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

Harry froze, fighting back panic. No! Not again! He had not heard the voice the past few weeks and had hoped that he had been imagining it.

His feet moved along with his classmates and they all stopped upon seeing something on the wall.

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

"The Chamber of Secrets?" Harry whispered. "What's that?"

"What's going on here? What's going on?" Argus Filch came running over. He stopped and stared at the wall. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked.

Harry followed his gaze and gasped upon seeing Mrs. Norris hanging by her tail on the torch bracket, eyes wide and staring.

"You!" Filch screeched at Ron, who had been standing underneath the writing with Hermione when the rest of the students had arrived. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"

"Argus!"

Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept past Ron and Hermione and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket.

"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."

"My office is nearest, Headmaster- just upstairs- please feel free- "

"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.

The five, along with Professors McGonagall and Snape, pushed through the crowd and disappeared.

For the next few days, Harry, along with many other people did research on the Chamber of Secrets. He heard Hermione complaining that there was a two week waiting list for Hogwarts: A History.

Colin Creevey was the next person to be petrified, which terrified the rest of the students. The first years were now moving around the castle in tight knit groups, as though scared they would be attacked if they ventured forth alone.

Apparently Neville Longbottom had taken to buying some items to keep the attacker away. "They went for Filch first," Neville had said to the reassurances that he would not be petrified, his round face fearful. "And everyone knows I'm almost a Squib."

"Creevey was a Muggle-born, wasn't he?" Harry said worriedly.

"I believe so," Penelope replied. "I had hoped that Mrs. Norris being petrified was just a joke, but..." She shook her head. "On the bright side, there's that dueling club."

On the dark side, Lockhart was teaching that.

"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!" Harry wondered if his lips ever hurt from smiling so much. "Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions- for full details, see my published works.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," he continued, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin."

Sportingly? Harry snorted. Honestly, he was more interested in watching Snape knock Lockhart off the stage. Or knock him out.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Harry murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth.

"One- two- three-"

Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: "Expelliarmus!" There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.

The Slytherins cheered; Harry grinned up at Snape, whose lips had quirked up slightly.

"Do you think he's all right?" Hermione asked.

"Who cares?" Ron said.

Lockhart attempted to have the students work in pairs. But that didn't really work out too well.

"Let's have a volunteer pair-Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you-"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," said Snape, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox."

"Not to worry!" said Lockhart. He looked around and gestured Harry and Malfoy into the middle of the hall as the crowd backed away to give them room.

"Now, Harry," said Lockhart. "When Draco points his wand at you, you do this."

He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action, and dropped it. Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, "Whoops- my wand is a little overexcited-"

Sounds like it could use a Calming Draught, Harry thought.

"Scared, Potter?" Draco teased.

"You wish," Harry retorted.

Lockhart cuffed Harry merrily on the shoulder. "Just do what I did, Harry!"

"What, drop my wand?" Harry said sarcastically.

Lockhart didn't respond to that. "Three- two- one- go!"

"Serpensortia!" Draco shouted.

The end of his wand exploded. Harry watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between them, and raised itself, ready to strike. There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away, clearing the floor.

"Don't move, Potter," said Snape, silently cursing Draco for using that spell. "I'll get rid of it..."

"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart. Instead of vanishing the snake like he probably intended, it flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight toward Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike.

Instinctively, Harry shouted, "Leave him alone!" And miraculously- inexplicably- the snake slumped to the floor, docile as a thick, black garden hose, its eyes now on Harry. Harry relaxed a bit; the snake wasn't going to hurt anyone.

He looked up at Justin, startled to see anger and fear written all over his face.

"What do you think you're playing at?" he shouted, and before Harry could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the hall.

Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. When Snape turned to Harry, there was a strange look in his eyes that made Harry nervous. He was also dimly aware of an ominous muttering all around the walls. Then he heard Ron's voice.

"You," he whispered. "It was you the whole time?!"

"What?" Harry looked around; students flinched as he faced them. He trembled. What did he do wrong?

"Potter." Snape was still regarding him with that unreadable expression. "Follow me." He looked at Draco. "You too, Malfoy."