The Adventure That Lies Ahead | PJO x HP

CHAPTER 42

Isa woke up early the next morning to go visit Harry and to see if she could sneak a peek at Colin. She entered the hospital wing to see Harry already awake.

"Morning," Isa said as she sat down on the chair beside his bed.

But before Harry could answer, the sound of Isa's voice attracted the maiden. Seeing that he was awake, Madam Pomfrey came bustling over with a breakfast tray and then began bending and stretching his arm and fingers.

"All in order," she said as he clumsily fed himself porridge left-handed. "When you've finished eating, you may leave."

As he was eating, Harry told his sister what he saw last night. She knew all about Colin, so she had to pretend she didn't know what he was talking about and act completely surprised. But she didn't know anything about Dobby the house-elf. Apparently, he was the one who blocked the platform stopping them from crossing, giving them the idea to fly the Ford Angela ("I knew I wasn't seeing things!") and the one who bewitched the Bludger.

After he finished, Harry and Isa went to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom where they would start on their Polyjuice Potion.

Isa made sure that neither Filch nor any prefects were around before she opened the door and heard Ron and Hermione's voices coming from a locked stall.

"It's me," Harry said, closing the door behind him. There was a clunk, a splash, and a gasp from within the stall and he saw Hermione's eye peering through the keyhole.

"Harry! Isa!" she said. "You gave us such a fright⎼come in⎼how's your arm?"

"Fine," Harry said, him and Isa squeezing into the stall. An old cauldron was perched on the toilet, and a crackling from under the rim told Isa they had lit a fire beneath it. Conjuring up portable, waterproof fires was a specialty of Hermione's.

"We'd've come to meet you, but we decided to get started on the Polyjuice Potion," Ron explained as Harry, with difficulty, locked the stall again. "We've decided this is the safest place to hide it."

Harry started to tell them about Colin, but Hermione interrupted while Isa continued the potion, throwing in the needed ingredients.

"We already know⎼we heard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick this morning. That's why we decided we'd better get going⎼"

"The sooner we get a confession out of Malfoy, the better," Ron snarled. "D'you know what I think? He was in such a foul temper after the Quidditch match, he took it out on Colin."

"There's something else," Harry said, watching Isa tearing bundles of knotgrass and throwing them into the potion. "Dobby came to visit me in the middle of the night."

Ron and Hermione looked up, amazed. Harry told them everything Dobby had told him⎼or hadn't told him. Hermione and Ron listened with their mouths open.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione said.

"This settles it," Ron said in a triumphant voice. "Lucius Malfoy must've opened the Chamber when he was at school here and now he's told dear old Draco how to do it. It's obvious. Wish Dobby'd told you what kind of monster's in there, though. I want to know how come nobody's noticed it sneaking around the school."

Isa bit her lip to stop herself from shouting out that she still didn't think it was Malfoy. She knew people like Malfoy. They were all talk and no actions. All bark, no bite.

"Maybe it can make itself invisible," Hermione said, prodding leeches to the bottom of the cauldron. "Or maybe it can disguise itself⎼pretend to be a suit of armor or something⎼I've read about Chameleon Ghouls⎼"