A few days after the incident with the Chamber of Secrets, I decided to talk to Ginevra about what had happened.

At dinner, I looked along the length of the Gryffindor table and I finally found her, by herself, at the end.

When I was finished eating, I excused myself to Blaise and Anja, then checked to see if Ginevra was finished eating. I saw her get up, so I walked towards the door, reaching it just before she did.

“Hello, Ginevra Weasley. I really need to talk to you about something.  Follow me.” I led her out of the Great Hall, but then she stopped, frowning in concentration.

“Do I know you?” she asked.

So I was correct – she had been possessed and therefore had no recollection of the events.

I shrugged. “In a way, I suppose.”

She followed me, without a word, to a seat along the corridor.

I took a deep breath. “Okay. So, my name is Jade Evans. I’m a second-year Slytherin.”

Her eyes widened. “A Slytherin?”

I nodded. “I’m a good Slytherin, don’t worry.”

She suddenly frowned in concentration. “You look sort of like…Harry Potter.”

I sighed. “Yes, I’m his half-sister.”

“What?”

“I’m his mother’s daughter,” I explained.

“Oh. So, what did you want to talk about?” she enquired.

“Now, please don’t yell, or anything,” I warned her, then took a deep breath. “I think you’re being possessed.”

She almost shouted out, I think. “Possessed? By who? And how would you know?”

“By a male Parselmouth, an Heir of Slytherin – one of Salazar Slytherin’s descendants –who is most likely a Slytherin. I don’t know his name, age or anything like that, but that’s all I could figure out from talking to him,” I told her.

“You talked to him? When? Where? And how do you know all that?” she gasped.

I smiled ruefully, then began to recount our conversation.

“So…this guy, whoever he is, is going to start attacking people on Hallowe’en? That doesn’t leave us with all that much time to do anything about it…” she said doubtfully.

I got up. “I know,” I stated regretfully. “I guess now we have to hope for a miracle, because there’s not much two young girls can do about it. But I have to go now. Bye, Ginevra. I guess I’ll see you around sometime…hopefully before Hallowe’en.”

She sighed. “It does seem hopeless, doesn’t it? Okay, bye Jade. Oh, and call me Ginny. Everyone does.” She smiled and waved as I walked away to my Common Room.

“Bye, Ginny!”

In my Common Room, I tried to think what to do now.

Then I cursed as I realised I had forgotten to ask Ginny about the diary.

***

It was Hallowe’en and I was dreading it.

Last year, at Hallowe’en, a troll had been set loose in the dungeons.

This year, it could be worse.

Some poor Muggle-born could end up dead.

And my feeling of dread only intensified when I looked along the Gryffindor table and couldn’t see Ginny anywhere.

“I have to go to the Chamber,” I muttered, but Anja overheard me.

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing,” I said hurriedly. “I just…I just have to go, that’s all.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Jade, can’t you tell us where you’re going? Not long ago, you left the Great Hall without telling us where you were going, and now you’re doing it again! Blaise and I are your friends, Jade. I’m your twin sister, for Merlin’s sake! We want you to confide in us!”

Her expression made me feel really guilty, so I just looked at the ground. “When I…when I get back. Not now.”

Anja sighed, turning to Blaise with an angry expression on her face.

I dashed out of the Great Hall.

When I got to the girls’ bathroom, I quickly turned to Myrtle. “Did Ginny come through here again?”

She frowned. “Who’s Ginny?”

“Red-haired Gryffindor.”

Her face cleared in understanding. “Oh, yes. She just passed through. But can’t you at least stop to say hello?”

“Hello, Myrtle,” I replied.

“You’re so rude! But then, everyone is. No-one cares about me!” she sobbed.

I sighed. I didn’t have time for a proper apology or conversation. “I’m sorry, Myrtle. But I have to go to the Chamber now.”

I stepped directly in front of the sink I needed. “Open.”

I ran quickly along the passageway, into the Chamber, and Ginny was standing there.

Slowing down, I looked around.

The monster was nowhere to be seen.

I didn’t know if that was a good sign or not.

“Hello,” I said.

Ginny looked up. “Oh, hello. I thought you weren’t going to come.”

Now that I knew what Ginny’s actual voice sounded like, this was even stranger.

“Have you…uh…released the monster yet?” I asked nervously, running my hand over my pendant.

Ginny shook her head. “Not yet. But I will soon. Now, in fact. If you don’t mind, I’ll call it and you can choose the target. Is that fine with you?”

I nodded. It wasn’t like I had any choice.

Ginny turned to face Slytherin’s face, where it was carved into the wall. “Come, Slytherin’s monster…come!  Do you know what Slytherin’s monster is?”

I shook my head. “No idea.”

“It’s a basilisk. And if it looks you in the eye, you’re dead. So you’d better be careful. Actually, there shouldn’t be any need to worry…after all, you are the Heir of Slytherin.”

I nodded, turning to look at Slytherin’s face. A massive snake began sliding out of Slytherin’s mouth.

A basilisk.

Ginny turned to me again. “So…who of all the living things at the school would you most like to see dead?”

I really didn’t want to be responsible for the death of any human, and yet my least favourite person at Hogwarts was Filch, the caretaker.

So the answer was simple.

Mind you, I still didn’t want to kill anyone, human or animal.

“Mrs Norris, Filch’s cat.”

Ginny raised her eyebrows. “Attack…kill Mrs Norris, Filch’s cat.”

The basilisk slid away.

I had to go and save Mrs Norris if I could.

I told the Heir that I had to go and then I fled.

Gasping for breath, I arrived back at the Great Hall just in time to see the general population of the school heading down the corridor.

It suddenly struck me that I hadn’t the slightest idea where Mrs Norris was going to be attacked.

So, feeling increasingly guilty, I just joined the group of students leaving the Great Hall.

Anja gave me a frown as I casually walked over to walk between her and Blaise.

“Jade…what were you doing?” Blaise asked softly.

I shook my head stubbornly. “Back in the Common Room. For now, I have a dead cat to find.”

Then I gasped and covered my mouth as I realised what I’d just said.

Blaise and Anja looked at me suspiciously. “A dead cat?” they questioned in unison.

“Nothing,” I said quickly, but I could see their suspicious gazes on me.

“Right…” Anja commented, unconvinced.

And then we rounded a corner, and there it was.

Or rather, there she was.

Mrs Norris was hanging from a torch bracket in the wall, as stiff as a board.

And that wasn’t the worst thing – the worst thing was the foot-high words written in blood – Ginny’s blood, I thought in horror - on the wall.

The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir…beware.

“Enemies of the Heir, beware…You’ll be next, Mudbloods!” Draco laughed.

It could be Draco, I thought. He might be the other Heir of Slytherin. And yet…his voice sounds different. That voice sounded older. 16, or 17, I suppose. So who could it be? I don’t know anyone of that age who’d openly use the word Mudblood except Flint, but he hasn’t got the brains to be able to possess anyone.

So who was it?

I looked again at the message, and the cat, and realised Hermione, Ron and Harry were standing next to it.

That was normal, I reflected. Whenever something bad happened, they were always nearby.

Then the teachers came. Father took one look at the message and turned to me, mouthing,my office, 6:30.

I understood that now he was going to think that this was my fault, because as far as he knew, I was the only living Heir of Slytherin except perhaps Anja.

And for good reason, too; it was my fault. I may not have put my hand to Mrs Norris, but I was the reason she was hanging there.

As I looked closer at her, I came to the realisation that she wasn’t dead.

Only Petrified.

Filch didn’t care. He raved on and on about how Harry had killed his cat.

Meanwhile, Lockhart raved on and on about how, had he been there at the time, he could have saved her easily.

Fools, the both of them.

Lockhart was bluffing in the hope it wouldn’t happen again and, as for Filch…well, he was just being unreasonable.

I may not have liked Harry much, but I wasn’t stupid enough to believe it had been him.

Finally, Dumbledore effectively shut them both up and all the students were told to go back to their Common Rooms.

“A dead cat…” Blaise said slowly, wonderingly, then turned to me accusingly. “You knew! You knew this was going to happen and you didn’t tell us?”

I sighed. “As I said, I’ll explain when we get back to the Common Room.”

And I did explain. I told them softly.

I told them everything.

I told them about my late-night visit to the Chamber of Secrets while Anja had been asleep, and the voices that told me where to go. I told them about Ginny, and the boy who was possessing her.

I told them about the basilisk. I told them about Ginny releasing it and me deciding it would attack Mrs Norris.

“Oh, Jade,” Anja said hopelessly, when I was finished. “You’re in too deep for us to save you now.”

I nodded, because, of course, she was right.

“If you tell anyone other than us, except maybe Alex, they’ll only take note of the fact that you told the basilisk to go attack Mrs Norris. They won’t care about you not wanting to. You’ll end up expelled. You can’t tell,” Blaise warned me solemnly.

Surprisingly serious, for Blaise, but then, this was a serious situation.

“Okay. But now I have to go visit my father’s office. I think he thinks it’s me who Petrified Mrs Norris. And for good reason.”

Anja’s eyes were wide. “Remember, Jade, tell no-one.”

Blaise nodded. “No-one,” he echoed. “Not even your father.”

I entered Father’s office. “You’re early,” he commented in surprise. I glanced at the clock on his desk. 6: 55.

“Yes, Father, I thought I might as well be here as early as I could. So why did you want to see me?” I asked, pretending I didn’t know.

He stood up very quickly and walked over to stand right in front of me. “Did you, or did you not, release the monster in the Chamber of Secrets?”

I sighed. “No, Father.”

Well, I hadn’t, not really. I’d just watched as ‘Ginny’ released it.

“Are you certain of that?” he pressed.

I nodded.

“This is what worries me. As far as I know, you are the only Heir of Slytherin alive. I do not believe your sister is a Parselmouth. So who did open it?”

“No idea, Father,” I told him.

It was true.

It hadn’t been Ginny, after all, and I still hadn’t worked out who was possessing her.

“Well, that will be all, then, Jade. You should probably return to the Common Room now,” he said. “In the meantime, I shall think about the possibilities.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “After all, how many Parselmouths can there be?”

So now I just had to watch and wait.

It was harder than it sounds, though.

Because the next time, it was my turn to release the basilisk.