Professor Sprout " It is true that Mrs. Norris is not dead "
There was a visible mocking smile on the face of professor Snape.
The same however cannot be said about our esteemed defence against the dark arts teacher. The words seemed to be stuck in his throat and the confident smile on his face faltered. One did not need to be a legilimens to see that our glorified hero has been boasting and was finally caught red-handed.
Professor Snape " It seems that even the best among us can be so easily misled. I pity that we could not see the epic battle that would have occurred between our brave professor and the one who was able to place Mrs. Norris in such a situation right under the nose of the entire faculty."
Though professor Snape told everything with the correct emotions and expressions it was not hard for everyone who could see past Lockhart's B.S. to notice that Professor Snape was trying to scare Lockhart and tease him at the same time.
One would have thought a coward like Lockhart would finally give up under the shame and taunting and keep quiet, but no, one doesn't fool more than half the British wizarding world by cracking under this bit of professor.
Lockhart was quick to compose himself and finally made way towards the hanging Mrs. Norris. After pretending to observe for close to five minutes he finally spoke up.
Gilderoy " AHH!!!! now I see the problem. Yes, yes this is right."
He was so could at pretending.
Seeing such a reaction, Professor Snape decided to probe him a bit.
Snape " It seems that you have discovered something again professor. Could you be troubled to share it with everyone. "
Gilderoy " Of course Professor Snape. You see the only reason I reached the conclusion previously was because this is really too similar to the black magic I witnessed on my travels. Seeing the similarities of both cases I was quick to make a judgement and as you know, or might not know, while one is off on adventures with nothing but a wand as your companion you have to be quick on your decisions or you could possibly lose your life in the next moment."
There was clear self-praise and mockery for professor Snape in the explanation that Lockhart had begun. He was clearly trying to make everyone understand that he was a great adventurer and Professor Snape was just someone who stays in the safety of a castle all year round and is therefore so slow in his decisions and actions.
He wanted everyone to know and understand that being a successful adventurer does not leave a lot of room for deliberations and such, whereas a professor who just stayed in the classroom was so used to safety that he had become sluggish and unaware of dangers.
Though this was very far from truth, it sure had an effect on his audience and just like that he regained the confidence of all of his fans who had begun to doubt him.
His signature smile was plastered back onto his face and he was ready to take back control.
Dumble's however had seen enough and decided to finally break off this farce that was going on within the corridor.
Dumble's " House heads and prefects will take the students back to their common room and then return to my office. Good night students and no more adventures for tonight."
Everyone was eager to witness the continual of the war of words between Professor Snape and Lockhart, but were forced to leave after the words of Dumble's.
The day ended with the students receiving one more topic that will be sure to be discussed all over the school by tomorrow.
I for one slept like usual. I knew that there was no actual threat to anyone's life unless something changes drastically and that I would need to wait for the right moment to deal with it.
The school from that onwards was normal as usual. I went around my days as usual, but I knew and understood that this was about to change for me. There were some events that I had to recreate in order to justifiably fool the old man, even if I was not comfortable with it.
In the coming weeks the topic of discussion had changed from the petrification of Mrs. Norris to the Chamber of Secrets.
Almost every class had asked their respective teachers on the history of the Chambers and what it represented.
It was professor McGonigal who told our class about the chambers after constant questioning.
McGonigal "Reliable historical sources tell us this much. But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built 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."
This sure had the intended effect on the students. The speculation, the guessing and the quest to search for the heir were at an all-time high after every student learned about the glorious legend of the Chambers.
Just like last time there were some who were just curious about the whole situation but had ultimately deemed it as a scary story told to glorify the founders and did not concern themselves deeply with the happenings around it, some who were in complete and utter opposition to the mentality that came along with the legend and others who were fully in support of the message in the legend and even openly praising the hidden heir.
The calmness that I had surrounded myself with for the past year and half was going to be finally broken and as much as I wished to be left alone, I understood that I had to take these steps in order to protect myself in the long run.
The duelling club was finally announced by the respective house heads and the enthusiasm, that was already on an all-time high, spiked up again. Everyone was a hot-blooded youth and what better way than fighting to get them more riled up.