Chapter 118 - Time passes

Time passed by once again, but this time, the mood inside the castle had grown more hopeful with each passing day. Thankfully for all of the students, there had been no more attacks since those on James, Justin, and Nearly Headless Nick, and if that good news were not enough to put everyone at ease, Madam Pomfrey was pleased to report that the Mandrakes were becoming moody and secretive, meaning that they were fast leaving childhood. Something that all of the professors and even the students were looking forward to.

Being one of her favorite students Thomas overheard, Madam Pomfrey talking with various professors and on one particular day, he overheard her talking with Filch.

"The moment their acne clears up, they'll be ready for repotting again, and after that, it won't be long until we're cutting them up and stewing them. You'll have Mrs. Norris back in no time. As well as all of the students and Nearly Headless Nick back to their lively selves."

When he heard Madam Pomfrey's words, Thomas relaxed slightly for the first time in weeks, feeling the hope these words brought. He had been worried sick about his friend, who had been like a brother to him since their first year. If only he could have somehow made those bloody ear-killing plants grow faster.

But before he could curse the Mandrake anymore, he heard Filch thanking Madam Pomfrey in a gruff voice, sounding almost sincere for once. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me. Mrs. Norris is my only companion and friend in this wretched place."

Madam Pomfrey smiled kindly at him and patted his shoulder. "You're welcome, Mr. Filch. I'm sure Mrs. Norris will be fine once we administer the potion. She's a tough old cat, after all."

Filch nodded, then his expression darkened as he glanced at the other petrified bodies on the hospital beds. "What about them?" he sneered.

Madam Pomfrey frowned and scolded him. "Mr. Filch, that's enough. These students are innocent victims of a terrible attack. They deserve our sympathy and compassion, not our scorn and hatred. They are not to blame for what happened to them."

Filch snorted and muttered something under his breath, then turned and left the hospital wing, leaving Madam Pomfrey to shake her head and sigh. In the end, Filch will never change, no matter what happens.

Then again, with the lack of attacks over the past few weeks, people had started to forget about the Chamber of Secrets. And no matter how much Thomas toyed with that damned empty diary, he could not for the love of God understand why Tom Riddle left his diary empty. Was this some kind of joke or maybe… just maybe dark magic was used to hide its contents… But for now, nothing can be done and who knows if the Chamber hadn't closed for another fifty years.

Yet there was something that almost made Thomas rethink his decision to let a certain professor see the end of the year. As he was going back to the Ravenclaw common room, he stumbled upon Lockhart and McGonagall, and to his surprise, Lockhart had the guts to lie to himself about the horrifying events that happened this past half a year.

"I do not doubt that the Chamber has been sealed forever, Minerva," Lockhart said, stroking his chin smugly and winking at the older witch. "The culprit must have realized that he was no match for my brilliant detective skills. He wisely chose to give up before I exposed him and his dark secrets." Lockhart stopped for a moment, watching how McGonagall was reacting before continuing his speech.

"You see, what the school needs now is a dose of my dazzling charm and charisma. Erase the horrors of last term! I have a splendid idea that will make everyone forget their troubles …"

Please no. If you are up there, please make this madman see the reason. That's all Thomas could think about as he quickly made his way back to his room before Lockhart saw him.

However, God didn't listen to his plead, and on the morning of February 16, as Thomas, Adam, and Michael walked inside the great hall almost thought that they were being fooled by someone as all of the walls were covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling.

Not wanting to be anywhere near the entrance, the three boys quickly made their way to the Ravenclaw table where the rest of their housemates were laughing and joking around.

As soon as they sat down at the Ravenclaw table, Thomas heard the teasing voices of his friends.

"Hey, Thomas, did you get any more love letters today?" Michael asked, grinning.

"Yeah, Thomas, who's it going to be? The smart and lovely Aurora Kels as well as our sixth-year senior, or the sexy and let's be honest Catlyn Whitegrass?" Adam added, winking.

Thomas felt his face turn red as he glared at them. "Shut up, you two. It's none of your business."

"Oh, come on, Thomas. Don't be shy. We're your friends. We want to help you out. Besides, it's not something you can see every day. Blame your handsome face and your ever-growing reputation." Michael said.

Thomas barely managed to let out a sigh before he decided to ignore his friends for now. It was hard as it was, especially after getting chocolate from those two sixth-year girls, then some from the fifth and fourth… But something made Thomas shiver, a thought that for some reason was in a way similar to a death wish. Under no circumstances should Hermione or Daphne hear about these chocolates, otherwise…

Turning his head towards the Gryffindor table, Thomas saw his friends there talking amongst themselves, and for some bizarre reason, Hermione was a red mess similar to Rias's hair. On the other side of the hall, Daphne was calm, to say the least. Way too calm one might say as she too watched the Gryffindor's table, but as soon as she felt a familiar pair of eyes on her, she turned and smiled in Thomas's direction, making the blonde boy freeze for a second before smiling at her as well.

After that Thomas turned his attention toward the professors' table and behold, Lockhart just made himself the number one enemy of quite a few dangerous professors. Next to the headmaster's seat, stood Lockhart too disgusted to speak. He, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations and for some strange reason, the man was waving for silence. The teachers on either side of him were looking stony-faced. And if his eyes were not deceiving him, McGonagall's face was twitching in discomfort while Snape looked as though someone had just fed him a large beaker of Skele-Gro.

Then out of nowhere, the mighty fake rose to his feet and shouted, scaring half of the great hall and earning himself quite a few curses, under his breath of course.

"Happy Valentine's Day! And may I thank the sixty-nine people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all. I know, I know and it doesn't end here!"

Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion? And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

Oh God, this is a nightmare… Thomas could swear that more than a dozen girls, both older and younger than him turned their heads at him the moment they heard the words "Love Potion" from that fake's mouth. Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison. And McGonagall … Thomas could swear that the Gryffindor head of the house was tightly holding her wand contemplating if cursing or hexing Lockhart would be such a bad thing.

Thanks to a certain someone, today's classes were all forced to take two or three houses at a time to free the afternoon, and because of that both the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws were forced to have charms together with the Slytherins. Add the fact that all day, Thomas and his friends tried to avoid the dwarfs as much as they could that didn't stop Adam and Michael from getting their love songs from those abominations that Lockhart had brought to school.

Just as they were about to walk into their class, one of the dwarfs, cut his way through the crowd by kicking people's shins, before stopping in front of Harry.

"I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person," he said, twanging his harp in a threatening sort of way while eyes wearily the three Ravenclaw boys that were beside Harry, especially Thomas who was showing his dagger just in case. Casting magic was forbidden, but the same thing can't be said for weapons.

"Not here," Harry hissed, trying to escape.

"Stay still!" grunted the dwarf, pushing Ron and Michael away as he grabbed hold of Harry's bag and pulled the boy back.

"Let me go!" Harry snarled, tugging.

"Leave him alone, you little creep!" Thomas shouted, brandishing his dagger.

"Back off, you brats! I have a message to deliver!" the dwarf snapped, twanging his harp louder.

The harp's strings emitted a strange sound that made everyone around them feel dizzy and confused and a second later, Adam and Ron suddenly felt the need to dance uncontrollably, ridiculously moving their feet and arms. At the same time, Michael felt as if he had just come into his room after more than a week of being awake. And so, as soon as he yawned, he closed his eyes, falling to the ground in a deep slumber.

"You need something brat?" The dwarf said in a threatening voice as he watched Thomas's hands, fearing that the boy might reach for either his wand or dagger. Something that made the dwarf scared, after all, there are no longer wizards smart enough to use any weapons other than their pointy wands.

Before Thomas could even react, the dwarf grabbed Harry's bag and pulled hard, ripping the bag and sending all of Harry's things onto the floor.

Harry scrambled around, trying to pick it all up before the dwarf started singing, causing something of a holdup in the corridor. While Thomas charged at the dwarf, who started laughing and running in circles.

"What's going on here?" came the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. Harry started stuffing everything feverishly into his ripped bag, desperate to get away before Malfoy could hear his musical valentine. Even Thomas and the dwarf stopped and looked at Daddy's dearest.

"What's all this commotion?" another familiar voice came as Percy Weasley arrived.

Losing his head, Harry tried to make a run for it, but the dwarf seized him around the knees and brought him crashing to the floor.

"Right," he said, sitting on Harry's ankles. "Here is your singing valentine:

His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,

His hair is as dark as a blackboard.

Before he could finish though, Thomas tackled him to the ground, sending the hard right into Draco's chest. Draco yelped and dropped the harp, which landed on Crabbe's foot making him howl before kicking the harp, which in turn hit Goyle in the head.

The whole class erupted into laughter, except for Percy Weasley, who looked furious as he rushed over to Thomas and pulled him off the dwarf, who was still clutching Harry's legs.

"Thomas, what do you think you're doing?" Percy scolded. "This is disgraceful behavior for a Ravenclaw! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Thomas shrugged and glared at Percy. "I was just trying to help Harry. This dwarf is annoying and rude."

Percy shook his head and tutted. "That's no excuse for violence, Thomas. You should know better than to resort to such barbaric methods. You should apologize to the dwarf right now."

Thomas snorted and refused to apologize. He didn't care what Percy said. He hated the dwarf and his stupid song.

Meanwhile, the dwarf saw his opportunity and restarted his song, ignoring Percy's words.

"Right, where was I?" he said, clearing his throat. "Oh yes:

His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,

His hair is as dark as a blackboard.

I wish he was mine, he's divine,

The hero who conquered the Dark Lord."

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