“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.�
–John F. Kennedy

Harry knew that Snape had heard what he had said, before the stone closed. Harry turned away from the wall, angry and frustrated. He was angry with himself, but more at Snape. He’s always bloody accusing me of everything! He grabbed his book and went down the stairs toward the dormitory.

Once he walked in, he saw Blaise walking back and forth, his arms crossed. He looked up when he saw Harry enter. “What was that? I could hear Snape yelling at you as I went down the stairs,� said Blaise. Harry walked further into the room, bung his book onto his bed and sat upon the side of his bed that faced Blaise’s.

“Though Snape can’t prove it, he accused me of being in Filch’s office, which I know we were in, but… he said I was arrogant, like my father. And then just walked away,� said Harry. “I know that Snape and my father were in the same year here at Hogwarts, but I don’t know why he hated my father.�

“I couldn’t tell you because I have no idea. But how did Snape know that you were in Filch’s office?� asked Blaise, curiously. He leaned against the side of his bed that faced Harry’s.

Harry sighed heavily, knowing that he had to retell his stupid mistake. “I left the drawer slightly open because I had closed it wrong,� said Harry.

Blaise yawned. “Well, if we ever go in there again, just make sure everything’s closed correctly. Anymore mistakes and you’re sure to get caught.� Harry nodded in response. “I’m going to sleep. I’m knackered,� said Blaise, before he yawned again.

Harry and Blaise had both slept in, but the rest of the school had done the same as well. Even the professors, it seemed, had taken the morning for some extra rest. Harry awoke to find that Blaise was still asleep. It was late morning, and Harry knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep now that he was awake.

He changed into one of his cloaks, putting his hands in the pockets because the fire on the other side of the room was beginning to go out, and found in one of his pockets the golden key attached to the chain.

He had completely forgotten about it, though Blaise had mentioned it yesterday evening. Harry went to his trunk, opening it slowly, so as not to wake Blaise, and took out the golden box from the bottom of the trunk. Harry put it in his right pocket. The box weighed down the right side of his robes as he made his way to the Common Room.

Before going into the room, he made sure that no one else was there. And much, to Harry’s pleasure, there wasn’t. He went to the table in the corner of the room, and placed the box on the table. The golden box, as well as the red ruby atop it, shined marvelously in the firelight. Making the gold of the box look even more golden. The key also shined as he took it out of his left pocket.

Harry was hoping that the key would fit into the box and (Yes!) it fit perfectly. Turning the small key to the right, he heard something click quietly. Harry looked behind him, just to make sure no one was there, and then put both hands on the side of the box to open it.

When opening the golden box, Harry wasn’t planning on seeing an old bit of parchment. It looked like it had been ripped from the corner of a larger piece. The writing on the parchment was small and condensed, but the words curved nicely. It read:

Harry had never heard of such a place. He was going to put the parchment back into the box and close it, when he noticed that there was another object that had been hidden from view by the parchment.

Harry picked it up, looking over his shoulder once more. He felt as if someone was there, but no one was in sight. He turned back to find a silver ring with a large black stone in the center. The stone was a very opaque black and on the face of the stone was the same engraving that was on the key: the letter B. The silver continued to shine a white-ish glow, even with the orange light from the fireplace.

Harry was tempted to put it on as he held it in his hand, and did so. He laughed when he put it on, it being too many sizes too large for him. It could fit Uncle Vernon’s hand! Harry felt the ring get tighter, and realized that it had molded to fit his finger. Harry liked the ring, the blackness of the stone, but if he wore it, Dumbledore or another professor would be sure to recognize it as the old headmasters’, so he put it back.

After placing the ring and parchment back into the box, he heard someone on the other side of the room cough, and turned quickly, stuffing the box and key into his robes, nervously. But no one was there. He was hoping it was just his nerves, but he had felt a presence the whole time he stood there. He walked rather quickly across the room and down the stairs, to find that Blaise was still asleep.

Harry put the box and key into his trunk, covering them with some of his other cloaks. When he closed the trunk, Harry looked up to see that Blaise was awake, and looking at him groggily.

“Morning,� said Blaise, as he rubbed his eyes.

“Morning.�

During breakfast, Harry had gotten another letter from Ron saying that he wanted to meet him tonight to go exploring around the castle. Ron had sent the letter with one of the school owls; an owl that kept biting his finger, probably thinking that it was food.

On the back Harry wrote:

Ron

Meet me in the Room of Buried Secrets at nine o’clock tonight. I think you remember how to get in. If you don’t remember then just knock on the wall. I’ll be waiting inside. I’ll understand if you don’t get there exactly on time from having to dodge professors. For now,

Harry

Harry sent the owl away, and by the time he did, his finger was starting to get red and had little bite marks all over it. Harry quickly glanced to his right to make sure Blaise hadn’t seen what he had written.

Sunday morning had gone well. Harry and Blaise had played a couple games of Chess, but after a while Harry had gotten bored, so he decided he would just walk around the corridors of Hogwarts, thinking that maybe he would come across something of interest.

As he walked he thought of Hermione and Draco, wondering whether they were having a good time in Europe. His feet somehow brought him to the Owlry, and he looked out of the large window. Hedwig came up to him, thinking that she would be sending out a letter.

“Not today, Hedwig,� said Harry.

Footsteps a couple minutes later, alerted Harry that someone was coming toward him. He turned around to see Professor Quirrel.

“Hello, Mr. P-Potter,� said Quirrel. Quirrel looked around nervously as he approached. Harry noticed he had a letter in his right hand.

“Hello, Professor.� Professor Quirrel looked up to see whether there were any school owls left, but there were none. Harry knew that they were all away sending letters to people that had left Hogwarts for the holidays.

“There a-aren’t any o-owls left. C-could I b-borrow yours, Mr. P-Potter?� asked Professor Quirrel.

“Err… sure,� said Harry. Professor Quirrel came closer, and Harry’s scar started to throb with pain, but he did his best to ignore it. Harry saw that Hedwig was hesitant to have Professor Quirrel’s letter attached to her leg because she kept taking the twine off.

“Come on, Hedwig. It’s just a letter,� said Harry. She eventually complied and flew off.

“T-thanks,� whispered Professor Quirrel. As he turned around, Harry’s scar seared with pain. He knelt to the ground holding his hands to his scar. When the pain ceased, he looked up to see that Quirrel was gone, but couldn’t understand what had caused the pain.

Once it was a quarter to nine, Harry knew it was time to leave. Even though he had the Invisibility Cloak, he would still need time to make his way up the moving staircases without being heard. Blaise was busy playing Chess with an older student, so Harry knew he wouldn’t notice if he left.

Immediately after leaving the Common Room, Harry covered himself, so as to be seen by no one until he reached Ron. Making his way up the first two flights was easy. No professors, no Filch, no other students. Especially no other students, considering most were away.

As Harry got up to the third floor, he heard voices. Loud voices. Harry scanned the scene before him. Harry came just in time to see Professor Quirrel was standing at the wall in a frightful state, while Snape stood nearer to the middle of the corridor looking intimidating as always. Harry quickly checked his watch: five to nine.

“Dumbledore doesn’t think that your up to something, but I do. I’ll be watching your every move, Quirrel. Make sure you take the right steps, or you might just find yourself falling,� threatened Snape. He slowly moved closer while saying those words, so that when he said ‘falling’ he was right in Quirrel’s face.

With a quick snap of his cloak, he turned on his heel and came toward the direction of Harry. Luckily, he was covered by the cloak. Harry checked his watch: two minutes until nine. He looked at the stairs to see Snape just turning the corner, and then turned to see that Quirrel was already gone.

Harry closed the door to the Room of Buried Secrets, and turned around to see a frightened Ron. “Who’s there? Show yourself!� said Ron, as stood with his wand out. He was looking in all directions, and pointing his wand all around.

Harry threw off the cloak quickly. “Its only me,� said Harry. He bung the cloak onto the nearest couch, making only part of it visible.,/p>

“Bloody hell, Harry! You scared me,� said Ron, putting his wand away in his cloak.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.�

“Is that an Invisibility Cloak?� asked Ron, as he went toward the cloak. He picked it up and felt it. “Blimey!�

“Yeah, it was a Christmas present. Great present, yeah?�

“I say! Who gave it to you?� asked Ron, as he pressed the fabric against his face.

“I don’t know. The note didn’t say,� said Harry.

Ron put the cloak down and asked, “By the way, why were you late? Was Mrs. Norris around?�

“No, but as I saw the ending of a fight between Snape and Quirrel,� said Harry, his body now resting on the lime green couch.

Ron sat on the navy blue one across from him, “Fighting? What were they fighting about?�

“Snape said that he thought Quirrel was up to something,� said Harry.

“Up to something? What could Quirrel do? St-stuttering Professor Quirrel could never do anything wrong. It seems like he’s always nervous about something,� said Ron.

Harry shrugged his shoulders at what Ron had said, but then supposed, “What if he is nervous about something… or someone?�

“Like who?� asked Ron. Harry saw him lean closer and squint his eyes as he thought about it.

“Well, it always seems that he’s scared of Snape, but then again that wouldn’t make much sense if Snape thinks that Quirrel is the one that’s up to something,� said Harry. He paused for a second pondering what he had just said, but he saw that Ron was looking bored. “Never mind that. Lets go do some searching around the castle!�

“I thought you would never say that!� exclaimed Ron, as he jumped up excitedly. Ron grabbed the cloak, and put it over Harry and him before they exited the Room of Buried Secrets.