“Seeing as how I’m trusting you to keep secrets that could endanger the welfare of others, I suppose you can trust me to do the same.” He grinned, “So, what secrets does the son of Goku have to tell his hated enemy?”
Gohan smiled slightly; glad to see Piccolo’s humor was still with him tonight.
“You see, ever since school started I was always curious as to how all of these spells, jinxes, charms, and curses were created. You know, the incantations used and the wand gestures and stuff that I learned.”
Piccolo nodded, “I could have told you that. The incantations are Latin based since it was the first ever sophisticated language used world-wide. They mainly used wand gestures because they could make it a little more complicated so that they would be able to concentrate on the given spell further.”
“I know that, I asked my Transfiguration teacher Professor McGonagall that.” Gohan answered back. “But then I wondered how hard it would be to make some of my own. Since not all kinds of them are used on everything, I assumed I could create some of my own that could be used in certain situations.”
“I’m afraid you’re not giving me enough details to go on. So you decided to make your own what?”
“…. My own spells.”
Piccolo’s eyes widened, this was something he really hadn’t expected.
“Really?” Piccolo said; his voice was mixed with impressments and astonishment. “I must say that I find that very impressive. So you actually made some of your own spells?”
“Well, I’ve made a few, but none of them are very complicated.” Gohan admitted. “Since I’m only a Second Year at Hogwarts, I couldn’t exactly make them advanced. But I don’t want you to think I’m bragging.”
“Don’t worry,” Piccolo replied, “I don’t. And don’t sell yourself short kid. Very few adult wizards have the capability to create spells these days, let alone a twelve year old. Most of the spells out and about you’ll find out about have been around for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. In fact, the last person to have created some new spells with good results was some kid in his Sixth Year about 20 years ago (give you one guess who). So what kinds have you made? Could you show me what you’ve come up with?”
“I can’t,” Gohan explained, “The Ministry of Magic tracks all underage wizards and if they use magic they can get expelled from school.”
Piccolo sighed, “I believe you’re forgetting where your feet are standing. The Lookout is so far above the Earth, and if you add the fact that this place has its own Ancient Magic surrounding it, I doubt anyone would notice from England.”
Gohan nodded, agreeing to what Piccolo requested. He whipped out his wand from his robes and pointed it to nowhere in particular.
“Could you give me some light?”
Piccolo’s only response was raising his hand, and let an orb of yellow energy flow above his palm, brightening up the sanctuary’s surroundings. He released it, and allowed it float above their heads between them.
Gohan raised his wand, and shouted, “Caligo Obscurus!”
A jet of what looked like pure black mist erupted from the tip of his wand, expanding in all directions of the area of the Lookout. It came over Piccolo and Gohan with ease, and then within a few seconds the whole Lookout was encoded with a black cloud that no light could penetrate. Gohan and Piccolo could still feel that the energy ball was their, but except for darkness they could see nothing.
From the darkness Piccolo stated, “Very impressive. So it produces this… mist that blocks out all light outside the cloud and extinguishes the light within it as well I assume? That makes it so that your opponent can’t see what they are going to hit and giving you an advantage, despite the fact that you would be as blind also. Nevertheless it’s a very clever and simple spell; I’m very amazed at the creativity.”
“Yep,” Gohan’s voice came from the darkness, “this was one of my first ones; I got it finished about a month ago when the Common Room was empty. It also makes it so that no lights at all can be seen from inside. So even if Vegeta powered up to Super Saiyan or a wizard used a spell that brings light, it won’t make it any brighter. But it will only last as long as how powerful the wizard who uses it makes the charm. I thought it would be good for if you were in a wizard duel, or even if you were in a fight like you, me and Vegeta. You’d use the charm and lower your ki so that you would be practically invisible. It’s also good if you want to make a quick escape like if we fought Cell again or something. The only problem is if they can hear you, then you’re a goner.”
“So how do you get rid of it quickly? I’m pretty sure that it’ll be around here for a while seeing as how powerful a wizard you are (if Piccolo could see, Gohan would be flushing slightly with embarrassment), so is there a way you can get rid of it now?”
Gohan nodded, “Finite Incantatem!”
Suddenly, the darkness dispersed, evaporating into the sky and allowing the orb to shine brightly and the stars and moon to shine their pale glow as well. Piccolo and Gohan rubbed their eyes a little from the immense amount of light that had been brought back.
Piccolo sent another energy blast at the first one, destroying them both and making the sky less bright once more.
“Nice spell. Did you create that one as well?”
Gohan shook his head, “No, I learned that one from watching one of my least favorite teachers use it during the Duel Club.”
“Got enough time for one more?” Piccolo asked.
“Can’t. I told the others (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) that I’d be in bed soon, and I left the fireplace lit in the Common Room. If I’m not back soon, I’m pretty sure that Harry and Ron will be up looking for me.”
“Well I guess you should be going. Nice talking with you kid, take care of yourself.”
“Thanks for speaking with me Piccolo, I feel a lot better now. See you later.”
“Later.”
And then, as fast as Gohan had appeared at the Lookout to talk with his mentor, he was gone, returning back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
As the Eater holidays came, Gohan soon realized that many things had changed over the last few months. Many people had begun to act more regular toward Harry and Gohan; one of the most particular ones was Ernie Macmillan. Also, Harry and the others never once brought up what they had learned from their snooping to Gohan’s delight. All four of the kids were as content as could be at the moment, with no attacks happening for quite some time. Gohan was even more pleased than usual since his chat with Piccolo, who eased his mind as well as encouraged him with his spells. Also, Professor Sprout informed them all that once the Mandrakes were fully matured (which would be soon), they would be able to revive the people that had been petrified.
Gohan was also given the option of staying at Hogwarts instead of going back home. Gohan had written to his mom (and got sent by a particular divine being) and told her that Second Years had to choose new subjects for the rest of the school year, until they reached their Sixth Year and had the option to drop any of their subjects. He even sent her a list of the subjects that he could take so that he could have her opinion as well as his friends at schools. Since Chi-Chi took his education very seriously, she wrote back and said that she wouldn’t mind waiting until the school year ends to see her boy if Gohan had to use the time and decide what he should take. She also told him that she didn’t care what he took (seeing as she didn’t know what more than half the subjects meant) the next year, just as long as he enjoyed what he took and got good grades in it. Gohan couldn’t blame her; he didn’t even know what he should take and would have liked some other’s opinion, not that he needed any.
Apparently, Chi-Chi had shown her letter and the list to the whole gang when they had a reunion at Capsule Corp., and many of them were interested in what the classes were. After persuading Piccolo to tell them what the classes meant, they all sent letters (by Dende again) to ask how he was and tell how they were doing and express what they thought of the classes. Practically all of them turned down all of the boring ones (Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, etc.), and had their own opinions on what they thought was cool. Gohan had immediately decided on doing Care of Magical Creatures seeing as he was practically good with all animals and had fun with them, and he was sure his dad would have liked that class. But for the last class he decided to go with Divination, seeing as Harry and the others were going with it as well and he could ask for help if he needed any (which we all know me will). He only wished he could give up Defense Against the Dark Arts; he hasn’t had a very good impression on the subject since Lockhart was teaching it.
Gohan had been watching Harry train with the Gryffindor Quidditch team for their final match against Hufflepuff, and had begun to leave as they ended their practice. Gohan then spent some time in the Great Hall, going over his homework for Potions so that Snape wouldn’t have any reason for giving him a bad grade. He didn’t have to, seeing as he knew his essay was flawless, but Snape had it in for him ever since Gohan kept on proving that he was a know it all who didn’t show off (unlike Hermione, who jumped at the chance to answer a question, an answer Snape ignored or insulted).
“Okay there’s no way Snape can fail me for this, I guess that itch on his back to make me look stupid will have to wait a little longer. Now to just go back to the Common Room and drop it off for tomorrow and I’m through with homework tonight.”
Gohan made his way down the hall, feeling pretty cheerful at the moment. So far, the rest of his school year was pretty good for the last few months. With the exception of his feud with the others everything was fine. And then he made his way through the Portrait and up the stairs to the boy’s dormitory. As he opened the door he saw Seamus, Dean, Neville, Ron, and Harry standing in the middle of the room. It looked as though someone in the room had just powered up; papers were everywhere, drawers were open, clothes were everywhere, it was a mess. And the strange part was, from what he saw Gohan knew most of the stuff on the ground was Harry’s! Everyone looked to Gohan as he walked slowly towards them, surprised someone new had arrived.
“Umm, so what did you guys take during this party while I was gone?” As he saw the glare Harry and Ron gave him, he added, “So seriously, what the heck happened in here you guys?”
“I came in here and saw all this stuff lying around, and then I met Harry and brought him up here to see. The rest of the guys just showed up.” Neville replied, his round faced bursting with pink from exhaustion.
“Well, is anything missing?”
“I don’t think so.” Harry answered but his eyes told a different story. They showed panic and worry, something that Harry rarely had unless it was serious (well that’s obvious).
“It looks like someone’s been looking for something,” Gohan observed, “Is there anything gone?”
Harry walked over to Gohan, and stood next to him so that he could say something without others (except Ron) in the room to hear.
“The diary’s gone.” Harry muttered.
“What!” Gohan said in a loud whisper.
Suddenly Harry stalked out of the dormitory, and Ron and Gohan followed immediately. Gohan saw that the Common Room had filled with some people in the time that he had been in the dormitory, and one of the people was Hermione, who was sitting alone reading a book titled Ancient Runes Made Easy. Gohan assumed that Harry was going to tell Hermione the diary was gone, and apparently he was right. When he finished revealing what they found out, she looked horrified at the information she heard.
“But-only a Gryffindor could have stolen-nobody else knows our password”-
“Exactly.” Harry said, his eyes showing anxiety.
“This bad, Gohan stated, who knew from experience what this would mean, “This is a sign guys. Now that the diary’s gone, we know that someone knew we had it. It’s probably only a matter of time until the attacks start again.”
“What do you mean?” Ron asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Gohan retorted, his face serious and in concentration. “It all makes sense now. The attacks stopped right near the time that we found the diary, so that means that whoever the Heir is had the diary the whole time.”
“Of course.” Hermione said, understanding what he was meaning. “That’s probably why the attacks stopped; if they knew how the diary worked and what Riddle did to it, than it would be incredibly risky to continue doing it while it was out in the unknown.”
Gohan nodded, “And that’s bad for them since it would be really incriminating if the diary wound up in the hands of someone who’d turn it in. They must have seen me or Harry with the book, and then figured out it would be eventual until Riddle told us.”
“But does that mean it’s a Gryffindor who’s doing this, seeing as they knew our password?” Harry stated.
Gohan didn’t answer his question; he just kept thinking and thinking about something that just occurred to him.
“What?” Harry asked.
“I just thought of something,” Gohan uttered, “what about when we found the diary? Didn’t Myrtle say someone threw it away?”
“Yeah, but is that anything important?” Ron replied.
“No.” Gohan supposed distantly, “No, I suppose it doesn’t.”
But in his mind, he thought this was very important news. If someone threw the diary away, than that meant there were two reasons for doing this. One theory was that someone else found the diary, talked to Riddle (or just thought it for a piece of trash) and realized who would come after it and tossed it away as quickly as possible. But that seemed a little too random; surely they would have turned the diary in if they knew what it contained, if they knew what Riddle knew and was. But, there was another circumstance, one that seemed really suspicious. What if the Heir him/herself had actually thrown away the book? What if they had gotten rid of it on purpose? But what would they have to gain from doing that? There was actually more to loose if they did that than keeping it.
Gohan shook his head, This is getting really confusing.
……………………………………………………………………………………………....
The next day, the sun shown brightly into the Great Hall as people were eating their breakfast, excited and talkative over the final match of the Quidditch season. Many of the Gryffindors around them (Harry, Hermione, and Ron included) were so psyched over the final match that they even disregarded Gohan’s eating habits for the day. Gohan gave his own encouragement to Harry and the others in many levels; he wanted to see his first final match as a win for Gryffindor. Wood was droning on and on about how they should plan for the match and giving the players tips for when they were on the field, which was getting quite annoying to those on and not on the team.
But the thought that whoever stole the diary may be sitting near Gohan was overwhelming, even in the cheerful conditions then. They couldn’t tell anyone that a Gryffindor (if it was one) stole from Harry since they would have had to explain what was so important about it, and that would result in Hagrid probably going off to that prison Malfoy mentioned on Christmas. Harry told them that he had to get his Quidditch things ready, so Gohan and the others agreed to go up with him and encourage him some more. They made their way out of the Great Hall and got to the entrance within minutes. But then, something Gohan had prayed to Dende would never occur while he was at Hogwarts happened again.
“Kill this time…let me rip… tear…”
Gohan and Harry stopped immediately; fear the reigning emotion on their face. They turned to each other, as if they knew what the other was going to say.
“The voice is back!” Harry shouted as a reaction, looking over his shoulder nervously. “I just heard it again, you did too right Gohan?”
Gohan nodded gravely, “Unfortunately. And you heard what it said this occasion right? Kill this time?”
Harry nodded too, and Ron and Hermione just looked as if they had no clue what they were talking about; even though that’s true, they both looked nervous and wide eyed. Suddenly, Hermione gave a small, shrill yelp of recognition and slapped her hand on her forehead.
“Gohan, Harry-I think I finally understand something! I need to go to the library now!”
And with that, she ran out and headed towards the library at top speed. Gohan and the other boys watched her as she made her way down the hall.
“What the heck does she understand?” Gohan asked.
“A lot more than I do, I can tell you that much.” Ron muttered, as if this wasn’t very important at the moment.
“But why is she going to the library? It isn’t like her at all to miss a match that’s extremely important to Gryffindor.”
“It is if you’re Hermione.” Ron said wearily. “That girl goes to the library for every little thing. I’m sure that she has a bed there if she needs to do research for a project.”
Gohan’s eyes widened in surprise; Hermione had realized whatever it is she did right after Harry and him had distinguished they had heard the voice again. What if she figured out the monster was a snake like Gohan and Piccolo had?!
“Come on,” Ron’s voice broke this thought. “You need to get moving Harry. It’s almost eleven, the match.”
And so they made their way to the Gryffindor Tower so Harry could get his Nimbus, and then they attached themselves to the number of people that were also making their way down to the Quidditch field. Gohan and Ron went out to the bleachers while Harry was going to be with the rest of his team. Gohan still couldn’t forget the voice, though did his best as he joined the applause that met the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams as Madam Hooch released the balls into the air. But then Gohan noticed that Professor McGonagall was making her way onto the field with what looked like a megaphone in hand.
He heard her shout, “This match has been cancelled!” Gohan saw Wood shouting at her, but she ignored it. “All students are to report to their House Common Rooms, where your Heads of Houses will give you all further information. As quickly as you can, please!”
Gohan was disappointed, though curious. Why would Professor McGonagall, who from what he heard wanted to win as badly as anyone else, cancel the match so suddenly?
And then it hit him; the color in his face drained as he remembered the voice: Kill this time. He immediately looked for ki signals that were like Colin and the others, anyone that felt like they were there yet not there. And then, he found two of them; they were both in the Hospital Wing (he knew from where Madam Pomfrey’s ki was). He immediately ran down to the Quidditch field, and Ron followed him suite. He made his way to where Harry and Professor McGonagall were. They were making there way up to the castle, and he saw that Harry looked as pale as Professor McGonagall was. Gohan was sure that she would tell him and Ron to leave her and Harry alone, but to his surprise she didn’t say anything to send them away.
“Yes. I think you two should also come with us Weasley, Son.” She spoke softly.
She led them to the Hospital Wing, where all three boys had confused looks on their faces. Why was she taking them to the Hospital Wing? Gohan respected his teacher enough to not read her mind though it was very tempting. As they entered the room, they saw Madam Pomfrey over on the other side.
“This will come as a shock,” Professor McGonagall said to them, “But there has been another attack (Gohan mentally thought, I knew it), another double attack.”
As they got closer, they saw Madam Pomfrey tending to the Prefect girl that they had seen when they used the Polyjuice potion, the 5th year Ravenclaw girl. And next to her, her expression filled with shock and horror, was-
“'Hermione!'” All three boys groaned, shocked to see their friend like this. Her eyes were like glass, vacant and empty.
“They were found near the library,” said Professor McGonagall tenderly, “Would any of you happen to know what this is about? It was found on the floor next to her (Hermione of course).”
They all shook their heads distractingly, still staring at their friend.
“I shall escort you all back to the Gryffindor Tower,” Professor McGonagall replied heavily, “I need to tell the other students about this all the same.”
Later Professor McGonagall told all of the Gryffindors the rules from here on in, but only one person was not listening to her. Gohan was in the back of the crowd, he had his eyes closed to stop tears from leaking out. His hands were clenched into fists, his nails digging into the skin of his palms.
How could I have been so STUPID?! I knew what the monster was, I knew it was going to attack, and I knew people were at risk! I should have warned her to be careful, I should have done something. This is my entire fault, I let another person down, and this is just like Cell all over again!
Suddenly, a hand tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned around with such speed the person was almost knocked off their feet. He saw Ron being held up by Harry, who both looked startled at the response.
“Sorry,” Gohan smiled slightly, “I do that when people surprise me. What’s up?”
“We’ve been thinking about going down and visiting Hagrid. They’ll be bound to go to him now and we need to talk to him. if he did set the monster loose he’ll know where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is.” Ron said.
Gohan (who had to swallow his pride to not mention anything he learned about Hagrid being innocent) nodded, “That’s a good idea, but how will we get out? Didn’t McGonagall say we have to stay in the Common Room unless we’re in class?”
“I think,” Harry muttered, “It’s about time I got out my dad’s old cloak again.”
Ron nodded in support, but Gohan raised an eyebrow.
“Your dad’s what now?”
……………………………………………………………………………………………....