Harry's Unknown Power (A Father and Son fanfic) Book 2

Chapter 8: Detention and Writing on the Wall

The rest of the day went by quicker than Harry would have liked. Before long, it was evening and 35 minutes to 8pm. Harry drags his feet to Lockhart's office. He knocks on the door and waits. Lockhart opens his door and smiles widely, "Here's the scalawag! Come in, Harry! Come in!" As Harry walks into his office, he sees countless framed photographs of Lockhart. Some of the photograph were even signed. Another large pile of photographs laid on his desk. Lockhart said as he sat down, "You can address the envelopes! This first one is to Gladys Gudgeon bless her, huge fan of mine." The minutes went by  as Harry addressed the envelopes. He let Lockhart's voice wash over him as he worked. Lockhart said things like, "Fame's a fickle friend Harry." And "Celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that." As the candles burned lower, Harry hand was aching from all the writing he's been doing. Harry thought miserably, 'It must be nearly time to leave. Please let it be nearly time.' Suddenly, he heard a voice that chilled him to the bone, "Come.... Come to me.... Let me rip you.... Let me tear you.... Let me kill you...." Harry mutters loudly, "What?" Lockhart said, "I know! 6 solid months at the top of the best-seller list! It broke all records!" Harry said frantically, "No, that voice!" Lockhart said, "Sorry? What voice?" Harry said, "That voice.... That voice that said.... Didn't you hear it?" Lockhart was looking at Harry with a curious expression on his face. Lockhart smiles at Harry and said, "What are you talking about, Harry? Perhaps you're getting a little drowsy?" He looks at the clock and said, "Great Scott! Look at the time! We've been here nearly four hours! Spooky how the time flies when one is having fun." Harry mutters to himself, "Yeah spooky...." Lockhart dismisses him a short time later. Harry was heading to the stairs from the 2nd floor. He was planning to head to his dorm and lay down. When all of a sudden, he hears the voice again, as it said, "Blood.... I smell blood....Let me rip you....Let me kill you....Kill.... Kill.... Kill!" Harry follows it, until he bumps right into Snape. Snape snaps, "Do watch where you're going." Harry said, "Oh, sorry dad. I thought I heard something. I was trying to figure out where it came from." Snape relaxes and said, "Oh it's you, Harry. I don't hear anything." Harry sighs and looks down, "Lockhart said the same thing when I heard it while doing detention with him." Snape raises an eyebrow and said, "You hear a voice that only you can hear?" Harry nods, "I know it's hard to believe and it's probably not a good thing, but its true, I swear dad." Snape said, "Come with me, Harry. I'm taking you to my quarters." Harry nods as they leave. They bump into Hermione and Ron, who was looking for Harry. Hermione spot Harry and said, "Harry!" Harry asks them, "Did you hear it?" Ron said, "Hear what?" Harry said, "A voice." Hermione said, "Voice? What voice?" Harry said, "I heard it first in Lockhart's office and then again just...." Harry suddenly hears the voice again as it said, "It's time...." The voice sounded a bit farther away, as if it was moving. Harry said, as he broke into a run, "It's moving. I think it's going to kill." Ron said, "Kill?" Hermione said, "Harry, wait! Not so fast!" Snape said, as he chases after him, "Harry, come back here!" They chase after him, as he continues running. Until he suddenly stops and sees spiders going through a broken window, one at a time. The others stop to catch their breath. Harry said, "Strange, I've never seen spiders act like that." Ron looks scared at the spiders and said, "I don' like spiders." Snape raises an eyebrow, "Afraid of spiders, Mr. Weasley?" Ron's ears go red as he said, defensively, "Yeah, it was Fred and Geroge's fault. When I was three, Fred turned my teddy bear into a great big filthy spider because I broke his toy broomstick.... You wouldn't like them either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and...." Snape said, "Calm yourself, Mr. Weasley. I was merely asking."

Harry spots water on the floor. He follows it to see writing on the wall, in the water's reflection. He looks up to see what the writing was. Snape, Ron and Hermione follow his gaze. On the wall, written in blood, read: The chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir.... beware. They see Filch's cat below the words. She was hung by her tail on a torch bracket. She was frozen like a statue. Her eyes were wide opened in fear. Snape moves closer to the cat, to investigate. Suddenly, several students start coming from both directions, as they head to their common room. Hoping to get there before curfew. The students suddenly stop to see the words written on the wall and Filch's cat. They also spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione standing near the cat, along with Snape. Malfoy, sees the writing on the wall and said, "Enemies of the heir beware?" He looks at Hermione, Ron and Harry, and said, "You'll be next mudbloods." He did not noticed Snape, who was standing near the cat that he was investigating. They glared at him as Snape glares at Malfoy and snarls, "Do not say that word in my presence, Mr. Malfoy! 10 points from Slytherin house!" Malfoy goes quiet and glares at Snape. Snape turns around as Filch arrives and said, "What's going on here? Go on. Make way, make way." He spots his cat hanging on the wall and goes pale as he becomes shocked by the sight. He said, "Mrs. Norris?" He looks at Harry and said, "You've murdered my cat. I'll kill ya. I'll kill ya!" Harry shakes his head as Filch grabs the front of his robes. Snape was about to tell Filch to let Harry go when he heard a voice said, "Argus!" Dumbledore had arrived. Filch let's go of Harry. Harry looks over at Dumbledore. He see that the rest of the staff had arrived along with him. Dumbledore said, "Argus I...." He stops abruptly upon seeing the writing on the wall. He said, "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately." As the students start to leave, Harry, Ron and Hermione start to leave with them. Dumbledore adds, "Everyone except you three." The students start to leave, including Malfoy. Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed, as the corridor empties. The teachers move around to look at the writing on the wall better. Snape squeezes Harry's shoulder reassuringly, as he goes to stand by Dumbledore. Dumbledore said, "She is not dead, Argus. She has been petrified." Lockhart said, "Ah. Thought so. So unlucky I wasn't there. I know exactly the counter curse that could've spared her." Snape gives Lockhart a disbelieving look, while Dumbledore looks at him over his half-moon glasses. McGonagall shakes his head at him as she sighs. Lockhart goes quiet from the looks he was getting from them. Dumbledore looks at Filch and said, "But how she has been petrified, I can not say." Filch points to Harry and said, "Ask him, it's him that's done it. You saw what he wrote on the wall." Harry said, "It's not true, sir. I swear! I never touched Mrs. Norris." Filch said, "Rubbish!" Snape had enough. Filch was wrongly accusing them of the attack on his cat! He had to defend them! He steps forward and said, "If I might, Headmaster? Mr. Snape and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time." Dumbledore considers what Snape said. Filch said, "He must have done it, I caught him at the scene of the crime!" Lockhart said, "Harry couldn't have done it, as he was in detention with me. He was helping me answer my fan mail." What Lockhart said matched what Harry told him. Hermione said, "That's why we went looking for him. We were wondering why his detention was taking so long. We ended up finding him with you, Professor Snape." Snape looks back at Dumbledore and said, "I was looking for Mr. Snape as well, since he was in detention for quite some time. I became concerned when Miss. Granger and Mr. Weasley came to me and ask where Mr. Snape had gone. They thought that he was with me, as he likes to spend some of his time with me. When I told them that he wasn't with me, they became concerned and left to look for him. I went off to search for him myself, headmaster."