Chapter 101

Ethan had been surprised by Snape's willingness to let him return to his room for the night. He had thought the Professor would have had questions for him, and he had already prepared for a night filled with interrogations.

Not that he had any complaints. He was up early the next morning, because he actually had something to do.

Walking into the common room illuminated by the greenish tint of the Great Lake, Ethan easily spotted Theodore and Tracey, since they were the only two inside. They sat in front of the silver fire, Theodore looking as tired as ever, and Tracey energetic despite the early hour.

Ethan sat down next to them, shaking a little from the morning cold as he asked, "Daphne isn't here yet? I'd figure she would not sleep all night from sheer excitement."

Theodore groaned, and left his response at that. Fortunately, Tracey was there to translate.

"She already left to train early. She wanted to make sure she was ready to perform."

Indeed, today was quite the important day as it was the awaited Quidditch Trials. More precisely, the Slytherin trials today.

Daphne was a passionate Quidditch enthusiast, and had it not been for the fact that it was not customary for first years to join the Quidditch Team, she would have tried to join the team the year before.

Ethan himself cared very little for the sport. In his opinion, it was a dumb sport with nonsensical rules. In most games, it felt like the only players that even mattered were the seekers.

The game would only end once the golden snitch had been caught after all, or when mutual consent was found between the two opposing captains, but that never happened, so Quidditch games could go on for days.

Actually, it was not even that uncommon of an occurrence.

In essence, Quidditch was only a sport that had been turned into a weird one because everything wizards did had to be weird. In Britain, at least. Ethan heard there was another version of the sport in the US that was supposedly more interesting, but Ethan hardly believed it would matter.

Today was not about him though.

The three of them first stopped by the Great Hall since the trials would only start at 7 am, so they had some time for breakfast.

As they were eating silently however, a first year Slytherin, Eva Travers, approached them. She stopped next to Ethan, looking at him expectantly as she asked, "May I sit with you?"

Despite feeling sluggish from how early it was, Ethan still had the same intensity as always as he looked back at the red eyed girl. He could also see Tracey making weird faces to try to tease him from his peripheral vision.

Seeing no reason to humiliate the girl by refusing, he shrugged, "You're free to sit wherever you want."

Eva smiled, sitting down next to Ethan contently. She did not grab any food right away, but looked over Ethan instead, at Theodore.

She nodded reservedly, saying, "Nott."

Theodore nodded back passively, "Travers."

Ethan and Tracey still caught onto something though. They knew each other.

It was Tracey who asked the obvious, "You two know each other? You never said anything!"

If it had been anyone else uttering these words, Ethan would have believed they would have been embarrassed by the revelation, having been making fun of Eva privately. Tracey clearly did not care at the apparent connection between Eva and Theodore though, being more curious than anything.

Not that Tracey had ever said anything really bad or offensive. It was teasing, and it was not directed at Eva, but at Ethan for having a 'groupie'.

Theodore mumbled something inaudible while writing something down in his book. Miraculously, Eva seemed to be able to understand him as she clarified, "Most children from important families know each other. We met at a few birthdays, and balls as well. By the way, Greengrass is not with you?"

They knew each other, but they were obviously not close. Only close friends would be on a first name basis, such as Ethan with Tracey, Daphne and Theodore.

Seeing neither Theodore nor Tracey were inclined to answer, Ethan said, "She will be taking part in the Quidditch trials this morning, so she went ahead to prepare for those."

"I was about to go watch the trials myself! Do you want to go together?"

Ethan sent a look at his friends, but only received a shrug and a cheeky smile, so he nodded, "Sure."

Eva looked over the moon at that, and finally picked her breakfast. She first got a cup of tea, before looking around for a while, and finally picking a croissant. Hogwarts' meals borrowed from nearly every culture in the world.

Without Ethan having to ask anything, she said, "I have cousins in France, and I absolutely fell in love with their cuisine. Did you ever go to France?"

The question was actually not solely directed at Ethan, but to everyone. Theodore answered this one aloud, "Once. It was boring."

Tracey shrugged, toying with a knife, "The only time I left England was with Ethan this summer, in Egypt."

"Never went to France, no."

"Oh, I could make you visit, if you're ever interested!"

Ethan chose to not say anything in response to that. That did not deter the girl though as she asked, "And what's your favourite Quidditch Team? Mine are the Magpies. I know, not very original, everyone likes them, but I just love the team. Plus I do come from Scotland."

Ethan looked at his two friends in confusion, not really sure of what to day.

"I don't really follow Quidditch. But I'm sure the Magpies are a cool team."

Tracey added unhelpfully, "He thinks Quidditch is dumb."

Ethan glared at her, but once again, Eva was not bothered, even chirping up, "I know, right! Sometimes, it feels like some random person just came up with a bunch of confusing rules to appear quirky."

This time, all three friends looked at Eva in surprise, truly not expecting such a response. Seeing this only seemed to make Eva happier as she added, "But I think that's the fun of it! Flying around, thinking what they do matters, it's hilarious."

Alright, maybe was a little weird.

Still, in the end, she accompanied them as they headed for the Quidditch Stadium, where the trials would be taking place.

There were a few Slytherin students already in the stands, either those who would be taking part in the trials, or their friends there to watch. Yet, Daphne was nowhere to be seen.

Soon, the Quidditch team, led by the sixth year Captain Marcus Flint, arrived on the field. Malfoy, who was near Ethan's group, cocked an eyebrow at them, asking, "What's up with Greengrass, she chickened out?"

If he had been in his normal state of mind, Ethan would have heard the hint of curiosity and worry in Draco Malfoy's voice. However, he was way too worried about Daphne himself to hear it, prompting him to get up abruptly, snapping back, "Shut your trap Malfoy."

After that, Ethan stormed off the bleachers, heading back for the castle, his friends following along, though curious themselves. They did not know about the book, or the possible king of serpents roaming the curious.

Alas, as he approached the school's entrance, he spotted a crowd there. Making his way through through them, he found his fears realized.

There, right at the entrance of the school, hung at the raised portcullis by her hood, was Daphne, her expression petrified in fear. Next to her, on the wall, the following words were written with what seemed to be blood:

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