Chapter 35
At breakfast the next morning, the Howler from Molly Weasley finally arrived. Harry and Hermione both enjoyed the look of fear that Ron had on his face when the Howler arrived.
"Ronald Weasley! How dare you steal the car and take your sister with you? You are supposed to be Ginny's big brother, showing her how to do things properly and not be a bad example. I am absolutely disgusted with you! We were severely fined, and we were close to being sent to prison because of your immature actions. If you put another toe out of line, we'll bring you straight home!"
The Howler screamed before blowing a raspberry and chewing itself out. Ron, Ginny and Percy looked mortified by the Howler. Surprisingly, the twins were absent for the display. Harry turned to Hermione once everything calmed down.
"I thought it was going to happen yesterday."
"I guess without Dumbledore's protection plus the reputation of the Boy Who Lived being involved, they were properly investigated and charged," Hermione said with a grin on her face.
"That is why Dumbledore has that sad look on his face; he probably tried to help them but failed."
"Why does Malfoy look miserable? I thought he would be happy that his nemesis got chewed out in public."
"I think he just found out that he cannot do anything to us without making his father suffer."
"You told him already without waiting for me… How could you? I was looking forward to the disappointed look on his face when he found out. I wanted to get a little back since he was one of the main culprits that protected all those pure-blood rights while screwing the rest of the magical population over."
"Well you are seeing it now."
"But I missed the best parts like when he was initially told and when he read his father's letter confirming it."
"Sorry."
"Are you sure that is really the main cause? Everyone in Slytherin looks slightly depressed."
"Maybe it's something different."
"We can find out in class this morning when we have potions with them."
"Have you noticed that we have Potions with Slytherin and Transfiguration with them as well? It seems that any subject we share with Slytherin is taught by a teacher aligned with Dumb-n-Dork. Last time round it was the same thing but we were in Gryffindor at the time."
"You are alright. I think Dumb-n-Dork has manipulated the timetable so that would occur. He probably does not want us associating with Slytherins."
"Why don't we go to class early so we can do what Dumb-n-Dork does not want us to do?"
"That sounds like a great idea plus as an added bonus we get to find out what got the Slytherins so pissed."
They went to class early but the Slytherins did not arrive until just before class began. This puzzled Harry and Hermione since the Slytherins liked to get to this class early so that they could taunt the other houses before Snape arrived. When class began, Snape was unusually tough on not just the Ravenclaw students but also to the Slytherins. The only exception was Harry and Hermione. That could be attributed to Harry's earlier post-hypnotic suggestion. Whenever Hermione or Harry tried to engage one of the Slytherins in conversation, they would not respond at all. By the end of the class Harry and Hermione were getting nowhere, so they gave up.
At the end of lunch, Hermione asked Mandy. "Do you know what happened to the Slytherins? They have been unusually quiet today."
Mandy moved in close to Hermione and whispered "It is a secret but last night, Professor Snape called the entire house together and demanded to know who stole his notes and passed them to some new potions mistress."
"Why did he think it was a present member of his house?"
"He says that some of the discoveries made mention to things he only discovered last year and only Slytherins have had access to his private quarters where he kept his notes."
"Could it not be someone that has already graduated?"
"He claims that if that were the case, then they would say it is their own work rather than give someone else the credit." Hermione was smiling but not for the reason Mandy thought she was smiling about. Hermione realised that Snape was now chasing shadows. She immediately told Harry what she just heard[,] and he came to the same conclusion.
"We need to reinforce the belief that a Slytherin is involved in the theft.[,]" Hermione said.
"Maybe we should steal some of Snape's notes, and put them in among Draco's belongings. It will only be a matter of time before Snape start searching through his students' belongings," Harry suggested.
"That sounds great. If it works, I will forgive you for not letting me tell Draco about the agreement."
"We need to do it tonight because Snape is probably going to do the search on a weekend when he has the time."
"Yes, I agree. This is something we can do together."
"We need to see the twins; if Snape starts looking outside his house the twins will be his biggest target."
"Let's go now. Do you see them anywhere?"
"No. Cover me and I will check on the Marauders' Map to see where they are." Harry said as he pulled out the map. Hermione leaned over him and pretended to speak to Terry while Harry checked the map for twins' location.
"They are coming towards us."
"Hi Harry, Hermione."
"Hi Fred, George. How can we help the famous Weasley twins today?" Harry said with exuberance.
"Can we talk in private?"
"Sure," Harry said and they all proceeded to an empty classroom.
"So what is up?"
"Do you mind letting us borrow the Marauders' Map?"
"Sure. Why do you need it? Harry asked as he pulled out the Map.
"Our little sister, Ginny, has gone missing. She attended breakfast and has not been seen since. When she did not show up for lunch we knew something was wrong. We thought rather than search all over the school like what our brothers, Percy and Ron are doing right now, we would check the Marauders' Map to make sure she was still here," George explained as Fred searched the map for Ginny.
"Found her. She is in one of the girls' toilets on the second floor," Fred says said in triumph. The Weasley twins missed the scared look that appeared momentarily on Harry and Hermione's faces when told of Ginny's location. They communicated with a few quick hand signals before Hermione said, "Maybe I should go with the two of you. After all, she is in a girls' toilet."
Fred and George paled at the thought of rushing to Ginny's rescue only to find out that she was suffering from a severe case of the runs, or worse, finding another girl in a half-dressed state. In either case, the results would not be pretty.
"That sounds like a great idea. Thank you, Hermione, for being so thoughtful," George said.
"Are you coming too?" Fred asked Harry.
"I don't think so. Girls' toilets are not my thing," Harry replied.
"That might actually be a good idea. Ginny has a major crush on you," George said.
"See you all later."
"Can we meet sometime tomorrow? There is something we want to discuss with you."
"Sure. It cannot be until after 7 tomorrow night because of Hermione's study group. How does 8 sound to you? It will give us an hour to deal with whatever you want to talk about."
"That sounds great. We will meet you at the old classroom on the sixth floor."
"Do you mind if Hermione accompanies me?"
"Not at all." With that statement Fred, George and Hermione left the room.
As soon as they had gone, Harry raced to the Room of Requirement so that he could use the vanishing cabinet to get to the Chamber of Secrets. He spent the next half an hour checking the passageway between the school and the chamber to make sure that Ginny had not been there. It was a relieved Harry that made his way back to Hogwarts assured that Ginny had not made it to the Chamber of secrets, which was also confirmed by the Basilisk.
In the meantime, Hermione, Fred and George made their way to Moaning Myrtle's toilets. When Hermione tried to open the door, she discovered it was locked.
"What is wrong?" Fred asked Hermione.
"The door is locked," Hermione replied as she tried the Alohomora spell to unlock the door without success.
"Let me try," George said as he repeated the same process as Hermione with the same result.
"I guess we better call a professor to help us," Fred said as he turned to leave.
"Wait! Why don't I try a few things first before you call a professor?" Hermione suggested. Fred and George looked at each other with a puzzled look on their faces.
"Go right ahead," George said as he moved out of the way.
Hermione first tried the ward detection spell that Doug had taught her but the spell detected no wards. She then switched to a spell detection charm that Jake showed her. This time the spell shows a number of unusual charms including a notice me not charm, Silencio and a Protego. Hermione quickly dispelled each of these charms. As she finally opened the toilet door, Ginny came rushing out of the toilet, knocking Hermione down in the process.
Fred intercepted the crying Ginny and pulled her into a hug while George helped Hermione up. When Ginny realised who was hugging her, she relaxed and started sobbing uncontrollably. Once Ginny had calmed down, George asked, "What happened?"
"I had just finished breakfast and had gone to a toilet on the way to my first class. When I tried to leave, I found the door locked. So I started screaming for help. A ghost appeared saying that no one cares. I screamed even louder to escape the ghost without much success. After I got tired of screaming, the ghost started telling me all about her grievances since she knew I could not escape. I don't know what was worse, being trapped in a toilet or having to listen to a ghost complain to me for over an hour. Please let me go home," Ginny said with a pleading voice.
"You can ask mum and dad but I doubt they will let you go home. This is someone's bad idea of a prank and a bit of homesickness," Fred said reassuringly. Ginny started crying again.
"It is not homesickness. I was dragged by the moron, Ron into a flying car and then the idiot crashed into a tree. I got loads of detentions because of that fool. Everyone is looking at me because of my strange entry into Hogwarts, and now I get trapped in a toilet," Ginny said with frustration.
"It is going to be alright," Fred said as he tightened his hug.
"I will leave you to it," Hermione said as she turned to leave the family moment they were having.
"Thanks, Hermione," George said.
"Do you want me to find your brothers and tell them what happened?" Hermione asked. A smile creeps across George's face.
"We will find them later," George replied.
Hermione made her way to the first DADA class of the year where Harry was waiting for her.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"Someone locked Ginny in Moaning Myrtle's toilet for a few hours. I wish I thought of that as one of the punishments I had planned for her. Having to listen to Myrtle moan for a few hours is torture in any person's language," Hermione replied happily. "What happened to you?"
"I checked the Chamber of Secrets but thankfully, Ginny did not go there. I have organised a rotation of house-elves to monitor Myrtle's toilets and inform me if anyone tries to open the sink. This will ensure that we are aware of anyone going into the chamber before we finish setting up the booby-traps," Harry explained.
"That a good idea," Hermione managed to say just before Lockhart entered the classroom.
He looked slightly less polished than usual but apart from that, Lockhart was his normal boastful self. The DADA class was a write off with Lockhart giving the same quiz as last time. Thankfully, this time he did not release any Cornish pixies but instead he talked about his time at Hogwarts as a Ravenclaw student.
That evening, Harry continued his research into the detection grid that the British Ministry of Magic used to identify new Muggleborns. The additional scrutiny from Madam Pince, the Hogwarts librarian, meant that Harry could not help with the copying of the restricted section. His assistance in this endeavour was not really necessary, as the house-elves could borrow books from Hogwarts' library without anyone knowing. Alice's mum would copy these books before having the house- elves return these books to the Hogwarts' Library. Alice and Emily provided some assistance when necessary.
Hermione was watching the Marauders' Map. She was waiting for Draco to be alone at the same time when Snape was anywhere but his office. Half an hour before curfew, the opportunity still had not arisen, so Harry went into his apartment trunk. Once there he called out for Dobby.
"Yes, Mr Potter, Sir," Dobby said as he popped in.
"I need a number of things. The first thing I need is a completed Polyjuice Potion from Ashley's store room. Can you leave this note on Ashley's desk telling her that I took one of her potions?" Harry said as he handed Dobby a note he wrote earlier in the day. Dobby took the note and disappeared, reappearing a few seconds later with the requested potion.
"The next thing I need is for you to collect some hair from your old master's son." Harry said. Anticipating that request Dobby produced a few of strands of Draco's hair. Harry wished that he could use Dobby to steal Draco's wand but he knew that he could not afford to tarnish his reputation with the house-elves or Hermione would kill him.
"Finally I need one of the time turners. Can you get one for me?" Harry asked. Dobby popped away and return with the requested item before popping away after Harry thanked him.
Harry changed in a spare set of school uniforms before taking the Polyjuice Potion with Draco's hair. After he turned into Draco, he transfigured his clothes to look like the Slytherin's uniform and readjusted the clothes so they fit the his new frame. Putting on his invisibility cloak, Harry went in search of Draco using the Marauders' Map. When he found Draco, Harry used a curse that made a person's groin extremely itchy. Harry watched with amusement as Draco tried to restrain from scratching before giving in. Draco excused himself so that he could scratch himself more thoroughly. That was when Harry struck.
Harry stunned Draco before injecting him with a muggle sleeping drug. Pocketing Draco's wand, he put Draco to bed under a notice me not spell. It was timed so that it would dispel after 3 hours. Once that was done, Harry broke into Snape's office using Draco's wand, and once there, Harry made two copies of all the notes he could find. One set of the notes he was going to pass to Dobby to give to Ashley. The other set would be placed in a secret compartment in Draco's trunk that Harry had created using Draco's wand. Harry then returned Draco's wand and went into the Ravenclaw toilets to allow the Polyjuice to wear off. As soon as Harry returned to normal, Harry changed back into his regular uniform. He then used the time turner so that it appeared as though he had just gone to the toilet.
Chapter 36
At 8pm the next evening, Harry and Hermione went to their scheduled meeting with the twins. When they arrived, Harry and Hermione found the twins hunched over a set of books with a lot of numbers in it. As they got closer, Harry was able to recognise the book that was their ledger.
"Do you want to talk about our joint venture? So, how brilliantly did we do?" Harry said happily.
"This meeting is not about our joint venture, even though we did extremely well. We supplied all or most of the school supplies for about 65 to 75 percent of all second year and above students," Fred said proudly.
"Then what do you want to talk to me about?" Harry asked.
"The problem is our family's financial situation is dire straits. We thought we were poor before but now the situation is way worse," Fred added.
"You see, the fine my parents got for our little brother's stunt is close to bankrupting us. Selling our home will barely cover the fine. Then we will have to start paying rent. Our parents will not be able afford to send us to school and pay rent at the same time."
"Can't your older brothers help?" Hermione asked.
"Charlie does not make much money from his job. It is really his calling so he cannot help. Bill, our eldest brother, was working in Egypt as a curse breaker. Since he is junior and unqualified in the eyes of the goblins, he is not making much money. So he has decided to come home and work in the Ministry instead to help out."
"How about our joint venture?" Harry asked.
"It makes nowhere near that kind of money. The only way we can save our home is if we use all the money we got without paying you guys. That includes the cost of the things that were purchased. It will breach our contract, and we are scared of what will happen then."
"We don't want you to lose your home. Why don't you allow us help you? We can work out a new agreement that will satisfy everyone?" Hermione suggested. Then Harry, Hermione and the twins took some time to negotiate a new agreement. The final result was that Harry would lend them as much money as they needed to save their home, and he would also pay all the twins educational costs. In return Harry was given the option to invest in any new business ventures the twins get involved in the future.
After the negotiations had been completed, Fred asked,
"Is there anything you want to talk about, or can we give the good news to our worried parents?"
Harry decided to delay them since he wanted Arthur and Molly Weasley to stew for a bit.
"We wanted to warn you that Professor Snape is on the war path. He suspects someone stole his notes, and we wanted to know if you can protect your mind from his probes."
"What probes are you talking about? If it is anal, then we will never let him, and I don't think he is kinky in that way. I've never seen him looking at our butts but maybe he exclusive to Dumbledore. That would explain how he able to get away with blue murder without the headmaster taking action," George said while batting his eye lids.
"Get your mind out of the gutter. I mean mental probes where he scan your minds for information," Harry said in defence of Hermione.
"No. We have never felt it," Fred replied.
"Do you mind if we try to scan your mind? I want to see if you do have any protection," Harry asked. Fred and George looked at each other.
"Alright, since you have been so willing to help us. Besides, we want to protect our business secrets from the Greasy Git," George said. Harry launched his attack on George, and all he found was a buzzing sound. He was not able to identify a single memory from George.
"Have you launch your attack on me yet?" George asked.
"I already tried. Let us see if I get the same results with Fred if that is alright?"
"Okay."
"Are you ready?" Harry asked.
"Yeah. Go ahead already," Fred said impatiently. It was same as George.
"I cannot read either of your minds. This is not any mind art defence I seen or know about," Harry said.
"Do you think that, as twins, they have developed their own mental shields?" Hermione asked.
"I think what has happened is that they are constantly communicating between themselves so any outside attack needs to be fast enough to follow the conversation they are having in their heads. It is like trying to follow a supersonic game of table tennis when you can only see one side of the net." Harry says.
"What would happen if one was asleep or stunned?" Hermione asked.
"Do you mind if we try stunning one of you and seeing if we can read the others mind?" Harry asked
"In for penny," George started.
"In for pound," Fred completed.
"Who should I stun?" Harry asked. Fred pointed to George and George pointed to Fred.
"Let's flip a coin. Fred, why don't you call." Harry said.
Both Fred and George said "Heads" at the same time. Harry flipped the coin without letting them see. He then asked,
"Which of you is Fred?" Fred pointed to George and George pointed to Fred. Hermione was tired of the game that the twins were playing. So she shot a stunner at both of them. George got hit.
"There that is settled. Who are you?" Hermione asked the remaining twin.
"I am Fred," Fred said hesitatingly. Harry then shot a Legilimency attack on Fred and this time he had no problems reading his mind. After checking a memory, he ended the atttack.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked Fred.
"Fine. Did you do something this time because I felt something?" Fred said.
"When I encountered your natural shields, that is when you became aware of my attack. The stronger the shields, the more painful the attack would feel." Harry explained. He remembered when he was going through Auror training, and his trainers informed him of this fact. He realised that Snape was not training him in Fifth year. Snape was destroying his mental shields so that Voldemort could enter his mind more easily, and they would know more about Voldemort's plans. While Dumbledore could also pass on discrete messages to Voldemort like attack Amelia by exposing a potential problem with Harry.
"As long as both of you are conscious, the two of you won't have to worry about Professor Snape trying to read your minds. But if one is stunned then the other is readable," Harry announced. He did not want to teach them the mind arts as they would in all likelihood teach people that Harry and Hermione did not like or trust like Ron and Ginny. Then inspiration hit Harry.
"I know a spell that is used to be by military teams and deeply devoted couples. What the spell does is it allows you to buffer each other against the impact of curses, hexes and even some potions. That way if someone tries to stun one of you, then the other can weaken the attack to the point where it has no effect or both of you will be knocked out but for a shorter period. This way you will always be protected from any mental probes, and you can help each other if attack occurs," Harry suggested.
The twins started speaking to each other about the offer before one of them said,
"Okay. We will allow you to perform the spell on us. By the way, how did you know about the spell?"
This caught Harry off guard. The spell was in a book from Dumbledore's secret private library.
"I found it in one of the private libraries I have access to," Harry said since he did not want lie to the twins but did not want them to know the full truth. This satisfied the twins as they knew that private libraries was something that ancient families had and were very protective of.
"Do you want to do it now, or do you need to prepare?" one of the twins asked.
"I will need to retrieve a book from my dorm first but I should be able to do it tonight," Harry said as he opened the door to the classroom they were in. All of a sudden a flash of light hit Harry. His battle instincts immediately kicked in as he rolled out the way and was about to fire a disarming curse when Hermione stopped him.
"That was amazing!" An excited Colin said in shock at the reaction by Harry. Colin's camera was clearly the cause of the flash that set Harry off. Hermione grabbed Harry's arm to prevent him from doing anything rash. Then Hermione said to Colin,
"I would not recommend you surprise Harry that way again. Next time I might not be there, and he could very well accidentally curse you." This statement scared Colin a little as he did not want to be at the business end of a wand held by the person that defeated Voldemort.
"Lockhart loves being photographed. I am sure that if you take some embarrassing photos of Lockhart, it would not be hard to convince Harry to allow you to take a photo with him and get him to sign it in exchange for those embarrassing photos of Lockhart," Hermione said in a conciliatory manner to Colin. This brightened Colin up immediately.
"If you promise not try to take my picture without permission, I could arrange a job for you," Harry offered.
"Would I be working for you?" Colin asked excitedly.
"No. They are good friends of mine," Harry replied.
"Oh," Colin said, disappointed that he was not working for his idol.
"If you work hard on the job and get a few good embarrassing photos of Lockhart, I will make sure that Harry would teach you something himself," Hermione said which resulted in a very happy Colin at the thought of being trained by his idol while Harry was not amused by Hermione's offer.
When Colin calmed down, he asked,
"What is the job?"
"I was thinking you can help the Weasley twins create a catalogue of the things they want to sell. You can take photos of the products they have on offer," Harry suggested.
"Could you introduce me to the Weasley twins now?" Colin asked.
"I need to talk to them first. Why don't you follow Professor Lockhart until curfew?" Harry advised. Colin was off like a flash at the suggestion.
Harry and Hermione then went into a empty classroom before Harry called for Dobby.
"How can I help Master Harry, Sir and Mistress Hermy, Miss?" Dobby asked as he popped in.
"Can you get me the book Battle Magic by Alfred Dumbledore?" Harry requested. Dobby popped away.
When Dobby reappeared, he had the original copy of the requested book. Hermione pulled out a blank book that she always carries in her backpack and began copying the book. Once the book was copied, Harry gave the original back to Dobby to return to wherever he found it.
They then made their way back to the classroom where the twins were staying. As soon as they reached the classroom, one of the twins started saying,
"Do you need us to take off our clothes?"
"Is virgin sacrifices needed?" the other twin asked.
"We willingly offer Ron and Percy as sacrificial lambs," The twins joked.
As much as I want to take you up on your offer, it is not necessary for the spell," Harry said.
"Can we hex them and say that it was necessary in this spell?"
"Go ahead. In fact, why don't you use this spell here: it will break their nose, and it can not be fixed using magical means?" Harry suggested while showing them a spell that was in the battle magic book he had with him. The twins began practising the spell.
Then Harry turned to them and asked,
"Are you ready?"
"Yes," The twins said simultaneously. Harry performed the spell while looking at the book to ensure everything went correctly.
"Done. Now Fred, I need you to punch George," Harry said seriously even though he was trying not to laugh. The twins punched each other, and both of them were out like a light. Harry and Hermione burst into uncontrolled fits of laughter. When they got their laughter under control, Harry woke them up by spraying ice cold water at them from his wand.
"We still need to test whether the spell works," Harry said after putting on his serious voice again.
"I don't think punching each other will test anything. Why don't you try to stun one of us and see whether the other can help overcome it?" Fred suggested.
"Why don't we turn this into a DADA class for dodging?" Harry suggested. The twins immediately started moving and making themselves as difficult a target for Harry as possible.
"Do you want the honours?" Harry asked Hermione. Hermione immediately fired a stunner at one of the twins but both of them were knocked unconscious.
"I guess the spell worked," Harry said to Hermione as they woke the twins up.
"I thought you said that we can buffer each other against stunner," Fred said angrily.
"It would take some time and a lot of practice for you do that. One of the immediate benefits though is that you can shake off the Imperius curse."
"Cool," The twins said simultaneously.
"We are more than willing to give you practice in overcoming the stunners or any number of hexes," Harry offered with a smile on this face.
"NO!" The twins screamed simultaneously.
"I have noticed that you stopped doing that twin speak where one twin will say something and the other twin will finish it. Is it deliberate or an accident?" Harry asked.
"We know how it annoys you, so we tried to keep it to a minimum in your divine presence." George said while pretending to be experiencing religious fervour.
"If you miss our unique," Fred started saying.
"way of communicating? We can start doing it," George continued.
"again when we are talking to you," Fred concluded.
"Enough of the twin speak. That will fill my quota for the rest of my time at Hogwarts," Harry said quickly.
"Only trying to help," Fred said.
"There is something we want to talk to you about," Hermione said.
"Shoot," George said. Hermione took out her wand and pretended to be preparing to fire off a curse at them. George and Fred both shook their hands in front of them indicating to Hermione not to fire.
"Don't shoot. Ask your question," Fred said quickly.
"It is really a favour. We want you to hire someone. His name is Colin Creevey, and he is in first year," Hermione explained.
"Why do you want us to hire the little bugger?" George asked.
"He is a photographer and can be very annoying. We hoping you two can keep him busy by getting him to photograph every item in your catalogue," Harry stated.
"We can do it later but cash flow is a problem at the moment," Fred said.
"Don't worry about that. We will pay for his services. This should be enough to pay for his equipment, supplies and wages," Harry said as he put a sack of gold on the table.
"I think we got ourselves a new worker bee," Fred said to George with a mischievous tone.
"Think of what we can do with the additional help," George said.
"Are you sure this is good idea?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know but we will see," Harry said.
"Oh, by the way, Colin is also following Professor Lockhart around trying to capture his embarrassing moments on camera. If you want, feel free to prank Professor Lockhart so that Colin has additional material," Harry said with a grin on his face as he directed the genius pranksters towards Lockhart and away from himself. This got the Weasley twins thinking, which gave Harry and Hermione the perfect opportunity to leave before they got dragged into whatever the twins were planning.
Chapter 37
On the Saturday night, Dobby woke Harry up.
"What is the matter, Dobby?" Harry asked half asleep.
"Sorry, Master Harry, Sir but you told me to wake you if someone entered the passageway between the school and Chamber of Secrets," Dobby replied.
Harry started dressing immediately. As soon as he was in his trunk, Harry Portkeyed to the trap free area in the passageway between the school and the Chamber of Secrets. When he arrived, he found Ginny unconscious from trap that had been triggered. Harry levitated the unconscious Ginny into his arms. He replaced the trap that had been tripped and poured Firewhiskey down Ginny's unconscious throat. Once he was sure Ginny was drunk enough, he took Ginny to Hogsmeade. Harry used Ginny's wand to break into the Three Broomsticks, and he placed Ginny into a chair with a half empty bottle of firewhiskey in her hand. Harry then removed all traces from Ginny of the trap she triggered and left her there. Once finished, he then used a time turner to go back to bed.
The next morning, Harry informed Hermione of what had happened last night and what he did. Hermione broke into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
"Ginny is going to be very angry at Tom for getting her into trouble," Hermione said when she finally got herself under control.
"A redhead's temper is legendary, and I am wondering if this is going to have any impact on our plans," Harry said.
"I doubt it since Tom already has a strong hold over Ginny by now. It takes a lot of control to take over someone without them knowing. The only problem will be the reactions of her brothers."
"You are right. Her brothers are not going let her do anything by herself, and she will probably be locked in at night so that she cannot leave."
"Tom is resourceful and he will think of something. This fits perfectly into our plans since the incident will be interpreted as Voldemort being angry that his followers deserted him so he decided to get drunk. That will be later," Hermione reassured Harry.
When they arrived at breakfast later than usual, all the Weasleys were absent, which was not surprising in the least. Mandy dragged Hermione into the seat next to her.
"You're going love the gossip I have got for you. I know that you don't like Draco but this gossip is all about him," Mandy said as soon as Hermione was seated. "As you know the Slytherins have been trying all week to offload any illegal contraband they had. The Weasley twins have been buying most of it. Anyway, the reason became clear this morning. It seems that Professor Snape, their Head of House, was doing an inspection of every dorm. It seems that all the Slytherins knew about it, and they were trying to offload as much they could. Snape was still able to find quite a bit of contraband, and about a third of the house now has detention or has lost house points.
During the inspection, Snape had found a copy of all his notes in Draco's possession. He did not think his godson stole his notes, but believed that someone else from Slytherin was cunning enough to make Draco their scapegoat. Draco still got detention for not being smart enough to avoid being used as a scapegoat. That is why he looked so miserable this morning.
"How did you find out?"
"Tracey Davis from our year told me, she believes that all the other houses are going to be inspected today as well."
"Why does she think the other houses are going to be inspected as well?"
"They found a lot of contraband."
"We need to warn the Weasley twins," Harry said.
"Don't worry. I am sure the Slytherins will tell them since a lot of the Slytherins could not live without the services that the twins provide," Mandy said reassuringly.
"I still want to make sure that they have been warned," Harry said.
"I will accompany you," Hermione said.
As soon as they were out of sight, Harry said to Hermione, "I think we might have lost the diary."
"Where are Ginny and the twins now?" Hermione asked. Harry took out the Marauders' Map and searched for the Weasleys. They were all in the headmaster's office.
"There is nothing we can do now. I say we grab some breakfast before we move all but our essential equipment out of Hogwarts," Harry suggested.
"That seems like a good idea. I think I will grab some fruit so that I can work while having my breakfast because in all likelihood our dorms are going to be one of the first inspected."
"Do you have that much stuff?" Harry asked.
"No, not really, but I want to check my stuff after I cleared everything out to make sure I did not leave anything. Then I will check your stuff as well to make sure that you did not forget anything."
"Do want me to check your stuff?" Harry offered. This got an outraged reaction from Hermione.
"I don't think so, buddy. I will get one of the girls to check my stuff for me," Hermione said in response to his offer.
A little later, after Harry had finished clearing his non-essential stuff, Hermione came along and started checking Harry's stuff. Hermione found one of Harry's Invisibility Cloaks. She was pleased to note that Harry had put away the Marauders' Map and his spare wands. When Hermione showed Harry, the Invisibility Cloak she found, he just replied with an embarrassed "Oops."
"What if the Professors found it? They would have confiscated in a second."
"I know. At least it is not my Dad's family heirloom."
"How about your Basilisk armour and protection necklaces?"
"I am wearing a set of the Basilisk Armour and one of the protection necklaces. The rest is not here at Hogwarts."
"I think you should take it off and give it to Dobby to put in my old home for now."
"But I feel naked without it on…" Harry complained.
"Do you prefer feeling naked for a few hours or letting the Professors know how we can overcome curses fired at us?"
"Okay. I will take it off," Harry said knowing she was right.
While Harry was changing out of his Basilisk Armour, Professor Flitwick arrived with Professor McGonagall accompanying him.
"Everyone stop what you are doing. This is a surprise inspection for contraband materials," Professor Flitwick announced. "Prefects gather everyone up and have them gather over there."
"What do you consider contraband materials?" a student asked.
"Anything on Filch's list and anything that can cause harm to others," Professor Flitwick explained. This relaxed most students but caused others to worry.
When Harry finally came out of the toilets without his protective necklace or Basilisk Armour there was a group of prefects and Professor McGonagall going through all the stuff in their dorm.
One of the Prefects looked up as soon as he noticed Harry. He then said, "Harry, please go down to the common room. We are conducting a surprise inspection."
"Okay," Harry said before heading to the common room. When he arrived, two prefects and Professor Flitwick searched him before being let him pass.
"Is this legal?" a fellow Ravenclaw student asked.
"Actually it is part of the charter, even though it has not been done in years," a seventh year student stated.
"Have they found any of the Weasley twin's catalogues yet?" Harry asked.
"Even if they do find it, The Professors will think it is just a history textbook. Only students can see it as a catalogue. Why do you think they have not been caught yet?"
"What about the prefects?" Harry asked.
"If they don't use the service themselves, then they know that their classmates will kill them if they blabbed. I think that anyone caught with contraband purchased from the twins will not admit they got it from them. This would make their classmates mad at them, and the twins will never deal with them again. It would be worse than almost anything the professors could come up with," another Ravenclaw student explained. All of a sudden, Professor McGonagall and the Prefects came from the Second year dorms. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick conversed for a few minutes, and then Professor Flitwick asked loudly, "Mr. Corner, do mind explaining why you have girl's underwear in your trunk?"
"It is not what you think..." Michael Corner said quickly. "Cho and Marietta told me to take Luna's underwear."
"Cho and Marietta, do you mind telling why you made Mr. Corner steal Luna's underwear?"
"It was a game; that is all."
"Miss Lovegood, are you wearing any underwear?"
"No, Sir."
"Do you have any underwear?"
"No, Sir."
"Miss Chang and Miss Edgecombe, it is not a game when you steal someone's underwear. You have both got one month's detention with me. Mr. Corner you have a week's worth of detention."
"Is it not a bit harsh?" Professor McGonagall tried to intercede on their behalf.
"This has nothing to do with you Minerva; this is an internal house matter," Professor Flitwick said threateningly.
"Don't blame me when they go Dark..." Professor McGonagall said.
"If we don't show them that the behaviour is wrong, how are they supposed to know? Actions without consequences lead to Darkness; it is not caused by making people responsible for their actions," a very angry Professor Flitwick forcibly replied. Professor McGonagall decided to back down quickly, seeing how mad Professor Flitwick was.
"Mr Potter, I need to see you," Professor McGonagall announced.
"I don't think so; do you remember the agreement between the headmaster and me?" Harry said.
"Professor Flitwick, you may deal with him," Professor McGonagall said before walking away, unhappily mumbling under her breath.
"Yes Professor. What do you want to talk to me about?"
"Why do you have such a big trunk?"
"I like to have a little private place of my own. I have looked it up, and it is not against the rules. The only reason why most students don't have trunks like this is because of the cost of getting such a trunk. Did you find anything else that you wish to question?" Harry asked.
"No, nothing from you. Only a few of your classmates had some slight issues with a small quantity of items, but nothing major so far. However, we still have to complete the third years and above," Professor Flitwick replied.
The Ravenclaw students were kept in their common room while the two professors and the prefects continued the search for illegal items. At lunch time, they were all finally let out. Harry and Hermione went immediately into an empty classroom where they called for Dobby to get their items back. They retrieved their Basilisk Armour, protective necklaces, Invisibility Cloaks, the Marauders' Map and two time turners. They put on their protective gear before using the time turners to their maximum capability. Hermione immediately did the time spell.
"It is an hour after breakfast," Hermione said.
"The inspection would already have commenced. This means that we have an hour's gap where we don't know the location of Ginny. It is enough time for her to hide the diary if the Professors have not taken it from her. This could definitely ruin our plans," Harry said.
"I don't think so. She is still considered as possessed until they destroy the diary. Where is Ginny right now?"
"She is currently in the second floor girls' toilet. It looks like she is serving detention since Filch is with her as is Percy as well. That must be a cruel detention since she hates those toilets."
"Well the Professors think she sneaked out of Hogwarts, broke into the Three Broomsticks and got drunk. Dumbledore probably took suspension and expulsion off the table as possible punishments, so that would be the next best punishment," Hermione speculated.
"We should search through Ginny's things to make sure she did not leave the diary in her room."
"You can't go into the girls' dorm, remember. I will search Ginny's things while you warn the twins about the upcoming surprise inspection."
"Okay," Harry said. Hermione headed off to the Gryffindor first year girl's dorm to search Ginny's belongings. Harry then searched the Marauders' Map to find the Weasley twins, only to discover they were in the Gryffindor Common Room with their brother, Ron. Since this time round he was a Ravenclaw student, going into the Gryffindor Common Room was not a good idea. He quickly wrote a message on a piece of paper informing them of the inspection before turning it into an airplane, like they did in the Ministry.
Since there was nothing he could do until Hermione came back, Harry looked to see what was happening on the Marauders' Map. Snape was in his classroom with Draco and a few other Slytherins, probably conducting detention. Professors Vector, Sprout and Lockhart were in the Hufflepuff common room and quarters, most likely conducting an inspection. Seeing Lockhart, Harry was reminded that he should look at the reports and photos that the house elves obtained on Lockhart.
"Dobby," Harry called.
"Yes. Master Harry, Sir?"
"Can you get me the reports and photos of Professor Lockhart?" Harry asked. Dobby quickly returned with the requested items.
"Is that all?" Dobby asked.
"Yes. Thank you Dobby," Harry said absent-mindedly as he read the reports. It appeared that Lockhart was sleeping in his classroom rather than going into his quarters or his office. In fact, he spent as little time in his quarters or office as possible. That why it had such little effect on him so far. Harry then went to Lockhart's quarters and put house-elf wards around the rooms. This would mean that Lockhart would have to go into the rooms himself if he wanted anything from them. He was planning a night time excursion to Lockhart's classroom to put a redirection ward around Lockhart so that his mail went to his office instead of to him. It was during this planning that Hermione arrived.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.
"I am trying to get Lockhart to go to his office more since he has been avoiding his office and private quarters as much as possible. In fact, he has being sleeping in his classroom," Harry said.
"Why don't you strip him down to his underwear and put him into a deep sleep? His first Monday class will find him in that undressed state and asleep. If that does not make him sleep in his private quarters, then we will have to think of something else," Hermione suggested.
"That sounds like a good plan. Did you find the Diary?" Harry asked.
"No I could not find the Diary. But I did find a lot of pictures of you plus an entire book where she has practised signing her married name, Ginerva Molly Potter," Hermione said cheekily.
"Never going to happen… I will kill myself before I do that again," Harry stated emphatically.
"Did you tell the twins about the inspection?"
"I sent them a message via paper aeroplane since I cannot go into their common room."
"Let's plan this excursion together. After that, we can go to lunch and see if the twins got your message," Hermione suggested.
It was halfway through lunch before the Weasley twins arrived with their brothers and Ginny. Harry finished his lunch and waited for the twins to be alone so that he could talk to them. Near the end of lunch, Harry decided he could not wait any longer so he approached the twins, who were in a deep discussion with their siblings.
"George, Fred, can I talk to you?" Harry asked. The twins looked at each other before nodding.
"We will speak to you later," George said to Ron, Percy and Ginny.
"Sorry for interrupting you back there; I hope I did not interrupt anything important," Harry said.
"No problem, you are going hear about anyway so we might as well tell you. Professor Snape knows about it, so I doubt he will keep his mouth shut. Ginny was found drunk at the Three Broomsticks this morning. She lucky she was not expelled, suspended, or charged for burglary. We are organising a rotating schedule where we watch over her since she claims she was sleep walking," George replied with concern over his sister's behaviour.
"Sorry to hear about your troubles. So how did she get out of the burglary charge?" Harry asked.
"Professor McGonagall had to call on a favour to get the charge dropped. She was not happy about it, but the Headmaster forced her to. In fact, if Professor McGonagall had her way, Ginny would have been suspended. Dumbledore would not hear of it while Snape, the git, was pushing for expulsion."
"Anyway, did you get my message?"
"We did. Thank you for the warning but it was not necessary. When the Slytherins started trying to sell us things on the banned list, we knew something was up. We moved all our stuff into an empty classroom."
"I think you better go now, as I think your dorms will be searched right after lunch."
"See you later, Harry," the twins said as they left.
That evening, after dinner Dumbledore got up to make an announcement.
"As you all will have noticed, we have just completed a surprise inspection of all students. I am disappointed to note how much contraband we discovered. Please familiarise yourselves with the list of banned items," Dumbledore stated, which brought a smile to Filch's face that looked extremely out of place.
"Let us hope that it will not be necessary to repeat the inspection," Dumbledore said while looking directly at Professor Snape. Then Dumbledore sat down.
Chapter 38
Harry and Hermione had decided to carry out their plan for Lockhart mid-week when they were his first class of the day. So the night before their DADA class, Harry and Hermione snuck into the DADA classroom in the middle of the night. Hermione put the owl redirection charm on Lockhart while Harry stripped him. Harry then put Lockhart into a deep sleep which would take a strong counter curse to wake him. While Harry did that, Hermione transfigured Lockhart's underwear to show Professor McGonagall's face surrounding by love hearts. On Lockhart's butt, Hermione wrote "My One True Love". When Harry saw what Hermione had done, he burst out laughing. Harry then transfigured the chair that Lockhart was sitting on so that Lockhart could not move, this way only Professor McGonagall could release Lockhart from his chair. Once all that was done they left and went back to bed.
The next morning, Harry and Hermione woke up early in anticipation of the upcoming spectacle. They went to breakfast and Mandy was her usual gossipy self; talking away when Harry and Hermione arrived.
"What are you talking about today?" Hermione asked.
"We were wondering why they have not gotten rid of Moaning Myrtle. She is being more annoying than usual," Mandy said.
"What did she do this time?" Hermione asked.
"Every time someone goes into her toilets, she asks them whether or not they are going to throw something at her again,"
"When did she start doing it?" Harry asked.
"Since Monday, Why are you so interested?" Mandy asked suspicious of Harry's interest.
"I am thinking that someone had tried to get rid of banned items by flushing them down the toilets," Harry said which resulted in him and Hermione sharing a look.
"It could be possible…" Mandy admitted.
"Do you know what was thrown at her?" Harry asked.
"Me, talk to Moaning Myrtle? You have got to be kidding. I try to avoid her as much as I can. Even if I am desperate I would never use her toilet," Mandy declared.
"Just asking, don't get your knickers in a knot," Harry said before beginning his breakfast. A little later Hedwig appeared with a letter for Hermione.
"What does the letter say?" Mandy asked.
"It is just my parents asking how everything is that is all," Hermione replied before continuing her breakfast.
"What does the letter really say?" Harry whispers to Hermione.
"They want to meet us at my old home tonight," Hermione whispers back.
"Okay,"
They decided to stay later than usual at breakfast pretending to write a reply; when in fact, it was so they were not the first people to come across Lockhart in his current undressed state. After sending off a reply to Hermione's parents, Harry and Hermione made their way to class. When they arrived at the classroom, they found their classmates laughing their heads off.
"What is so funny?" Harry asked.
"See for yourself," One of their classmates said while trying to control their laughter. They found Lockhart asleep but someone had added their own touches. He now sported pink hair and had makeup on. The desk which Lockhart was leaning against had the caption that read. "Sleeping Beauty: a kiss from my one true love will waken me," Harry recognised the hand writing to be one of the twins and the fact that it referred to a muggle fairy tale. This strongly suggested that Colin was here in on it as well. This made both Harry and Hermione to burst in uncontrollable fits of laughter.
A little later, Lisa and the new Healer arrived. Lisa was not amused by what had been done to Professor Lockhart. She was one of Professor Lockhart's biggest fans and to have her idol embarrassed in this manner was almost too much for her to bear. That was why she went straight to the healer for help.
The New Healer, Mr Chapman was a pure-blood Hogwarts Graduate who was nowhere near as skilled as Poppy. He started scanning Professor Lockhart while Harry and his classmates were still laughing their heads off in the background. After several unsuccessful attempts to wake Lockhart, Healer Chapman asked Lisa to get Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick.
When Professor McGonagall arrived with Professor Flitwick, one of Harry's classmates, who he could not identify due to his own laughter, said to McGonagall. "Are you going to kiss Professor Lockhart so that he wakes up?"
"Detention for a month with me for disrespect," Professor McGonagall said. Someone whispered quite loudly.
"Professor Lockhart will be jealous,"
"Who said that?" Professor McGonagall asked. No one admitted it. When Professor Flitwick burst out laughing she became too distracted to care about the comment. She finally came across the scene and saw what was causing the disturbance. Seeing Professor McGonagall fuming while Professor Flitwick rolled on the floor in fits of uncontrollable laughter caused the students who had their laughter under control at this point to lose it again. Seeing the Healer perplexed by the problem he faced was too much for them. It looked almost like a Renaissance painting that had gone awry.
Professor McGonagall then ushered all the students back into the hall before releasing Lockhart from his seat. She removed all the designs and captions before giving Lockhart some clothes. Looking with disapproval at the laughing form of Professor Flitwick. Professor McGonagall turned to Healer Chapman and asked.
"What is wrong with him?"
"He has some type of powerful sleeping charm on him. I have tried all the standard approaches to wake him include Finite, Enervate and others. Nothing has worked which is why I called for you and Professor Flitwick,"
"I don't think Professor Flitwick is going to be of much help at the moment. Why don't we call, Professor Snape? He is an expert on Dark Arts so he might be familiar with the charm," Professor McGonagall suggested. Healer Chapman then went outside and asked Lisa to get Professor Snape for him and she rushed away to perform the Healer's request. Lisa returned with Professor Snape a few minutes later. Professor Snape swept into the classroom while Lisa stayed in the hall.
"What seems to be the problem?" Professor Snape said with distaste.
"Someone put Professor Lockhart under with a powerful sleeping charm," Professor McGonagall replied.
"Why call me? Professor Flitwick is the charms expert here,"
"He has a little problem controlling himself," Professor McGonagall said as she pointed to the giggling form of Professor Flitwick.
"You would too if you saw the declaration of his undying love for Professor McGonagall on Lockhart's underwear," Professor Flitwick stated with much difficulty. A smile crept across Snape's face but he usual scowl quickly returned. Professor Snape did a scan of Lockhart and announced.
"It is nothing I have come across,"
He then turned and left the room. After a few more minutes, Professor Flitwick had recovered enough to perform the counter curse to allow Professor Lockhart to awake from his sleep. As soon as Professor Lockhart became aware he saw the other Professors and the Healer. He wondered what was happening then he saw his transfigured robes he became embarrassed since they were a lot plainer than he was used to.
"Professor Lockhart, how are you feeling?" Healer Chapman asked.
"I am fine," Professor Lockhart said uncertainly.
"What was the last thing you remember?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"I was preparing for my next class when I fell asleep," Professor Lockhart said since he did not want to admit he had been sleeping in the classroom.
"I think that you should go to the infirmary so that I can do a proper exam," Healer Chapman suggested.
"I think that might be a good idea," Professor Lockhart conceded since he did not want his students to see him in his current state. He did not know that his students saw him in a much worse state less than half an hour ago.
"I will take care of your class," Professor McGonagall said reassuringly to Lockhart. Lockhart, Flitwick and Healer Chapman then left the room right past the students in the hallway who were trying hard not to laugh.
"Everyone inside now," Professor McGonagall said as she came out of the classroom. Once everyone was seated. Professor McGonagall announced.
"Since Professor Lockhart is not feeling that well, he will not be teaching this class today,"
Everyone cheered.
"I will not release you; instead I expect you to read your textbooks for the remainder of the class. Lisa since you showed so much responsibility, you will be in charge of the class," Professor McGonagall said as she left. As soon as Professor McGonagall had gone everyone left even though Lisa tried desperately to keep everyone in the class room.
Harry and Hermione went into a spare classroom. Hermione decided to take the lead this time and calls for Dobby. "Dobby!"
"Yes, Mistress Granger, Miss,"
"How are you doing, Dobby?'
"Good, Mistress Granger, Miss,"
"Please call me, Hermione,"
"Yes, Mistress Hermy, Miss,"
"Just plain, Hermione,"
"Yes, Miss Hermy,"
"That is close enough. How is it going recruiting for the new school?"
"It is going great. However, there are not enough house elves to do all the necessary work Mistress Hermy, Miss," Dobby said in disappointment.
"So how many house elves have been recruited Dobby?"
"Around half of the house elf population is at Hogwarts. Mistress Hermy, Miss," Dobby responded. Hermione realised why Dobby would think he could hire enough house elves because the new school had three times the number of students at Hogwarts.
"Are they enjoying the new village?"
"The house elves are not using the village because it is too far from the school," Dobby complained.
"I see if a location closer to the school can be found," Hermione promised.
"That would be great!" Dobby said excitedly.
"Dobby, do you know of an old, deaf house elf that is finding it hard to work?"
"Maybe," Dobby said uncertainly.
"We are looking for a house elf with that description to spend time with an annoying ghost and to inform us when someone tries to get to the Chamber of Secrets via the second floor girl toilets,"
"I know just the elf. She is getting old and her name is Tippy. Mistress Hermy, Miss,"
"Dobby, do you mind getting Tippy?" Hermione asked. Dobby popped away and returned with Tippy
"Thank You Dobby. Can you please introduce us?"
"Mistress Hermy, Miss, This is Tippy, and she is a good house elf working at the Granger Institute. Tippy, let me introduce to my owners, Master Harry and Mistress Hermy,"
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Tippy," Hermione said.
"Nice meeting you, miss," Tippy replied. Tippy and Harry nodded at each in acknowledgement.
"Tippy, There is a job which we need your help with. We need someone to watch the entrance to a Basilisk's lair. If we are not around to control it, a lot of people will get hurt. That is why we need you to tell us when someone else tries to access the lair. Be warned, you will need to spend a lot of time with a teenage girl ghost who is lonely and likes to talk. Will you do this job for us?"
"I will have to protect the little ones from the big bad snake!" Tippy said with determination.
"The snake is not bad; it is the ones that try to control it that are bad," Hermione explained.
"It has killed?" Tippy said.
"Yes but someone made it kill by controlling it. Besides, its skin can protect against most spells," Hermione countered.
"Let me think about it," Tippy said.
"Why don't we meet the ghost?" Hermione suggested. Tippy nodded her head and they all went to the second floor girls toilets.
On the way, Hermione asked Tippy. "I thought you have hearing problems,"
"I do, I read people's lips to know what they are saying,"
"I must warn you the ghost can be annoying,"
"It is alright. I use to take care of my old master's children. It will be no problem," Tippy replied as they reached the second floor toilets.
"Are you coming here to throw something at me? Think it is funny to see things pass through me?" Moaning Myrtle ranted.
"No, Myrtle. We thought you might like some company. This is Tippy, she is a house elf. Tippy this is Myrtle the ghost. She can spend some time with you," Myrtle got really excited by the thought of company.
"Why don't we leave you two to get acquainted? Do you mind if we change part of your toilet into accommodation for Tippy?" Hermione asked.
"Go right ahead," Moaning Myrtle replied.
"Dobby can you set up a living quarters for Tippy here in this cubicle?"
"Yes, Mistress Hermy, Miss," Dobby replied as he popped away to fill the request. Once the living quarters was set up. Harry put a notice me not ward over the quarters using the Elder Wand so that only Hermione, Myrtle, Dobby, Tippy and he would be aware it was there.
"How are you getting along?"
"Great," Moaning Myrtle said enthusiastically. Tippy just nodded her head.
"By the Myrtle, do you know who started that game of throwing things through you? We want to punish them on your behalf," Hermione said.
"I don't know. I was at my usual U-bend when an object went through me. I checked it out," Myrtle explained.
"Do you know what the object look like and what happened to it?" Hermione asked.
"It was a burgundy book and I believe Filch took it away, when he discovered the wet floor,"
"Thank you, Myrtle," Hermione said as she, Harry and Dobby left.
"Dobby, I want you to come back three times a day to ensure that Tippy is adequately rested and fed," Hermione told Dobby.
"Yes, Mistress Hermy, Miss," Dobby replied.
"That will be all. Thank you, Dobby," Hermione said. Dobby then popped away.
"I think we need to break into Filch's Office sometime in the near future," Hermione said.
"It should not be too hard; the twins were able to do it in their first year," Harry said.