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"It has happened," McGonagall told the silent staffroom. "A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself."
Professor Flitwick let out a startled squeal, while Professor Sprout clapped both hands over her mouth. Snape gripped the back of a chair so tightly that his knuckles went white.
"How can you be certain?" Snape demanded, his dark eyes narrowing.
"The Heir of Slytherin," said Professor McGonagall, her face very pale, "has left a message. It reads: 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.'"
Professor Flitwick burst into tears.
"Who is it?" asked Madam Hooch, who had sunk into a chair. "Which student?"
"Ginny Weasley," said Professor McGonagall.
"We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow," said Professor McGonagall. "This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said . . ."
The staffroom door banged open again. Gilderoy Lockhart breezed into the room, beaming as though nothing in the world were amiss.
"So sorry, I dozed off a little. What have I missed?"
He didn't seem to notice that the other teachers were looking at him with something remarkably like hatred. Snape stepped forward.
"Just the man," he said. "The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart, taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last."
Lockhart Flinched.
"That's right, Gilderoy," Professor Sprout chimed in sharply. "Weren't you telling us only last night that you have known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is located?"
"I... well, the fact is . . ." Lockhart stammered, raising his hand.
"Indeed, didn't you insist you were positive you knew precisely what was lurking inside it?" piped up Professor Flitwick from the arm of his chair.
"D-did I? I can't quite recall . . . "
"I certainly remember you expressing regret that you hadn't been given a crack at the monster before Hagrid was taken away," said Snape, his voice silky and laced with quiet venom. "Didn't you say the entire affair had been ridiculous, and that you ought to have been given free rein from the start?"
Lockhart glanced desperately around the circle of stony-faced colleagues, finding not a flicker of sympathy among them.
"I . . I really never. . . you must have completely misunderstood . . . . "
"We shall leave the matter entirely in your hands, then, Gilderoy," Professor McGonagall said, her tone as sharp and unyielding as flint.
"Tonight will be an ideal opportunity. We will ensure the corridors are cleared and everyone remains well out of your way. You will finally be able to deal with the monster quite on your own. Free rein at long last."
Lockhart looked desperately around the circle, but not a single person moved to rescue him. Without his dazzling, rehearsed smile, all trace of his handsome charm had vanished; his lower lip trembled, and his face appeared suddenly hollow, weak-chinned, and utterly feeble.
"V-very well," he stammered, backing toward the doorway with an unconvincing bob of his head. "I'll... I'll be in my office, getting things ready."
He turned and hurried out of the room, shutting the door weakly behind him.
"Right," said Professor McGonagall, her nostrils flaring as she turned back to the remaining staff. "That has got him out of our way.
The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students of what has taken place. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow morning.
The teachers rose and left, one by one.
*************************************
Harry woke to the sound of raised voices in the corridor outside the dormitory. For a moment he lay still, trying to place the hour; it was still dark outside, and then Neville's face appeared around the doorframe, pale and wide-eyed.
"You lot need to get up," Neville said. "Something's happened. They're saying a girl's gone missing."
Harry was out of bed before he'd fully processed the sentence. Across the room, Ron sat up blinking, his hair sticking up on one side.
"Missing? Who?"
"I don't know. McGonagall's downstairs. She wants everyone in the common room."
By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, most of Gryffindor House was already gathered, huddled together in dressing gowns and blankets, with the fire burning low and orange behind them.
McGonagall stood in the middle of the common room, her face set into an expression harder and more severe than usual.
"A student has been taken," she said, her voice carrying clearly through the hushed room. "Ginny Weasley of this house."
The room seemed to tilt sideways. Harry heard Ron make a small, strangled sound beside him, and then Percy was pushing through the crowd, white as parchment, asking questions that McGonagall didn't have answers to.
Harry didn't remember much of what was said after that. Beside him, Ron had gone very quiet.
Harry and Ron were sitting on his bed in silence for some time.
"She knew something, Harry," said Ron. "That's why she was taken. She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must be why she was . . . " Ron rubbed his eyes frantically.
"I mean, she was a pureblood. There can't be any other reason."
Harry could see the red eyes of Ron. This was the worst he had ever felt. If only there was something they could do. Anything.
"Harry," said Ron. "D'you think there's any chance at all she's not ... you know . . . "
Harry didn't know what to say. He couldn't see how Ginny could still be alive.
"I should have paid more attention to her when she came to talk to me in the evening. I got distracted and didn't stop to check on her properly. I should have realised something was wrong."
Ron suddenly froze, his eyes widening. "The only thing she gave me was a note… a NOTE! She gave me a note to read. Why did I forget about that?"
He scrambled to his feet and immediately began searching through his clothes, pulling them from the chair and tossing them aside in his frantic search.
Harry watched, bewildered, as Ron searched frantically through his clothes. Ron grabbed the robe he had been wearing before bed and, with shaking hands, pulled out a folded square of parchment.
He unfolded it beneath the lamp. Harry watched Ron's expression change as he read: first confusion, then dawning horror, followed by something that looked almost like physical pain.
"Ron. What does it say?"
Wordlessly, Ron held the parchment out to him.
Ron ...
Something is wrong with me. I don't remember most of what's happened the last few months. I black out and wake up somewhere else. I think I've been the one doing it, the attacks, but I don't remember any of it, I swear.
I don't know how it started. I only remember writing in the Diary and talking to Tom. He was the only one I could talk to. He listened to me when nobody else did, and I trusted him.
But something changed. I started losing time. Sometimes I would wake up and find myself somewhere in the castle with no idea how I got there. Other times I would find things in my room that I didn't remember touching. I was frightened, but I couldn't bring myself to throw the Diary away.
I think Tom has been using me. I think he can make me do things when I write to him.
I think I may have opened the Chamber.
I don't know if I was the one who sent the monster after Colin or Justin, but I remember pieces of it. And sometimes, when I close my eyes, I can hear a voice telling me where to go and what to do.
I don't know what Tom wants, but I'm afraid he's going to make me do something worse.
There is something else you need to know. I think I know where the entrance to the Chamber is.
It's in the abandoned girls' bathroom. There's a sink with a carved serpent on it. I vaguely remember standing there, speaking in a language I didn't understand.
Please don't tell Mum. Please don't tell the teachers. They'll think I'm the one who did everything, and maybe I am. I don't know anymore. I don't even know if I will be able to tell you anything or even give you this note.
I'm sorry, Ron. Please ... Help ME.
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