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Chapter - 12 : Petrification

Halloween came soon enough. Like Ava had said, she wanted to finish some things. She wanted to be on top of her studies, like she'd been the last two months.

So she barely sat at the feast. She quickly stuffed some chicken nuggets and some pudding in her mouth and left for the dormitory to finish her work.

But just as she was finishing up, she heard the same murderous voice she'd heard earlier.

"... rip... tear.... kill..."

Ava quickly made her way out of the Slytherin dungeons and headed up into the castle.

".... so hungry.... for so long..."

She heard the voice and followed it.
".... kill.... time to kill...."

Ava clambered up the marble staircase to the first floor. That's when she bumped into Harry, Ron and Hermione. But she didn't stop. Harry seemed to have picked up the voice too.
"Ava? What are you-" Hermione began.
"SHH!" Harry and Ava both hushed her.

"... I smell blood.... I SMELL BLOOD!"

Ava's stomach lurched.
"It's going to kill someone!" Harry shouted. Ava almost retorted saying she'd heard that but instead just decided to keep running on, much to Ron and Hermione's bewilderment.

They hurtled onto the second floor and sprinted till they reached a corner into the last, deserted passage.

"Woah! What - was - that?" Ron panted, wiping the swart off his forehead. "I couldn't hear anything..."

But Hermione gave a sudden gasp, pointing down the corridor.

"Look!"

Something was shining on the wall ahead. They approached, slowly and squinting through the darkness. Something had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED,
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

"What's that thing - hanging underneath?" said Ron, a slight quiver in his voice.

They inched forwards to a large puddle and jumped at the sight of Mrs Norris, Filch's cat, hanging by her tail from the torch bracket.

She was stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring.

For a few seconds, nobody moved.

Then Ava said, "Let's get out of here."
"Shouldn't we try and help-" Harry began awkwardly.

"Trust me," said Ron. "We don't want to be found here."

But it was too late. A rumble, as though from distant thunder, told them that the feast had just ended. From either end of the corridor where they stood came the sound of hundreds of feet climbing the stairs, and a loud, happy talk of well-fed people; the next moment, students crashing into the passage from both ends.

The chatter suddenly died as the students spotted Mrs Norris, the message on the wall and the four students at the scene of crime.

Then someone shouted through the quiet.

"Enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

It was Draco Malfoy. He had pushed to the front of the crowd, his cold eyes alive, his usually bloodless face flushed, as he grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile cat.

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Wassup everyone!
I hope that you all are doing great!

I don't know when these two characters were mentioned but I do know that, in fact, there is a Gregor McDougle and Dougle McGregor in the HP books! Such a random piece of info lol.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Always,
Ana