splendid. now, i suggest we return to the feast. there's a delicious-looking custard tart i want to sample. rising, harry spies an envelope on the floor. taking it, he reads the back: "kwikspell. a correspondence course in beginner's magic." it's addressed to "mr. argus filch."
argus! dumbledore marches forward, trailed by a phalanx of teachers. seeing the wall, dumbledore's face darkens.
everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately. everyone except you three. as the corridor empties, dumbledore steps to the wall and, with extreme gentleness, removes mrs. norris.
she's not dead, argus. she's been petrified.
but how she's been petrified.  i cannot say.
innocent until proven guilty.
we will be able to cure her, argus. as i understand it, madam sprout has a very healthy growth of mandrakes. when they have matured, a potion will be made which will revive mrs. norris. in the meantime, i advise caution. to all.
there's been another attack. madam pomfrey gasps. it is not a statue lying there. it is colin creevey, camera still clutched to his eye. professor mcgonagall perhaps he managed to get a picture of his attacker.  dumbledore opens the camera. a jet of steam hisses forth. professor mcgonagall what does this mean, albus?
it means our students are in great danger, minerva. mr. creevey was fortunate. if not for this.  he would surely be dead.
tell them the truth. tell them hogwarts is no longer safe. tell them it's as we feared. the chamber of secrets is indeed open again.
about time too. he's been looking dreadful for days. pity you had to see him on a burning day. he's really very handsome most of the time. fawkes is a phoenix, harry. phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes. harry looks to the floor. the ashes swirl. a baby fawkes pokes out his wrinkled head, blinking through the dust.
fascinating creatures, phoenixes. they can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and they make highly faithful pets. just then, hagrid -- still clutching the dead rooster -- bursts through the door.
hagrid --
hagrid --
hagrid! i do not think that harry has attacked anyone.
no, harry. but i must ask you.  is there anything you'd like to tell me. anything at all? dumbledore waits. harry debates. finally.
it's not wise to be wandering around this late, tom.
i'm afraid they are, tom.
headmaster dippet may have no choice, i'm afraid.
is there something you wish to tell me, tom?
very well then. hurry along. dumbledore strides directly past harry, not seeing him. when he is gone, riddle moves quickly, toward the dungeon steps.
good evening, hagrid.
i want it understood, cornelius, that hagrid has my full confidence.
and what exactly did you want with me, lucius?
calm yourself, hagrid! if the governors want my removal, lucius, i shall of course step aside. however.  you will find that i will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. you will also find that help will always be given at hogwarts to those who.  ask for it. dumbledore's eyes drift -- unmistakably -- to harry.
ingenious. simply.  ingenious. of course, tom riddle was probably the most brilliant student hogwarts has ever seen. i taught him myself fifty years ago. after he left, i would occasionally hear stories of his activities -- dark rumors -- but after awhile, even the rumors stopped. when he finally resurfaced as lord voldemort, most people had completely forgotten the clever head boy he'd once been.
wiser wizards than you have been hoodwinked by lord voldemort, miss weasley. no, i think you've endured enough. i would suggest a bit of bed rest, however. and perhaps a large mug of hot chocolate. i always find that cheers me up. minerva, will you show arthur and molly up to the hospital wing? professor mcgonagall certainly, albus. as they exit, harry and ron watch them go. mrs. weasley's voice carries:
you two realize, of course, that in the last few hours, you have broken perhaps a dozen school rules?
and that there is sufficient evidence to expel you both?
therefore, it seems only fitting.  that you both receive special awards for services to the school. and -- let me see -- yes, i think two hundred points apiece, which, i believe, should be more than enough to secure gryffindor the house cup.
now, mr. weasley, if you would, have an owl deliver these release papers to azkaban. we need our gamekeeper back. ron nods, takes the envelope and exits.
first, harry, i want to thank you. you must have shown me real loyalty down in the chamber. nothing but that could have called fawkes to you. secondly, i sense you're troubled by something. am i right?
you can speak parseltongue, harry, because lord voldemort can speak parseltongue. unless i'm much mistaken, he transformed some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar.
not intentionally, but.  yes.
it's true, harry. you do possess many of the qualities voldemort himself prizes. resourcefulness. determination. a certain disregard for the rules. yet the sorting hat placed you in gryffindor.
exactly. which makes you very different from voldemort. it's not our abilities that show what we truly are, harry. it's our choices. if you want proof that you belong in gryffindor, harry, i suggest you look more closely at this. dumbledore hands the bloodstained sword to harry. an engraved name glimmers above the ruby-encrusted hilt.
only a true gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat.
yes. when the governors heard that arthur weasley's daughter had been taken into the chamber, they saw fit to summon me back. curiously, several of them seemed under the impression that you would curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place, lucius.
oh yes. it was voldemort. only this time, he chose to act through someone else. by means of.  this. as dumbledore nudges the diary toward lucius malfoy, harry sees dobby nod meaningfully from the diary to lucius.
fortunately, our young mr. potter discovered it. one only hopes that no more of lord voldemort's old school things find their way into innocent hands. the consequences for the one responsible could be.  severe.
before we begin our feast, let's give a round of applause to professor sprout and madame pomfrey, whose mandrake juice has been successfully administered to all those who had been petrified. everyone applauds.
also, in the wake of recent events, as a school treat, all exams have been cancelled. everyone cheers, save for hermione.