Echoes of the Past

The fire burned quietly as Evan wrote, and when the others returned, he had already finished the article, leaving only a few details to edit.

"Evan!" called Hermione as she and Colin entered the common room, running with a joyful expression, "It was incredible, we took a multitude of photos and obtained a manuscript from Professor Lockhart!"

"Well done," said Evan as he wrote the final letter.

"Let me have a look," said Hermione as she took the parchment, and she was immediately amazed upon noticing the content, "Goodness, this is…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Harry and Ron entered the common room; they seemed to be in a sour mood compared to Hermione and Colin.

"Guys, tonight has been terrible!" said Ron in a monotone voice, "When we were out, we ran into Peeves, the Poltergeist, on the second floor, who threw a dung bomb at us, and then Filch almost caught us, thinking it was us."

"Wait, what were you doing there? If I recall correctly, there shouldn't have been anyone there," Evan focused on the reason they were on that floor, as Myrtle Warren's bathroom was located there.

Evan had tried to speak with Myrtle before, but before he could do so, he was discovered by Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, and had to waste a lot of time trying to explain why he was trying to sneak into the girls' bathroom.

"We thought we saw Ginny passing by, but that's beside the point," said Ron, waving it off, "The point is, we managed to escape from Filch and found Nearly Headless Nick on the fifth floor, he agreed to persuade other ghosts to help us gather news with one condition, and that is..."

"Attend his 500th deathday party on Halloween," said Harry weakly, "And we promised to do it!"

"Think about it, on Halloween, in the basement, at Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party," said Ron as he took a deep breath. Evan, Colin, and Hermione, who were sitting by the fire, seemed indifferent to the matter.

Evan was thinking about Ginny, while Hermione was completely absorbed in Evan's story and didn't listen to a word Ron was saying.

"What's gotten into you two? Aren't you surprised? It's a ghost party…" said Ron, but before he could finish his words, Harry pulled him aside upon noticing Hermione's unusual expression: her hands were tightly clenched, and her eyes were red.

Ron stopped because he wasn't sure if he had upset Hermione.

"Hermione, are you okay?" whispered Harry.

"I'm fine, Harry," said Hermione, looking up as she dried her eyes with her hands.

In the next moment, she suddenly stood up and hugged Harry.

"Hermione, what...?" said Harry, speechless.

"Harry, this is the article Evan wrote, I think you should read it," said Hermione as she handed the parchment to Harry.

Harry glanced at the parchment, and a moment later, he paled upon realizing what had been written.

"Evan, this…"

"I know what happened from Bathilda Bagshot, she was your parents' neighbor in Godric's Hollow, she saw what happened that day," explained Evan.

The tension in the air grew, causing everyone to remain silent.

"Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on?" murmured Ron, so Hermione quickly explained the details to him.

After Hermione finished explaining to Ron, Harry, who now looked even paler, stood there with a fearful expression on his face.

"I never knew, no one has taken the time to tell me exactly what happened before," responded Harry in a trembling voice, trying to hold back his tears.

But no matter how hard he tried, small drops began to fall onto the parchment.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Evan murmured, noticing how much Harry was hurt by the things he had written.

For over ten years, Harry had never known his parents, and now, writing in detail about their death was a cruel thing to do.

"It's not your fault," Harry sobbed as he wiped his eyes.

Harry didn't want others to see him cry, so he ran to his room, holding onto the parchment tightly.

"Don't worry, I'll calm him down," Ron said as he followed Harry.

By the fireplace, there were only a frustrated Evan, a red-eyed Hermione, and Colin, who was completely puzzled by the whole situation.

"It's my fault for not consulting Harry before writing about his mother."

"I think you write very well," Hermione said as she approached and embraced Evan, "Harry just needs some time to process this matter."

When Evan heard Hermione comforting him, his mood lifted slightly. He handed Bathilda Bagshot's response to Hermione, and soon the topic shifted to the contents of the newspaper and typesetting.

Time passed, Colin sat for a while before leaving, and Hermione stayed until midnight before returning to bed with a large pile of papers.

As the fire was about to die out, only Evan remained in the common room, but then he saw Ginny enter.

She looked very embarrassed, as if she had been battling a troll. Her robe was covered in dust, her face slightly pale, and traces of blood adorned her.

Evan's heart sank as he wondered if the Chamber of Secrets had been opened.

"Ginny, you..."

"Don't worry, Evan!"

Fred soon entered and said, "Ginny helped us confirm a secret passageway, but we had a small problem."

"Peeves threw a box of stink bombs, but luckily we ran fast," George said as he entered.

"I hope Filch can take care of that," Ginny said.

Upon hearing their explanation, Evan breathed a sigh of relief as he had feared Ginny had opened the Chamber of Secrets, but now it seemed his concern had been unnecessary.

After having some chocolate, they headed to bed. As Ginny climbed the stairs, Evan asked, "Ginny, do you know who Tom Riddle is?"

"What did you say?" Ginny asked, as she seemed not to have heard what he said.

"No, it's nothing. Good night," Evan said as he headed to his room.

"Good night, Evan," said the girl with unusually bright brown eyes in the candlelight.

.....

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