Chapter Five: The Voice of a Madman?
Draco had mapped out his entire life at Hogwarts before he had even gotten there. He knew that Harish would be Seeker on the Quidditch team, and Draco himself just had to be the star chaser. He and Harish had come to this decision years ago. Then, Draco started worrying that he wouldn't be let on the team. So he had devised a plan.
After the first couple of days, his plan was set into motion. His father bought brand new Nimbus 2001's for the entire Slytherin Team and told the school that he would donate them as long as Draco got to be a Chaser on the team. So, naturally, they caved. The twins, especially were ecstatic at the thought of brand new brooms, and not only were they brand new, but they were literally the best brooms gold could buy.
Flint came up to Harish at breakfast Saturday morning, informing him that their first practice of the season would be held shortly. After they ate breakfast Harish, the twins, and Draco made their way down to the locker room where they changed into their Quidditch robes, they each grabbed a Nimbus 2001, and Flint led them out onto the field.
The Gryffindor team was already on the pitch, flying around the stadium. Someone pointed at the Slytherins and their captain, Oliver Wood, landed ungracefully on the ground with the rest of his team following him. He stomped up to Flint.
"Flint!" Wood bellowed. "This our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"
"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood," Flint replied.
The rest of the Gryffindor team arrived. Harish smirked at them. Wood growled.
"But I booked the field!" Wood spat. "I booked it!"
"Ah," Flint said. "But I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. 'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Chaser.'"
"You've got a new Chaser?" Wood asked, distracted now. "Where?"
Draco came from the back of the group, a wide smirk plastered all over his face.
"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" one of the girls asked.
"Funny you should mention Draco's father," Flint said. Harish's smirk widened and the twins grinned. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team."
The entire team held out their brand new brooms and watched as the Gryffindors gaped.
"Very latest model. Only came out last month," Flint said carelessly as he flicked a piece of dust off of the handle. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the Cleansweeps—sweeps the board with them."
It seemed like none of the Gryffindor team could think of what to say.
"Good aren't they?" Draco asked. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raffle of those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them." They all howled with laughter. Wood started forward angrily, but one of his team mates pulled him back.
"Come on, Wood," he said. "Let's go."
And the Gryffindors slowly left the field.
"Finally," Flint muttered.
WE-TOLD-THEM—WE-TOLD-THEM!
Practice lasted well into the afternoon and by the time the four boys left the Quidditch pitch, it was dinner time. They enjoyed the chicken pot pie for dinner, exchanging how their weeks had gone. They made fun of Lockhart and a green head smiled at them out of Harish's school bag.
After Harish found the Clabbert in his bag, he reasoned that Professor Kettleburn hadn't been too concerned that one of his creatures had been lost, so naturally he kept it. The teen figured that it could come in handy to have something to warn him when danger was coming, and the Clabbert made a nice, funny edition to their group.
When it had been proclaimed that they were going to keep him, Ginny decided that he needed a nice, sweet name. Why she thought Egelbert was a sweet name Harish had no idea, but it had stuck. So everyone called him Egelbert except for the twins who thought it was hilarious to call him variations of 'egg' or 'Bert'.
After dinner, the group of seven made their way to the common room. Ginny left saying she had to find a book in the library and Harish waved her away distractedly as he listened to a story of Hermione's as she told them about her holiday to Spain she had took several years back. Foreign countries had always fascinated him. The twins played a game of exploding snap and Harish watched. Then, at about seven, Harish and the twins set of a box of fireworks that burned until nearly nine o'clock.
Slowly the common room emptied and Harish, the twins, and Draco were the last ones left. The twins were plotting a prank, Draco was polishing the handle of his Nimbus 2001, and Harish was curled up reading a book. There was silence other than the merry crackling of the fire. But suddenly, the silence was broken and Harish bolted upright in his chair.
"Come…come to me…Let me rip you…Let me tear you…Let me kill you…"
Harish's eyebrows drew together. The voice sounded raspy and venomous.
"What?" he asked. He looked to where the twins were sitting on the couch behind him.
"What?" they both asked together. Draco looked up from his broom.
"What?" Harish asked again.
"What?" Draco asked, completely confused.
"Oh, very funny," Harish snapped sarcastically at the twins. "You don't have to pretend that wasn't you. I heard you two."
"Heard what?" the twins asked.
Harish froze. He could tell that they honestly had no idea what he was talking about.
"You…you didn't hear the voice?" the boy asked.
"Voice?"
"What voice?"
"Nothing," Harish said. "I must have dozed off. I am going to bed."
He walked to their dormitory and pulled the curtains around his bed. The pale boy couldn't think of why he had heard what he had and the twins didn't. He rubbed a hand over his face, deciding that hecould've actually dozed off, so he laid down, forgetting to take his clothes off, and fell asleep.
Over the next couple of weeks as October came in, cold weather clung to the castle and rain battered against the windows. Madam Pomfrey had to stock up on Pepper-Up Potion as colds flared up. Ginny, who had started looking rather pale recently, was bullied into taking some by Fred and George. Harish forgot about the voice as Quidditch practices increased once again as the first game approached.
Every day Harish came in soaking wet and splattered with mud. Luckily he knew several charms that could fix that, so he was cleaned up before he could drip all over the entrance hallway. It was a good thing too, as Filch came down with the flu and was in a rather bad mood. He had turned to giving students that dripped rain in the hallways detention.
As Halloween approached, everyone anticipated the Halloween feast. Harish and the twins, however, had the more pressing matter of figuring out what prank to pull on Halloween. Finally they came up with a scheme that would do. Then they spent the last week or so casting spells on Fred's fireworks. Finally it was the night before Halloween and Harish shrunk all of the fireworks into a single sheet of parchment, placed it in the centre of the Great Hall, and disillusioned them to blend in with the floor. He added the last final touch by attaching a disillusioned string to the parchment and wiring it outside the door.
The next day when the feast started, they all sat down in their usual seats. Harish enjoyed the feast greatly, eating plenty of chicken and sweets. Finally he stood up suddenly and said, "Oh, I left my drawing notebook in the library!" and dashed out of the hall.
On his way out, he heard Fred mutter loud enough for everyone in the general vicinity to hear, "He never lets us look in that notebook."
"He is rather attached to it," George replied and Harish shut the door behind him. Grinning, he crouched down by the string and watched the golden light flow out from under the doors.
Once the doors closed, the twins grinned at each other before flicking their wands discreetly. All of the lights went out and it was suddenly so dark, they wouldn't have been able to see their hands if they had waved them directly in their faces. When Harish saw the lights go out, he conjured a flame out of his wand and set the string on fire.
The twins watched as a tiny spark flew along the string and hit the parchment. The whole thing flickered with flames for a second before, BOOM! An orange spark shot out of the paper and exploded in a shower of sparks high above. Another spark shot out, and then another. They all gathered together, exploding much longer than they should've if it was magic. As the last sparks shot out, the explosions above formed into the shape of a pumpkin. It had red, triangular, glowing eyes and a gaping, crooked whole for a mouth. The mouth opened and closed, the pumpkin zoomed around the Great Hall, and then it flew out the window.
The lights flickered on and everyone started cheering. Outside, Harish stood beside the door with Egelbert sitting on his shoulder, the Clabbert's green tail curled around his head. The teen figured that the creature wouldn't like the loud bangs, so he had taken him with him. He looked up at Egelbert and the monkey-hybrid grinned back at him. Then, Egelbert's grin slid off his face, his eyes widened, and the pustule on its forehead glowed faintly.
Harish stopped. Before he could wonder what sort of danger Egelbert was trying to warn him of, he heard a voice. The same voice from that night.
"…rip…tear…kill…"
The doors to the Great Hall opened and Fred and George came out.
"You were right!"
"It was brilliant!"
"You should've been—"
"Shut up a minute—"
"…soo hungry…for so long…"
The voice started fading, moving up. Harish stood there for a minute before bolting after it.
"Harish—"
"What're we—?"
"SHUT UP!" he roared. He couldn't hear the voice anymore, and he skidded to a halt.
Fred opened his mouth to ask something, but Egelbert turned around and they saw as its pustule gradually grow brighter and brighter until the glow was so strong that it tinted everything nearby red. George saw it as well, but before he could ask what was going on, Harish bolted off again.
"…I SMELL BLOOD!" Harish heard.
"It's going to kill someone!" he shouted as he began running after it once more.
They rounded a corner and the three of them stopped short. Harish nearly slipped and glanced down at a large puddle that covered nearly the entire corridor. Egelbert ran down Harish's arm and into his school bag, causing the red glow to go away. On the far wall between two windows were the words:
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAD BEEN OPENED
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
The words shimmered from the light of a torch nearby. Harish spotted a bulk hanging underneath the message. He stepped forward to inspect it.
"It's Filch's cat," he said, looking at the feline that was frozen stiff, her eyes wide. "Mrs. Norris."
They heard rumbling as the feast ended and Harish found himself rooted to the spot as students flooded into the corridor. There was a gasp. There was a scream. And for the first time in his life, Harish was caught at the scene of a crime. At the scene of a crime he didn't commit, no less. He couldn't move, he couldn't think. His eyes flashed bright green, frightening everyone that had gathered around them. The Chamber had opened, and he knew that neither he or his father had done it. So if they hadn't, something far more powerful must have.