Harry recognized the face staring up at him as if frozen in time. Beatrice Haywood, one of the girls in his dueling club. She was nice, had been nice to him. But how? How had she been petrified? It didn't make any sense and any attempts to figure out the puzzle were interrupted by a professor pushing through the crowd that had gathered.
"All of you, back to your dorm rooms immediately. Not you mister Potter, you come with me." Protests began but were quickly silenced by a glare from Snape. "He is the only one among you not standing there gawking like a buffoon, which is why he will be accompanying me to the Headmistress' office... unless any of you would like to join me for your weekends instead?"
It had been enough of a threat to disperse the onlookers and the motionless girl was immediately floated off towards the medical ward while he was guided up towards Dumbledore's office. It was only after arriving, and being told to wait outside, that Harry realized he hadn't flinched away from her touch as he had before.
This was ignored for the time being, however, as there remained a far more pressing catastrophe. Clearly, someone had discovered the Chamber of Secrets and commanded the Basilisk, but who, and how?
He hadn't seen anyone acting suspiciously, and Ginny was cleared several times over. Not only that but there had been no history of murders in the past. If someone had found the Chamber, then they had done an excellent job of keeping it concealed as its name implied.
Before he could run down a list of circumstantial suspects the door opened, and it was McGonagall's soft face that greeted him, "Harry, could you come in please." He followed as requested, feet seeming to guide him without his command, and a second later he was sitting in a chair offered by Dumbledore with the other Heads of House along with Snape and Madam Pomfrey.
"It appears, that miss Haywood was indeed petrified." the nurse explained, caution and concern evident in her voice. "Though the cause is not yet known."
Even without her own glance in his direction Harry could tell that interest quickly shifted onto him. He hated it, hated the attention, hated being stared at like a pariah or savior, hated being treated differently.
"Mr. Potter," Augustina softly intoned, "Last year we talked about keeping your knowledge secret, of the problems knowing even a possible future could have. However, a student has been placed in jeopardy, and I have a sickening feeling that this was not an accident, and that you might have an idea of what is going on."
The boy merely shrugged helplessly, "Yes? No? I don't know anymore."
"Anything you can tell us would be helpful, Harry."
If anyone noticed the frown directed by Riddle for the use of his first name, they chose not to comment. "It... did happen, at least sort of, in my world. Petrification of students I mean, but this isn't the same, it can't be the same."
Ignoring the second part of his argument Flitwick gave a gentle nudge, "Was the cause discovered?"
Harry nodded, "A Basilisk."
Gasps filled the rooms, and it was Serena who decided to reply, "Impossible, the wards around Hogwarts prevent such a creature from coming within sight of the castle without being reduced to ash."
This time Harry's reply was laced with anger and annoyance, "Not if it was already here. You can blame your precious Sala... Slytherin, whatever his or her name is in this universe. They were the ones who decided to keep a monster in the Chamber."
A hushed silence fell until broken by Riddle, "You mean The Chamber of Secrets?"
"Yeah, the one and only, thankfully. It was let out in my world, used to attack Muggleborn students. Luckily, they were only petrified instead of killed."
Dumbledore gently interrupted, "You said it was 'let out'? By whom?"
The boy shook his head once more, "It doesn't matter who did it last time, they aren't responsible this time, I already checked. Someone slipped her a possessed diary, and it took over her mind, made her do things. But it isn't her I swear."
"Miss Weasley, I assume?" the Gryffindor Head of House inquired, a knowing smile on her face, "She and I had a talk about boys taking unusual attention in girls and their books."
Harry flushed red with embarrassment, "Yeah... just had to make sure. But like I said it isn't her, which means it can't be the same as my time."
"Why not? Perhaps there isn't a book this time, maybe it is someone else?"
But the boy-who-lived, merely sighed, "It isn't that simple. Only a Parselmouth can access the chamber and control the monster. So, unless it is really common in this world, we are looking at a different cause."
Snape, however, chose this opportunity to speak, "It is a rare trait, one that very few share. If memory serves Professor Riddle is the only one to have access to Hogwarts with such an ability, isn't that right?"
Said woman returned the stare, "I've never hidden my ability, you know this."
"And you have also devoted quite a bit of time to finding the Chamber of Secrets, have you not?" The potion mistress continued pressing but failed to earn even the slightest fluster from the older witch.
"As any Slytherin with the time and expertise, yes, I have spent more than a few sleepless nights on this mystery."
Snape's gaze snapped back to Harry, "Who was it that created the diary in your world?"
Shrinking a bit under the attention refocused on him, Harry let out a muttered, "The Dark Lord."
"The same one who shares a last name with our Defense professor. The same one you suspected of attempting to steal the Philosopher Stone last year. Perhaps Mr. Potter's concerns were not as far off as we believed."
Grace straightened her back and shoulders, eyes narrowing, "If you are going to accuse me of something Professor, then do so."
"I am simply pointing out that as of right now you are the only one with the means and ability to commit the crime."
She was right, to a degree, but it didn't matter to Harry. What mattered was that he had been at the receiving end of such blind accusations before. "She's not..." he sighed already knowing what this was going to result even as the adults looked towards him once more, "She's not the only Parselmouth at Hogwarts..."
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