The Big Dipper

The Chamber of Secrets

"Ursula! Ursula!"

"What is it, Draco?" asked Ursula as her cousin hurried over, an eager grin on his face and his voice an excited hush.

"Father's here with the Minister!" exclaimed Draco.

"What?" That certainly got Ursula's attention. "Why?"

"Well, that oaf Hagrid is being arrested!" said Draco, his glee obvious. "And get this — Father's here to remove Dumbledore! The Board of Governors is suspending him."

"Really?"

Draco nodded fervently, mistaking Ursula's shock for satisfaction. It couldn't have been Hagrid who was behind the attacks — it just wasn't in his nature — and removing Professor Dumbledore certainly wouldn't help anything.

"I always thought Father might be the one to finally get rid of Dumbledore," he continued. "Everyone knows he's the worst headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. I don't see why the Chamber of Secrets needs to be closed."

Ursula's face went stony.

"Draco," she admonished sternly. "Don't say such things! Professor McGonagall is in charge until Professor Dumbledore returns, and she isn't going anywhere."

The attack on Penelope Clearwater and Hermione Granger rocked the school. Everyone was on edge and uneasy, the calm they had felt since the last double attack shattered. Students were once again shunted from one class to another by their teachers, their studying hampered by almost no time in the library and their Quidditch practices overseen by Madam Hooch and often another teacher as well.

This didn't stop the Slytherin team from preparing for their match against Hufflepuff, however. They needed to beat them bad enough that Gryffindor or Ravenclaw would have to beat the other by an enormous amount to win the Quidditch Cup. All four houses had lost one match, so it was anyone's game, and Slytherin wanted to win. They practiced practically every day, in all sorts of weather. They were ready, and they would win.

When Ursula wasn't soaring through the air atop a broomstick or studying for the end of year exams, she pored over the tattered black book Professor McGonagall had given her, scribbling notes and making plans. She peppered Professor Burbage, the Muggle Studies teacher, with questions until she knew what a 'retainer' was and decided that she could use it to keep the Mandrake leaf in her mouth. She wrote to Uncle Lucius so he could arrange a meeting with someone from the Improper Use of Magic Office and someone from the Animagus Registry.

Amid all of this, Ursula was receiving frequent letters from her father, her soon-to-be stepfather, and her grandparents, all about Ken and Tony's upcoming wedding in early July. There were travel plans to be made, she needed a dress, and she was still trying to help Vanessa find homes for the kittens.

Summer was creeping over the grounds around the castle; sky and lake alike turned periwinkle blue and flowers large as cabbages burst into bloom in the greenhouses. With Professor Dumbledore gone, fear had spread as never before, so that the sun warming the castle walls outside seemed to stop at the mullioned windows. There was barely a face to be seen in the school that didn't look worried and tense, and any laughter that rang through the corridors sounded shrill and unnatural and was quickly stifled. Even Fred and George sobered in the days following his removal.

Professor Lockhart was more insufferable than usual, determined to cheer everyone up and convinced that he had known the attacks were Hagrid's doing all along. Every other teacher in the place was looking grimmer than usual, but Lockhart appeared nothing short of buoyant when they arrived in Defense Against the Dark Arts Tuesday afternoon..