Clara Black and the Hidden Chamber

Enter the Chamber

"All those times were were in that bathroom, and she was just three toilets away," said Ron bitterly at breakfast next day, "and we could've asked her, and now. . ."

It had been hard enough tracking spiders. Escaping our teachers long enough to sneak into an out-of-bound girls' bathroom, the girls' bathroom, moreover, right next to the scene of the first attack, was going to be practically impossible.

But something happened in Transfiguration, that drove the Chamber of Secrets out of my mind for the first time in weeks. Despite only going through the motions, I desired for the Chamber of Secrets to be found, and the monster that hurt Emma to be dead. I just never acted on it, because I didn't see the point of trying. Ten minutes into Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall told us that our exams would start on the first of June, one week from today.

"Exams?" Seamus howled. "We're still getting exams?"

There was a loud bang behind me as Neville Longbottom's wand slipped, vanishing one of the legs on his desk. Professor McGonagall restored it with a wave of her own wand, and turned, frowning, to Seamus.

"The whole point of keeping the school open at this time is for you to receive your education," she said sternly. "The exams will therefore take place as usual, and I trust you are all studying hard." 

Studying hard, my ass! It never even crossed my mind that we might have exams, between my focus on finding out what's in the Chamber and the two weeks of apathy. There was a great deal of mutinous muttering around the room, which made McGonagall scowl even more darkly.

"Professor Dumbledore's instructions were to keep the school running as normally as possible," she said. "And that, I need hardly point out, means finding out how much you have learned this year."

I looked down at the pair of slippers that used to be white rabbits. What have I learned this year? Besides, Aragog's an ass, life sucks, Lockhart's useless, and there's a monster crawling around the school. None of that would be useful in an exam.

Ron looked as though he'd been told he had to live in the Forbidden Forest.

"Can you picture me taking exams with this?" He asked Harry and I, holding up his wand, which had just started whistling loudly. 

"Don't wave that thing around." I said. "You'll kill someone or it'll blow up."

Ron scowled at me.

*Time Skip* by shoving Dudley Dursley down a hill, and him becoming a giant snowball

Three days before our first exam, Minnie made another announcement at breakfast.

"I have good news," she said, and the Great Hall, instead of falling silent, erupted.

"Dumbledore's coming back!" several people yelled joyfully.

"You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!" squealed a girl at the Ravenclaw table.

"Quidditch matches are back on!" roared Wood excitedly.

"You've cancelled exams!" Adam, Frisk, and I screamed.

When the hubbub had subsided, Minnie said, "Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those poor people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit."

There was an explosion of cheering. I looked over at the Slytherin table and wasn't at all surprised to see that Adam and Frisk were the only ones cheering. They looked much happier than they have in weeks. Ron and Harry, too.