The day after Valentine's Day, Anne and Fanny parted ways at the entrance of the Great Hall after dinner. Fanny took a few steps in the direction of the Slytherin common room, but once Anne's figure disappeared from view, she quickly turned and headed for the third floor.
Moaning Myrtle wasn't in her bathroom, but the trio was.
"What's going on? Did you find something new?" Fanny asked.
Ron and Hermione both looked at Harry, who began to explain. "You already know we found Tom Riddle's diary here. That night, the four of us tried all sorts of things with it. Afterward, I just kept it in my bag. But yesterday, during the whole Valentine's Day dwarf incident, my bag got torn, and ink spilled all over the diary. That's when I discovered its secret. It belonged to someone who studied at Hogwarts fifty years ago. He knew about the monster in the Chamber of Secrets, and he claims the person who released it... was Hagrid."
He finished, looking downcast. Hermione and Ron wore equally troubled expressions.
"You mean your big friend, Hagrid? The one who raised a dragon?" Fanny asked.
"Yeah…" Harry nodded, clearly distraught. There was nothing worse than discovering a friend might be the villain.
Fanny thought for a moment. "Can I see the diary?"
Harry handed it to her. Fanny flipped through the pages, but just like before, it was blank.
"Can you walk me through how you found out all of this?" she asked.
Harry then described everything he had seen and heard from the diary.
When he finished, Fanny said, "Riddle might have gotten it wrong. Maybe it was some other creature that hurt people…"
"You sound like Hermione," Ron said gloomily. "But how many monsters do you think Hogwarts can hide? Besides, we know Hagrid got expelled because of this. Riddle even received a Special Award for Services to the School after reporting him!"
No one spoke for a while. Clearly, none of them wanted to accept that this could be the truth.
Finally, Hermione hesitantly asked, "Should we try asking Hagrid directly about all this?"
"Oh, that'll be a fun visit," Ron said sarcastically. "Hi, Hagrid! Mind telling us if you've recently let some giant hairy beast loose in the castle again?"
Fanny handed the diary back to Harry. "I think you'd better not. Look, it's been a long time since the last attack. Maybe your friend Hagrid already has the creature under control," she said. "And besides, the Petrified victims will be cured soon with the Mandrakes."
The trio nodded. As much as they wanted answers, confronting a friend about an expulsion wasn't exactly a pleasant idea.
It had been four months since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick were Petrified, and most students now believed that the attacker, whoever it was, had finally stopped.
Over the Easter holidays, second-year students had something new to worry about: selecting electives for their third year. Fanny had been agonizing over it ever since she first heard.
Anne had received a letter from Aaron, which included a list of electives her parents had chosen when they were students, along with suggestions from various friends of his. She only skimmed two entries before putting the letter aside, otherwise she'd be stuck reading it all afternoon.
"These decisions will affect our future," Fanny told Anne seriously. "I think your Uncle Aaron did a great job with his research. You should really take a closer look at what he wrote."
Anne, however, was staring at the new course list. She scrawled a large 'X' next to Transfiguration.
"I want to drop Transfiguration…"
"No way!" Fanny exclaimed. "That's a core subject, Anne! You can't drop a core subject!"
"Sigh…" Anne dropped her quill and propped her chin up with one hand. "Fine. Then I'll pick these four: Arithmancy, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, and Ancient Runes."
"Why are you picking two Divination classes?" Fanny asked.
Propping her chin with one hand, Anne wrote her name next to the subjects. "So I can drop one if I don't like it next term."
It was a bright and sunny day, with a pleasant breeze drifting across the Hogwarts grounds, perfect for Quidditch. The match today: Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff.
As always, Fanny dragged Anne to the stadium. By the time it was nearly eleven, the place was buzzing with excitement. Just as Madam Hooch was about to release the balls, Professor McGonagall suddenly rushed onto the field, holding a massive microphone.
"The match is canceled!" she announced.
A chorus of groans and protests erupted from the stands, but McGonagall paid no mind. She continued coldly, "All students must return to their common rooms immediately. Your Heads of House will give you further instructions there. Please make your way out promptly."
The crowds grumbled their way down from the stands.
Fanny tugged on Anne's sleeve, worried. "Anne, what do you think happened?"
Anne walked along with the crowd, muttering under her breath, "Someone's probably been Petrified again…" And if her guess was right, it was Hermione. The thought sent an odd discomfort through her chest.
"All students must return to their common rooms by six o'clock. No one is allowed to leave the dormitories after this time. Students will be escorted to and from each class by a teacher. No one may use the bathrooms without a teacher's presence. All Quidditch practices and matches are postponed. All evening activities are suspended."
The Slytherin students gathered in the common room, listening in silence as Professor Snape delivered the announcement in his usual cold, monotone voice. When he finished reading the notice, he cast a chilling glance around the room and added, "And I don't want to find any of you wandering around after hours. Especially not in places you don't belong."
As soon as Snape left, the common room exploded in noise. Malfoy climbed onto an armchair, waving his arms triumphantly.
"That filthy Mudblood finally got Petrified! Haha! Who wants to guess who's next?"
Fanny surged forward angrily, but Anne grabbed her and dragged her back to the dormitory. Once inside, Fanny yanked her arm free.
"Anne, what are you doing? I wanted to tell Malfoy off properly, "
"You confronting him would only make him more smug and unbearable. Don't waste your breath, Fanny. I think we should trust the professors to find the culprit."
Anne tried to comfort her, though her own heart felt heavy. She knew this was going to happen, the main characters would figure it out in the end. So why did it feel so awful?
Fanny shuddered slightly at the word culprit. She didn't respond, but one thought circled in her mind: Ron and Harry need to talk to their big friend Hagrid. They definitely will.
The next day, the students were hit with another shock: Professor Dumbledore had been removed from his position by the school board.
Aside from Malfoy, no one was happy about it. In fact, he was even more smug than usual, bragging loudly, "My father's one of the board members, you know. He's the one who pushed for it."
Fanny was furious. "My dad's on the board too! Why would he agree to something like this? No, I need to ask him myself, this isn't right."
Anne made no comment. She knew Dumbledore would return. But now, even though she couldn't sneak away to the greenhouse, the school had banned all solo outings.
So instead, she headed to the library whenever she had free time, searching for books about Basilisks. For some reason, reading about the monster made her feel more at ease. Still, each time she opened a book, she told herself firmly: It's just curiosity. I'm not going to get involved.
But Dumbledore was gone, and fear crept through Hogwarts like never before. The warm spring sun outside the castle walls couldn't penetrate the windows. Every face was anxious. Even laughter in the hallways felt strange, too loud, too forced, and was quickly stifled.
One afternoon in the library, Anne passed by the Herbology shelves and happened to spot Fanny chatting with a Gryffindor girl. From her angle, she could only see the side of the girl's face, it looked familiar.
On her way back with a stack of books, Anne finally remembered who it was: Ginny Weasley. Ron's sister. Harry's future wife. And the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets.
But when Anne returned to the Herbology section, the two girls were gone. Down in the first-floor reading area, Fanny was flipping through a history book.
Anne hurried over and sat beside her, speaking in a quick whisper. "Fanny, was that Ginny Weasley you were talking to? What were you two discussing? She didn't say anything strange, did she? I need to tell you something, "
Fanny cut her off, her expression dark. "Let me guess. You're going to warn me not to talk to her?"
Anne froze, then nodded slowly. "She might be in a little bit of danger…"
"Danger? That word again?" Fanny's voice rose slightly, anger bubbling to the surface. "I don't understand what kind of danger a first-year girl could pose. I don't understand how you can stay so calm after your friend was attacked. And I really don't understand how you can act so indifferent when Malfoy insults Hermione or when Dumbledore gets removed. You say they're the 'Golden Trio' or whatever, but from where I'm standing, they do what they do not just for themselves!"
Her words came faster and faster, and by the end, she shot to her feet. Her chair scraped loudly against the floor, drawing stares from the other students.
Anne sat frozen. Fanny's reaction had completely blindsided her.
Fanny hastily gathered her books, then turned back toward Anne, speaking with furious speed. "The dangerous person you're warning me about? She just wanted to ask me how to take care of Hermione's Mimosa Pudica. Because your friend is Petrified and no one's there to water it. Ginny knew how much Hermione loved that plant, but she was too scared to ask you. So she came to me, since I have the other one."
Anne watched Fanny storm out of the library, her face still flushed with anger. She didn't say a word.
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