Hermione emerged from between the bookshelves. She looked irritable and at last seemed ready to talk to them.
"All the copies of 'Hogwarts: A History' have been taken out," she said, sitting down next to Neville and Tracey. "And there's a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."
"Where's the copy I loaned you?" said Harry.
"I - left it in my trunk upstairs" she groaned. "I wanted to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets but didn't think to grab it and bring it down."
"Oh!" said Harry, before searching his memories for that particular book. "Let's see - Last believed opened in May 1943 by Fourth Year Gryffindor, Rubeus Hagrid, who was then expelled a month later. A Ravenclaw Fifth Year, Myrtle Malone, was killed, yet no mark or spell residue - other than spells she had cast herself - was found on her body during the autopsy.
"The story goes that Slytherin had built on his own behalf a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic.
"The horror is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control. If that's the case, then it's likely to be a snake of some sort. After all, the snake was his animal of choice as he was a parseltongue - Hang on, that doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't make sense?" ask Hermione, first in.
"Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts because he was believed to have opened the Chamber of Secrets. The one who reported it to be Hagrid was Tom Marvolo Riddle..." both Neville and Daphne gasped. "... a, then, Sixth Year Slytherin. Riddle was awarded an award for Special Services to the School, which then led to him becoming Head Boy the next year. Riddle said Hagrid did it because Hagrid had as a pet an acromantula.
"However, if it was supposedly the acromantula that killed the girl, then it would have left a spider bite on her body somewhere. Miss Malone's body was, apparently, unmarked." "So, Hagrid was falsely accused and expelled," said Susan, affronted. She, being the niece of the Head of the DMLE, was always upset if there was a hint of someone being falsely held accountable of a crime.
"So," said Hermione, "We know Hagrid didn't open the Chamber. Perhaps we should contact the DMLE about that."
"And how do we prove it?" asked Harry. "It's only our logical suspicions that Hagrid is innocent, after all."
"And it'll take a lot more than that to get the case reheard," sighed Susan.
"We need more evidence," said Tracey. "But, we're now talking about a case that occurred coming up on fifty years ago."
"We need to find the Chamber," said Daphne. "Then we'll discover just what the horror supposedly is." "Slytherin's true heir..." muttered Harry. "It sounds like they mean the Heir Apparent."
"Why the Heir Apparent?" asked Neville.
"Because just about every Ancient House, I guess, would have some of Slytherin's blood in their history," replied Harry. "We meaning you, Daphne and I - already know that the Gaunts claimed direct descendance from Slytherin. And, I happen to know that the Blacks, Longbottoms and Potters have at least one Gaunt in their bloodline.
"That means, if the Gaunts were direct descendants, then I'm probably a very much removed descendant of Slytherin; as is, Neville, Sirius and Malfoy; that I know of. It will probably be the same for most, if not all, of the Ancient Houses and many of the lesser Houses."
"I'm a Slytherin?" near-squeaked Neville. Harry grinned and said, "No, Neville; just a minor heir. A Gaunt female married into Potter House about five hundred years ago. The granddaughter of that union married into Longbottom House about fifty years later.
"I daresay the same applies to Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff with the blood diffusion among the Houses similar to Slytherin. Think about how many magicals there were in the isles back in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries and you'll have an idea as to why I believe I'm right."
"So," said Hermione. "Getting back on track, you believe the true heir would be the Heir Apparent."
"Yes," replied Harry. "However, just as I'm Heir Presumptive for House Black - yet I'm a Potter - it doesn't necessarily mean it will be the one who is closest through bloodlines to the original line of Slytherin." "So, there's no way to figure it out by referring to the Book of Bloodlines in the Heritage Office in the Ministry," sighed Hannah.
"No," mused Harry. "But, it may be a good place to start."
"We'll contact Father," said Daphne. "And ask him if he can narrow it down a little for us."
"Ummm - there might be a little problem with that," said Harry.
"Oh? Why?" asked Daphne.
"That depends on the answer to this question: Does the Book of Bloodlines recognise such bloodlines if a magical person is born from a long line of squibs?" he asked.
"I - don't know," said Daphne, realising Harry was referring to Hermione, for instance. The others, except Hermione, all shrugged or indicated they didn't know either.
"But, still," said Hannah. "It's a place to start."
"I think the Ministry doesn't recognise an heir if the line has squibbed for more than three generations," said Susan.
"But does magic recognise an heir, even if the Ministry doesn't?" asked Hermione.
No one had an answer for that. But, Harry and Daphne both hoped they'd find out at Christmas.
Letters written, the group had no time to attack other homework before afternoon classes. So, they organised to meet up in the Room to go over homework together.
After class and in their Room, the Seven quickly started working on homework. Harry, Susan and Hannah had Astronomy that night, and all three wanted to get an evening nap in, so they only had until dinner to get done what they needed to get done.
"I've been thinking," said Hermione.
"Oh, that's dangerous sign," said Neville with a smirk to take the sting out of the words.
Hermione just poked her tongue out at him and turned to Harry. "You said the girl's name who was killed the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened was Myrtle Malone, right?"
"Right," said Harry, wondering where she was going with this.
"Well, there's a girl's bathroom right next to where Mrs Norris was petrified. That's where all the water came from," she said. "Alright..." he said.
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