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Chapter Twelve: Web of Lies

The look of shock still was fixed upon Harry's face, as he looked at Hermione, lying motionless on the bed. After all that had happened over the past several weeks, his brothers missing, the Portus-Amulet being stolen, and now Hermione being petrified, there was not too much more Harry could take without cracking.

"This was found by the two victims who were not Mr. Malfoy," said McGonagall, holding up a small circular mirror. "Any of you three have a clue what this might be?"

Harry, Daphne, and Theodore shook their heads numbly. Harry frowned, but there still seemed to be something not quite right. A piece of the puzzle was missing. That piece being exactly what the monster of the Chamber of Secrets was.

The three Slytherins were walking back to the Common Room looking very solemn.

"So, what happens now," said Theodore grimly.

"I don't think the school will be open for too much longer, not after this," said Daphne. "Especially when the son of one of the Board of Governors got petrified. I am surprised Lucius Malfoy had not stormed into the school as of yet, demanding the school being closed or Dumbledore being fired."

Harry nodded. He just wondered, why exactly Malfoy would be chosen as a victim. Maybe, he saw something that he should not have, maybe he accidentally saw who was behind this. Harry wondered if the attack of Malfoy was not intended, but as an act to silence Draco before he told someone like Snape.

Speaking of Snape, he was in his office at the moment, talking to Lucius Malfoy over the Floo Network.

"What do you mean Draco got petrified by the beast?" demanded Lucius, looking horrified at what he heard from Severus.

"Exactly what I said, Draco must have came across the attacker and he saw something he should not have," said Snape.

Snape did not voice exactly what else he had been thinking, about his repeated warnings to Dumbledore about letting a soul fragment of the Dark Lord going unchecked would bring about unintended consequences and Snape was right. The piece of soul contained had become rapidly unstable and Snape shuddered at what happened once the Dark Lord completed the task that set to be done by the diary. The Dark Lord had tried too much experimenting in creating this diary, no doubt due to lack of experience and the defenses it contained was never meant to be held by a Horcrux.

"I need to speak with the Board of Governors, to implement the second step of my plan to bring Hogwarts under my control," said Lucius coolly. "I have shown Dumbledore to be inept and now he will be removed from the school. My son's condition is rather unfortunate, but sometimes sacrifices are to be made for the greater good. Good day, Severus."

Lucius disappeared from Snape's fireplace and Snape cursed the Unbreakable Vow he made nearly twelve years ago. He could have snatched the diary from the Weasley girl's dormitories at any time but Dumbledore ordered him not to. Lucius and Dumbledore seemed to be on a collision course and Snape struggled to think who would be the lesser of two evils. The Potions Master was starting to get a headache, induced by all the stress he was forced upon in playing Dumbledore's little game of chess. The old man was going to end up getting Severus killed or insane.

The mood around Hogwarts over the next few days had become even more dark and brooding, matching the thoughts in Harry's mind. Quidditch privileges had been pulled, they were only allowed out of their Common Rooms for lesson.

Theodore, Daphne, Ginny, and Harry were sitting around the Common Room one night, quietly. Ginny appeared to have gone extremely quiet and serious. Harry could not dwell on it too much as he had his own problems to deal with, he had contacted Master Splinter daily for information on his brothers but they have yet to return. As the year was winding to a close, Harry wondered exactly how he would go back to New York.

"I can't stand sitting around here and doing nothing!" snapped Harry. "The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is still out there and the chance for more people becoming petrified is out there. They may be more than petrified soon. I feel as it its all my fault."

Ginny sat back, a terrified look on her face. She wanted to tell Harry, she needed to tell Harry but she felt her will to live slowly sapping away from her and her own free will going along with it. She weakly looked up Harry.

"Harry, it's not your fault," whispered Ginny weakly. "It's...well it's just not your fault."

Harry was too lost in his dark thoughts to notice anything peculiar with the way Ginny was talking. She attempted to tell Harry but Tom did not even have to push too hard to force her not to tell him. The diary was taking further and further control of her and Ginny was not herself at this point in time.

"Hogwarts is not even fun anymore, we can't do anything, the teachers have all but given up," said Theodore darkly. "We have to be stuck in our Common Room, like mere prisoners."

"Yes, it's rather annoying, I agree," said Daphne quietly. "Still, at least the school is not shut down."

"Yet," responded Theodore in a grim tone of voice.

Harry looked around, lost in thought. Something had to be done, he did not quite know what. He had been on the verge of picking up his two way mirror and asking Hermione what she thought, but then darkly remembered Hermione was laid in the Hospital Wing, petrified. Perhaps, Harry could go down to Hagrid's and talk with him, as he always valued the man's opinion. He would need to sneak down at night, under the cover darkness for this to work and he would have to do it alone. Of course, the Invisibility Cloak would need to be put into use.

Later that night, Harry set down alone to Hagrid's hut. He wore a pair of Donatello's night vision goggles that he happened to have in his trunk. Harry slipped outside Hogwarts, slowly and cautiously, not wanting to run into any problems regarding the Slytherin Heir. Hand ready to draw weapon at a second's notice, Harry went down to Hagrid's hut. Looking around to make sure no one was there; he removed the Invisibility cloak, stuffing it underneath his robe. Raising his hand, he knocked on Hagrid's door.

The door opened and Hagrid appeared to step out reluctantly, wielding a crossbow. When he saw it was only Harry, the expression on his face relaxed slightly.

"Oh, hello, Harry," said Hagrid distractedly. "Do come in."

Harry followed Hagrid in wordlessly and sat down.

"I suppose you heard about Hermione, Hagrid," said Harry.

"Oh, I heard all righ'," stated Hagrid darkly. "The attacks that are happenin' up at the school, it's jus' like my time at Hogwarts all over again and after last time..."

Hagrid stopped, he had once again said too much but Harry felt he needed to attempt to follow this line of investigation.

"What happened during your time at Hogwarts, Hagrid?" said Harry. "Was the same thing happening, was it found out who did it?"

"No, the truth was never revealed but I ruddy well know who was accused of doin' the attacks," stated Hagrid in a dark tone of voice.

"Who was accused Hagrid?" asked Harry quietly, curious at to what exactly Hagrid knew.

Hagrid looked reluctant as he really did not want to say but Harry gave him a pleading look. The Hogwarts Gamekeeper gave a deep breath.

"I was the one who was accused, Harry," said Hagrid. "I am tellin' ya, I did not do it. That Riddle kid though' it was me, he made sure I was expelled. I always thought somethin' was shady about that Riddle but it was my word against his, so what could I do?"

Harry knew it could not be Hagrid, he could not imagine Hagrid doing something like that.

"Who's this Riddle you keep referring to, Hagrid?" asked Harry, although Harry had a sinking feeling what was coming but he wanted to confirm his suspicions.

"Tom Riddle, he was a fifth year Slytherin when I was in me third year," said Hagrid. "No idea what ever happened to him, he seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth."

Harry went deep in thought. Riddle had been the attacker fifty years ago and he framed Hagrid to take the fall for his sins. This time, Riddle was back and his spirit was controlling some innocent person. Something had to be done, right away before more fell.

Voices outside Hagrid's hut brought Harry out of his plotting.

"Harry, yeh better go hide..." started Hagrid but Harry had already concealed himself quickly at the sound of the voices. The door opened and a portly looking man clutching a bowler hat and Dumbledore had entered Hagrid's hut. It took Harry a few seconds to realize the second man was the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Harry held his breath; it would not do well to have any sign that would have anyone to discover his presence.

"Bad business here, Hagrid, as Minister of Magic, I am afraid I must act," said Fudge in a solemn tone of voice. "Sixteen attacks and not a lead on where they are heading. I must take you in, mostly as a precaution, if there would be a different attacker come forth, then you would be let out with a full apology."

"Taken in," said Hagrid in a hushed voice. "But, Minister I didn' do anythin'."

"I assure you Hagrid is not the one behind these attacks, Minister," said Dumbledore.

Harry attempted to hold in his anger, of course Dumbledore would know but it was frustrating to see he did not volunteer the information to the Minister of Magic, information that could prevent Hagrid from going to Azkaban.

"Now Dumbledore, we have little choice to attack, it is only for a sort time," said Fudge grimly.

Hagrid suddenly look horrified.

"Not Azkaban," said Hagrid in a horrified hushed voice.

Before Fudge could answer, a third man joined the party. Harry's eyes grew dark, as it was Lucius Malfoy. Harry wondered when he would be showing up and surprised it took this long. Malfoy looked at Hagrid with disdain before turning to Dumbledore.

"I was told I might find you here, Dumbledore," said Lucius in a cool tone of voice. "The attacks have been disturbing and your inability to act has put everyone in the school in grave peril. My own son was victimized just days ago and now, Headmaster, or should I say Ex-Headmaster, at this order has come straight down. All twelve governors have signed and now I must say you are out of a job Headmaster."

Dumbledore looked at Lucius with what Harry could tell was a bit of disdain.

"I could not do anything, Lucius, surely even you could see that," said Dumbledore, attempting to put his best act of helplessness on.

"Can't or won't," said Lucius in a calm tone of voice. "The Board of Governors have spoken and you are no longer going to be Headmaster. You may have the night to remove whatever possessions you have in your office, but after that, you are to be gone from the school or you shall be thrown in Azkaban for defying a direct order from the Board. Good night to you, Dumbledore."

Lucius left as Dumbledore stayed for a few seconds before departing. Fudge made a motion for Hagrid to leave.

"If anyone wants to know the truth, just follow the spiders, that will set them righ'," said Hagrid simply.

Fudge looked at Hagrid curiously but Hagrid followed him without a word. Harry looked on for his hiding spot in the corner. Hagrid just gave Harry another avenue to pursue a new line of information. Unfortunately, all the spiders may have departed from the castle and Harry just hoped he would be able to find some more to attempt to follow the next stage of his fact-gathering mission.

Dumbledore entered his office. Everything was going, as it seemed. Lucius managed to get Dumbledore removed which would give Dumbledore a face saving excuse when the Weasley girl expired within the chamber. The Headmaster walked up to the safe hidden behind a miniature gargoyle statue mounted on his wall. Dumbledore made sure the security measures to keep his most treasured possessions safe were in place. Looking at the Philosopher's Stone he swindled from Flamel, it would do him well in his ultimate plan.

Then Dumbledore looked at his prized possession, the information he stole from Godric's Hollow the night of the defeat of Voldemort. The information Lily Potter worked long and hard to obtain, during her work as an Unspeakable for the Department of Mysteries. Dumbledore efficiently swiped it on that night. A detailed account of what Voldemort exactly did throughout his life existed within this vault in the form of pensieve memories but also information regarding Dumbledore that never should come to light. It rather pained Dumbledore that a mere girl collected more information on Riddle in a few years than Dumbledore did in his decades and decades of research.

The only problem was Dumbledore could not figure out how exactly to access these crucial memories. From what Dumbledore gathered from the Unspeakable's notes, she seemed to have encoded the memories so only her or ones of her bloodline could access them or allow others to see them. That was the main reason why Dumbledore needed Potter under his thumb, so he could access this information and he was willing to do anything to achieve these means, even if it met sacrificing a member of one of the most prominent light families to Lord Voldemort.

Also in the vault laid some of the most incriminating memories of Dumbledore, events from the past he did not want to get out in public. He removed them from his brain, only leaving a vague version within his head, just in case a Master Legilimens attacked Dumbledore. Dumbledore thought it was unlikely to happen but after seeing Harry slip out from underneath his nose, Dumbledore did not want to discount any possibility.

From his perch, Fawkes looked at Dumbledore as he left. The man was dooming Hogwarts with his inaction. With his bond with the school, Fawkes could feel the evil becoming more prominent within the walls and the phoenix feared for the safety of everyone in the school he had been bonded with for a thousand years. The one known as Harry Potter was the only one who could stop the evil now, due to his connection to Fawkes's former master of a thousand years ago, Salazar Slytherin.

Dumbledore's removal as Headmaster had caused even more unrest within the school. Harry was not sure how he felt but if Harry must have an opinion he would rather be stuck with the evil he knew, then some kind of unknown evil.

During a Second Year Slytherin Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, Gilderoy Lockhart seemed all smug and appeared to be under the misconception the danger had passed.

"Why all the long faces!" exclaimed Lockhart brightly, although he was one of the few who ever showed any kind of emotion. "I guarantee you, the minute any of those victims wake up, their first words would be, “it was Hagrid”. So, why all the doom and gloom expressions."

The Slytherins looked at Lockhart, it seems like most of the class got a reality check when Malfoy got petrified, as even with the majority of their pureblood status, no one in the school was safe. Crabbe and Goyle looked rather lost and confused, they seem to stagger around the school more mindlessly then before.

Lockhart escorted the Second Year Slytherins to History of Magic but Harry spotted something he was looking for since about a week ago. Spiders were scurrying across the floor.

"I think I have something here," whispered Harry in a low voice.

"There are actually a few spiders left," said Daphne in a low voice. "I thought they all upped and left."

"So what's the plan, Harry?" asked Theodore.

Harry craned his neck, attempting to keep up with the other second year Slytherins at the same time. The spiders appeared to be heading for the Forbidden Forest.

"The noble ninjitsu art of gathering information by way of spying," stated Harry quietly. "I will go into the Forbidden Forest tonight, and I am gong to please ask you two to stay in the Common Room where it’s safe."

Theodore and Daphne nodded, as Harry had made up his mind, he was going into the Forest alone, on a wild spider chase. After the last incident, he was going to go in loaded with quite a few weapons and some armor to prevent the possibility of injury, along with a pair of night vision goggles for easier navigation.

That night, Harry prepared for action. He rifled through his trunk, taking out his preferred double-edged sword but also a few other surprises for anyone who dare attacked him. A couple of daggers, a few Shurikens, a draw string bag of poison darts, and Fukiya, the blowgun that could be used to inject the poison darts into the body of the enemy. Normally, he would not be able to have access due to poison darts but he managed to find a specialty shop in Knockturn Alley when he still had the Portus-Amulet that had poison darts.

Harry added the final touch, a Disillusionment Charm. Unfortunately due to his lack of experience in using this spell, this had certain drawbacks, as Harry was only hidden in the shadows but when in the light, a faint outline of Harry's body could be spotted. Harry decided he would just stick to the shadows, as it would be the best way not to be discovered. Heading out to the Forest, Harry looked down upon the ground with his night vision goggles, searching for any sign that might indicate spiders.

After about an hour of searching in the Forbidden Forest, Harry hit the jackpot. Harry saw a half a dozen spiders, scattering on the ground. Being careful to stick to the shadows, Harry looked up. Dozens and dozens of huge spiders were surrounding Harry. Even through he could not be seen, the spiders could still smell him.

"Great, just great," whispered Harry in a sarcastic tone of voice. "My life just keeps getting better and better."

"Aragog, Aragog, wake up," called one of the spiders.

"What is it, Mosag?" said a giant elderly spider, who appeared to be blind in a sleepy tone of voice.

"It's a man, he appears to be disguised for some reason, and he has stumbled into our hollow, but despite his treachery I was able to detect," said Mosag.

"Is it Hagrid?" demanded Aragog in a grumpy tone of voice.

"No, I can sense his smell is quite different than Hagrid's," said Mosag.

"Kill him," said Aragog in a final tone of voice. "I was sleeping, how dare he wake me up."

"Wait," said Harry, attempting to avoid a fight with several dozen angry giant spiders at any cost. "I am a friend of Hagrid and he has sent me here."

Aragog clicked his pincers, irritably.

"Hagrid has never sent men to our hollow before," said Aragog, although the aged spider's curiosity seemed heightened.

"He is in trouble, they think he is setting something up at the school," said Harry desperately, but beginning to clench his hand on his weapon just in case.

Aragog clicked his pincers ago.

"That was years and years ago," said Aragog in a far off voice. "I remember it quite well, it was when I was young. They thought I was the evil deep within that chamber and they tried to exterminate me. Hagrid had to hide me in this Forest to protect my life."

"So, you weren't the one who was attacking," said Harry in a low voice.

"I was not born in the castle, Hagrid received me when I was a mere egg," snapped the spider bitterly. "He cared for me. Normally I would attack humans but out of respect for Hagrid, I did not. That evil in the castle is something much bigger, much more sinister than you could ever imagine human."

"What exactly is it?" asked Harry wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"We do not speak of it, we do not dare name it, it is strictly forbidden to do so," said Aragog. "If the evil is claiming students up at the school, then there is little to destroy it, as it will silence any that gets in its way. During the time I was young, it caused only one fatality, the girl's body was found in the bathroom. The only part of the castle I saw was the cupboard. I will not speak of this matter any further."

"Well, that was pointless," muttered Harry. "Since you cannot help me, I will be going now."

"Going, I think not," thundered Aragog. "While I will not allow my family to harm Hagrid, I will not deny them the chance of getting fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into my lair. Good bye friend of Hagrid."

The spiders rose up but Harry pulled out the Fukiya, inserting a few darts into it before flipping back and blowing them towards the spiders. The blood curdling sound of agony indicated that Harry at least scored one hit.

"Detain him, do not let him escape, we will use his flesh to feed for weeks," said Aragog.

Harry reloaded on poison darts, steadying the Fukiya with one hand while pulling out a dagger. He tossed it at the web, slicing it off from where it is connected before blowing four more darts towards his victims. Harry used the diversion of the chaos of the web falling to slip out and make his way to the school. He was lucky to survive that encounter without becoming a midnight snack for dozens of hungry giant spiders.

Arriving back at his dormitories, he unloaded his weapons, putting them back in the box before placing the box in his trunk. Harry fell back, thinking about what he learned tonight. During the past time, their had been one victim and she had been...no it couldn't be.

A suddenly amount of realization hit Harry quickly. The victim was found in the bathroom and was a girl. Therefore Harry had a hunch that the fatality was none other than Moaning Myrtle. He also remembered something else, the mysterious snake carved into one of the taps in the bathroom. Everything hit Harry all at once, he found the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets before and did not even know it at the time.