounds. Amelia felt more grounded then she had in a very long time.

Until she looked behind her.

The tawny wolf from her dreams, was standing on the edge of the tree line, watching her.