Dear Mum,
School, school, school. It's incredible! This place is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. But I love it; truly, I do. I’m sorry you could never tell me about it until now.
I don’t think I’ll ever leave magic behind. It’s so… well, magical. I can’t tell you how much I love it. I can charm everything, and there is so much to read in the Library. Madam Pince is a bit sharp with the students, but I don’t mind. She’s been working her for ages and knows loads!
I meant to ask you before, but what house were you in? Gryffindor? Ravenclaw? Hufflepuff? I’ve already ruled out Slytherin.
And don’t worry about Misty.
Love, Susan
Dear Susan,
I’m glad you like school! I enjoyed it as well, though it was somewhat different for me, since I knew about magic growing up. Interestingly, I wasn’t in Gryffindor, but in Hufflepuff. Professor Sprout is a nice woman. She’s still there, I presume. Let me tell you, however, that I am proud of you no matter what house you are in.
I’m thinking I shouldn’t stay in Hastings. There isn’t much for me here, and I’ve so missed the wizarding world. Melinda has offered her flat to me, of course, but I think it’s best I get a job to support us. I’m going to start looking very soon, but don’t you worry. Everything is going to be fine.
Love, Mum
I folded up her letter with a sigh. Not worry? How could I not worry? I decided to stop thinking about it before I became confused. Ginny sighed next to me, moodily slurping up porridge. A frown had been embedded on her face for the past few days. “Is something wrong?” I asked tentatively.
“I’m… not sure,” she admitted, slumping in her seat. Her hair was messy, and little bags had formed under her eyes.
“Alright, Weasley?” Colleen noted as she passed our seats in the Great Hall.
“Fine,” Ginny mumbled. I was immediately concerned. Usually, if Colleen addressed her, Ginny would come up with a retort.
“Are you sick? You don’t look so good,” I observed. Ginny shrugged. “Maybe you should go to the hospital wing.”
“I don’t know,” Ginny said, rubbing her neck.
“I think you should,” I insisted.
“Well… okay,” Ginny sighed. “You’re probably right; that’s all it is.” I didn’t understand what she meant by that, but got up without saying anything. Ginny climbed out of her seat.
“I’ll take you,” I voiced. Ginny stumbled after me as I picked my way through the students around us.
Once I was certain that Madam Pomfrey would see to Ginny, I left the hospital wing, thankful that it was the weekend once more so that Ginny wouldn’t miss any classes. Thinking I might get started on my homework, I walked into a bright courtyard and rubbed my arms against the cool air. It was mid October and I had forgotten to wear a cloak.
Giggling erupted around the corner and was magnified suddenly as Colleen and May burst out of a little archway. They ran across the cobblestones, wild hair flying and a streaming cloak flying like a banner behind them. Neither of them noticed me watching. They dashed through a door and shut it quickly, muffling their squeals of delight.
Luna Lovegood glided softly through the archway, looking around in a confused torpor. Her eyes settled on me and she drifted over to me, waving slowly. “Hello, Susan Sholt.”
“Hello Luna,” I said nervously, beginning to understand whose cloak that had been.
“Have you seen my cloak?” she asked. I froze. Colleen and May were no doubt listening on the other side of the door to my right. They knew it was me; Luna had said my name already. What could I do? If I said yes, they would be angry with me and I would regret it later. Still, if I said no, they would be satisfied that they could get away with anything in front of me, and Luna would know. I think she already knew the answer by the strange way she was looking at me. A lump formed in my throat. What to do?
Luna didn’t repeat herself. She didn’t need to.
I felt awful. I didn’t want to make Colleen and May happy, but I didn’t think I could get the words out. I stared at my shoes, wondering why I had been put in Gryffindor if I couldn’t stand up to a couple of mean classmates. It occurred to me then that I wasn’t the one being seriously hurt by this situation: it was Luna. It was her cloak, after all, and she was the one without any friends (I’d heard May reporting as much to Colleen a few days before). It was a test, for me.
I knew then that I had waited too long. Luna gave me one last glance, and floated through the door behind me.
Ginny returned from the hospital wing on Tuesday. She looked better, since the bags had disappeared and some color had returned to her cheeks. However, her eyes often were like to Luna’s, glazed over and distant. During our homework sessions, I often had to shake her shoulder slightly to get her to refocus on the task at hand.
The diary was still with her at all times. She wrote in it constantly. Sometimes, I wondered what she wrote about, since so little had happened since the last time she opened it. I didn’t dare ask her about it, for fear of her being angry with me.
Halloween crept up on us without warning. I found myself looking forward to the feast. I believed it would help Ginny relax and maybe come out of her quieted state. When we entered the great hall, enormous pumpkins greeted us all around, and the warmth and light even made Ginny smile. When we sat down, however, and began to eat, Ginny only stared at her plate without blinking. I ate slowly, watching her. After a while, I poked her.
“Everything okay?” I asked. She nodded, then shook her head.
“I think I’ll go back and rest,” she said, looking preoccupied.
“Do you want me to come? Are you sick again?”
“No, just tired. You stay here and eat.”
She got up and moved sluggishly towards the doors. I watched her go, wondering if I should go after her anyway.
In the end, I decided I was too comfortable to move, and Ginny was just tired. It was mostly wishful thinking, but I convinced myself it wouldn’t matter. Colin Creevy soon engaged me in a short conversation about his camera. He seemed a little put out, looking up and down the table every now and then.
I ate until I thought I might burst. Taking one last sip, I looked up at Albus Dumbledore. He was standing, smiling at his students. Gilderoy Lockhart ran his fingers through his hair artfully, annoying Professor Snape very much. The Great Hall quieted as Dumbledore held up his hand. “After our great feast, go and get some rest. Good night.”
In unison, everyone stood. Yawning contentedly, I followed the crowd through the exit and up the stairs. Paige ended up beside me, and opened her mouth to say something when a hush fell over the crowd once more.
We had all stopped moving. I tried to look through the people in front of me to figure out what was going on, when somebody yelled out, “Enemies of the Heir, beware! You’ll be next, Mudbloods!”
A hushed phrase spread through the crowd like a forest fire, igniting interest. The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.
Teachers moved to the front of the crowd, speaking quietly over the hysteria of Argus Filch, who had howled angrily. “Filch’s cat is dead!” Somebody said. “It’s hanging on the wall!”
“Excuse me,” said Albus Dumbledore, moving through the crowd. I stepped aside, Paige next to me. Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Filch, and a few teachers followed Dumbledore.
“Please go back to your houses,” Professor McGonagall dictated as she followed Filch. The crowd slowly obeyed. Paige paused as we moved through the corridor, looking at the far wall.
“It’s written in blood,” she reported, looking scared. We hurried to Gryffindor Tower, crashing into our dormitory. Ginny wasn’t there. I swayed in the doorway, wondering what to do. May cleared her throat from behind me. I jumped. She had come up quietly. Colleen laughed and May tittered.
Embarrassed at being caught off guard, I dropped myself onto my bed and picked up Misty. She purred, and I calmed.
“What do you think it means?” May wondered as she changed clothes quickly. Colleen shrugged.
“The Chamber of Secrets…” Colleen repeated, crawling into bed.
“Sounds familiar,” I muttered to nobody in particular.
“What did you say?” Colleen interjected sharply.
“It- it sounds familiar,” I sputtered.
“Well, what is it then?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t know, or don’t want to say?”
“She doesn’t know, Colleen,” Paige exclaimed, having finished changing.
Colleen opened her mouth to reply, but Paige pulled her curtains shut first. I quickly changed clothes and crawled into bed before Colleen decided to bother me.
All was silent for a while. Most of the girls dozed off quickly. However, I couldn’t seem to fall asleep, as tired as I was. Where was Ginny? She had told me she was going to rest, and I had assumed she meant in Gryffindor Tower. Had she gone to the hospital wing? Ginny had told me she wasn’t sick, but maybe she had changed her mind…
The door creaked open, and Ginny moved in. She was wearing a set of robes that were too big for her, and her hair was impossibly tangled. The little diary was locked in her left hand, a quill in her right. I watched her come in. She was shaking slightly. Why was she wearing someone else’s robes? As she changed clothes, I noticed a small feather in her hair.
“Ginny?” I whispered. She stopped pulling back her blankets. “Where… did you go?”
“I don’t know,” she said finally. She slipped into her bed and lay down with a sigh. “I- I can’t remember.”
She fell asleep a moment later, the dairy still in her hand.