Several hours later, the four Ravenclaws had finished all of their assignments, and were now making their way down Hogwarts's many staircases for Nick's Death Day party. At the bottom of the stairs were Neville, Lavender, and Parvati.
"Hey, glad you made it. Nick apparently renovated one of the rooms in the Dungeon for this. I think we're going to be the only living guests though." Neville said, as he began leading everyone down the staircases that led to the dungeons. "Nick's a great guy, helped keep me on track and ready during my first year here. Said he saw potential in me, didn't really believe him until you guys got me going though."
"Well yeah, you're going to be great Neville, and you don't need to be a centuries old decapitated ghost to see that." Hermione said, following behind Neville.
"Well, we're here. Apparently it's going to be pretty packed in here. Also, if what the Fat Friar told me is true, you might not want to try the food. It's rotten so that there's a higher chance for the ghosts to taste SOMETHING. Just be polite and try and talk to some of the ghosts. We'll leave when they attempt to start their feast." Neville said, as he opened the door and entered.
Inside was the largest crowd of ghosts that Harry had ever seen, nearly 50 were all in the room, chatting amicably despite their various apparent injuries. Nick noticed them immediately and floated over. "Hello Neville, Lavender, Parvati it's good to see you again, glad you could make it. Also a pleasure to met you, Harry, Hermione, and Padma. The Grey Lady speaks very highly of you, you're a blessing to her house. I'm afraid I don't know you though, little lady."
"I'm Luna Lovegood Mr. Nick. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Happy Deathday, or would it be unhappy?" Luna said, before getting a questioning look on her face.
"Oh, I'm long since over my Deathday being an unhappy occasion. You get bored of sulking about your death after about a century or so, now I celebrate being able to enjoy my long afterlife among friends alive and dead." Nick said, gesturing over the gathered crowd. "A shame the last students I was close to graduated two years ago, but no matter. I will make new friends as I have for the past few centuries."
"Thats fascinating Mr. Nick, tell me more please." Luna said, as she walked with the mostly headless ghost.
The entire party was quite the experience for Harry, who was absolutely shocked at how effortlessly Luna could guide herself through conversations with all kinds of people. From the sophisticated looking Shakespearean actors to the more outdoorsy woodsman types from the Wild Hunt? Luna managed to make herself comfortable in any group. Just as Harry was finishing his newest friend, Nick called for the feast to begin, and recommended that those who still counted themselves among the living depart, for their benefit, as a ghost feat was both gross and terrifying. With that, the seven gathered Sphinx Club members took their leave.
Walking down one of the many hallways that were in the dungeons of Hogwarts Castle, Harry and Luna suddenly stopped as they heard something.
"Kill" A nearly silent whispery voice let out.
"Did you guys hear that?" Harry asked, looking at his friends.
"Hear what?" Hermione asked, looking at Harry.
"Who's Kyle?" Luna asked.
"What?" Padma asked looking at Luna.
"It said kill…" Harry said, also looking at his younger friend.
"I can't understand it very well." Luna said. "But if it said kill, maybe we should stop it."
Realization came to Harry's eyes, as flashes of the Mountain Troll last year flooded his head. "This way, let's go!" Harry said, dashing off, Luna hot on his heels. The others followed quickly.
The group eventually stopped at a hallway, that had several large puddles of water on the ground. "This is the last place I heard it, check around for a minute." Harry said, focusing on his hearing.
"Ugh, Harry mate. I think we're too late." Neville said, reaching up his hand to point. There, hanging from a wall sconce, was Ms. Norris, the groundskeeper Argus Filch's pet cat.
"And look there!" Lavender shouted out. Opposite Ms. Norris, was a message, written in what appeared to be blood.
The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir beware.
The last several weeks had not been going well for Harry. Immediately after they had found Ms. Norris and the writing about the Chamber of Secrets on the wall a large group of students led by Percy Weasley had showed up, and Harry was unlucky enough to have his hand stained red by examining the writing. Percy had immediately hauled Harry off to Minerval McGonagall, who had given him a light interrogation while Harry answered as best he could. Thankfully, with six people agreeing that they had both been with Harry the whole night, and that they had encountered the writing together, Harry was let off. That however hadn't stopped the student body as a whole from making their own conclusions, and now Harry is being called the "Heir of Slytherin".
Harry sat with his head in his hands in the Sphinx Club room, trying to think about who or what could have done that to Ms. Norris. Harry had no love for the cat at all, he didn't enjoy some creature being injured or… petrified, like she had been.
The rest of the club had not been idle in this time though, Hermione and Padma had gone full research mode, attempting to locate any information on the Chamber of Secrets and Salazar Slytherin that was available in any section of the library. Lavender and Parvati had taken it upon themselves to lead a "Harry's a good guy" publicity campaign on his behalf, and Tracey and Daphne were keeping their ear to the ground in the Slytherin common room to see if any information about the true Heir was around. They had quickly thought that Malfoy was a suspect, but Pansy had alleviated them of that notion quickly. She had been with Malfoy throughout the entirety of Halloween, and he hadn't gone anywhere near the dungeons since that morning, since he had Quidditch practice that day.
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