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Chapter Text

 The steam locomotive pulled the Hogwarts Express away from the King's Cross station, the Platform 9 and 3/4 disappearing from the view, as they were met by fields of lush, green grass of the Scottish Highlands. 

  "Excuse me, mister, but can we sit here?" asked a boy - definitely a first year, otherwise Mathieu would have recognised him. Same with the other two - a scrawny boy with dirty blonde hair, and a pale girl with hair that looked like it hadn't seen a comb in a good while.

  Mathieu tightly smiled, but said - "Sure," hoping that the kids wouldn't get the wrong impression.

  The trio shuffled in, and suddenly, he felt like a fish in a barrel - the room crowded with luggage and owl cages. He sighed, and rested his head against the rather uncomfortable headrest. 

  "So, uhm, are you like a Ravenclaw or something?" asked one of the boys, a glint of curiosity present in his eyes as the cat in his hands just couldn't stop turning and twisting.

  Mathieu, for a second, thought whether he should even answer or not - but they are kids, and they've done nothing wrong, so the thought was gone the same moment it appeared, "Yeah, you've guessed it mate," he said, relaxing more in his seat.

  "Wait, what's a Ravenclaw?" asked the scrawnier boy - definitely a muggle, thought Mathieu. 

  "They're the smartest of all of the houses, at least my mum told me so," the girl interjected.

  "Well I'm not that smart, so I guess that's out of the window," the boy joked, a chocolate frog stuffed in his left cheek.

  "Can you tell us about the other houses, please?" asked the brown-haired boy, the same glint of curiosity still present in his eyes. 

  Mathieu loudly exhaled, and said - "Alright, I suppose,"

  "So you got of course, Ravenclaw - I suppose that we're the smartest ones, yeah. Then you got Gryffindor - they're like, walking golden retrievers, or something. Hufflepuff, they talk too much and of course Slytherin - they really, really don't fancy muggles, so do with that what you will,"

  "Wait, so they wouldn't like me?" asked the scrawny boy, a frown present on his face. 

  Shit, bad wording, Mathieu thought, as he searched for words in his head. "No, not exactly - they're stuck-up, from what I've seen. All pure-bloods, almost all, who think that they're better than everyone else."

  "Ooh," the boy mouthed in reply.

  "Actually, my mother told me that Slytherins are just ambitious," the little girl chastised, crossing her arms.

  "Our views may contray, shall we agree to disagree?" Mathieu said, dipping his head as a sign - I'm out of this conversation.

  The girl, seemingly gotten the hint, nodded, and turned her attention out of the window - the great lake was already in sight, though covered by a blanket of thick fog. A silence fell over the booth, and Mathieu shut his eyes.

  Mathieu sat in the Dining Hall, at the Ravenclaw table, watching as the enchanted candles serenely danced above the school bodies head. The first years, three of whom he had guessed right, were gathered around the Deputy Headmistress - Anna van der Breggen, which made him wonder - where is the headmaster? 

  The kids, one by one, were called up by the Deputy Headmistress, and sorted into houses. Still, none of them were in Ravenclaw. Yet.

  "Jasper Philipsen" the sorting hat called. It was one of the kids from the train earlier, thought Mathieu, now looking at the Sorting Hat with a bit more interest than prior to this. 

  "Ravenclaw"

  The whole Ravenclaw table clapped, eyes glued on the brunette, who was now approaching the table decorated in blue and bronze. 

  For a brief moment, he met Jasper's eyes, and gave the boy a nod - he looked like he was in ecstasy, thought.

  "Slytherin," it said for the girl he had met from the table earlier - Mischa Bredewold, if he recalls correctly, and he sees it, actually. The serpent table claps for her as she joins the bunch, a proud smile on her face.

  She was actually a nice girl, he thought, what a shame that she had to go to that house. It was full of... purebloods, who indeed thought that they were better than everyone else. A tight-knit community. The word snake described their groups perfectly. 

  It described van Aert, and his friends, perfectly. The man in question, surrounded by his goons - Lotte, Adam and Tom. His eyes narrowed as he saw the familiar head of Demi around them too. Of course. She had been obsessing over Lotte like she hung the moon for the past couple of months. Of course, she had to betray him like that.

  Sepp and Demi were the only Slytherins he could stand if he were to be honest, but unless the blonde explains herself very well, it looks like it's only Sepp for now.

  Lastly, the last - scrawniest with that dirty blonde hair got sorted into Gryffindor - and good for him, honestly. That's one of the better houses for a muggle like him. And, he looked like he had the virtues of a true Gryffindor too. 

  After the rest of the 1st years were sorted into their respective houses, the Deputy Headmistress stepped up. 

  Again, Mathieu was left to wonder -  where was their headmaster? He surely would have heard something if he had died, but it looks like he has just, disappeared, and professor van der Breggen doesn't even care!

  She smiled at the student body, dipping her head, before saying the now familiar words - "Now… to our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you…"

  Piles of food appeared onto the table out of nowhere, and with that, the feast began.

  "Ravenclaws! Come with me," said Ashleigh, a now seven year, both the Ravenclaw perfect, and now, a head-girl. She scurried across the school towards the Ravenclaw tower. The students followed the suit.

  "Spell it."

  "I-t"

  The door opened, letting the students inside. Mathieu was so glad to finally have a bit of peace and quiet. "I hope that all of you remember the password," Ashleigh warned, before she herself went to the girls' dormitories.

  Most of the student body had left the common room, so he plopped down in one of the blue-padded chairs, picking up the random book that had been lying down on the coffee table. It was something about Divination. Of course, divination being an elective subject meant that it wasn't compulsory - for a fact, he didn't even attend it, though that doesn't stop the book from being a good time-killer.

  "Excuse me, what's your name?"

  Mathieu looked puzzled for a second, before he once again remembered that there are first-years here. He looked up, meeting the boy's eyes - it was Jasper, the same kid from the train, as well as one of the few new Ravenclaws.

  "I'm Mathieu. Mathieu van der Poel," he introduced himself.

  "Oh, cool! I'm Jasper Philipsen-"

  "Don't worry, I already knew that. We don't get loads of students, if you couldn't see," he cut the boy off.

  "Oh," Jasper mouthed before plopping down on the sofa, leaning in - "What are you reading, Mathieu?"

  "It's about divination. You won't have it until year three, and even then, it's not an obligatory subject," he replied.

  "Is it interesting, at least?" Jasper asked. Once again, the glint of curiosity was present. He was a one curious student, for sure. Maybe that's why he was sorted into the house that he was...

  "I don't know, I don't take it, ask someone like... Felix? You know, Felix Gall. He's planning on taking it next year..." Mathieu said, a small part of him hoping that Jasper would actually head and look for Felix, but by the looks of things, the boy had no plans to move.

  "No, I don't know Felix Gall. I'll try to find him later, though," Jasper said. "Actually, what do you take, if not Divination-" he added quickly, looking like he genuinely wanted to hear. That's something unseen, for sure.

  "I take Care of Magical Creatures and Study of Ancient Runes," Mathieu replied, placing the book back on the coffee table. It wasn't that interesting anyways.

  "Magical creatures, as if, in beasts?" asked Jasper.

  "No, not beasts. They're creatures... Magical creatures," Mathieu frowned. It was stupid to get offended by stuff like this, sure, but these creatures were there when no one else was. 

  "Oh!" Jasper replied. The conversation went on, just like that, for a couple of minutes - it felt like a survey, but at least the kid will be a bit more chill later - well, he better be.

  "What's the worst of the worst professor?" was a question that caught Mathieu's interest, for sure.

  "Mate do you really wanna know?" the blonde raised his eyebrow.

  "For sure. I need to prepare for the worst..." Jasper enthusiastically nodded.

  "All right, you'll despise potions. Trust me, the professor likes to play favourites so much," Mathieu warned.

  "Will take that into consideration, actually-"

  "It's late, and our stuff must have arrived by now. So why don't we head to bed? I'll even show you Felix's dorm," he suggested before the kid thought up another question, sleep's been crawling in his eyes for the past ten minutes, surely.

  "Alright!"

  "Tomorrow."

  "Oh."

  "Good night, Jasper,'' he nodded before rushing up to his dorm. 

  When Mathieu opened his eyes again, it was because of the alarm, indicating that it was around six thirty in the morning and breakfast was about to start soon.

  When he took a look outside a window, the clouds were tainted gray, while it was pissing rain. Well, whoever had their first flying class today? Yeah, he feels bad for them. 

  After opening his window in ventilation mode, tying his tie, and preparing his books for later, he slipped his cypress wand inside his robe and stepped out of his dorm. A loud chatter could immediately be heard from the common room - a voice he recognized to be Felix's, and another, which he immediately tied to Jasper.

  Looks like he had found Felix before he had a chance to introduce them, he shrugs.

  "Oh, morning, Mathieu!" greeted Jasper, as soon as he walked inside the common room. Mathieu nodded at him, then later at Felix.

  He plopped down in a blue armchair, tapping his foot as he waited for the clock to tick seven, so the students would finally be let out of dormitories (legally).

  "Got yourself another admirer?" asked Marlen, sitting down on the armchair next to his, crossing her legs. 

  "I didn't sign up for this," he whined at the upperclassman.

  The brunette chuckled, before glancing at the clock - "Hey, it's time. We should get going!" before rising up, quickly brushing her hands against the black robe and scurrying to the door.

  The Ravenclaws who weren't in the common room already headed out, while the ones hiding out in their dormitories just now emerged, heading for the exit too.

  He entered the great hall, and sat down in the further end of the table, only Marlen being closer to the exit than him. He stole a quick glance at the Slytherin table, but all of them were facing their back against him. He narrowed his eyes, before returning to his own meal.

  "Did you hear that Lotte and Demi are like, together?" Marlen asked.

  Yeah, Mathieu knew. He thought that everyone knew. "Yeah, Demi's been circling around her like she's the queen bee or something," he hissed.

  "Wait, like are they actually?" she exclaimed in shock.

  "I think...?" Mathieu rose his eyebrow.

  "Ah, never mind, it's not even that big of a deal if I were to be honest. All I need to focus are my O.W.L's this year..." she trailed off.

  It was a big deal, though. At least to him. When one of your only friends just decides to get together with someone that you both had talked shit about just months ago? That looked like a pretty big deal to him.

Chapter Text

  "This year, I will be your new History of Magic professor. And with that, I want you all to write down the classroom rules, present during this year...'' professor Cummings said, leaning against the table, scanning the classroom.

  "Open your notebooks, stop staring at me!" he ordered, as the class followed the suit.

  Wout tried to concentrate, though Lotte has been trying to get his attention for the past half a minute, so he really had no choice. "What?" he hissed under his breath to his desk mate.

  "I know where it is," she said, a determined look on her face.

  "I told you to not look it up!" Wout hissed back, furrowing his eyebrows.

  "Shh, Demi found it in the restricted area!" she whispered back, eyes falling on the blonde sitting two desks forwards for a second.

  "What- How did she even get there! I told you not to do that!" he stared at Lotte with wide eyes.

  It was already bad enough that he was the Slytherin heir, and now they had found a way right into the Chamber of Secrets? Something, that for a fact, only he was supposed to know about? They've onto something.

  "You don't understand, you have to go there and do something!" Lotte replied.

  "What do I need to-" Wout started, before he was cut off by professor Cummings.

  "Mister van Aert, could you enlighten me on rule four?" he said with a smirk.

  "Uh- no, I can't, sorry sir,'' he lowered his eyes.

  "What about you, miss Kopecky?"

  "I- I don't, I can't do that either," she replied.

  "I'll be waiting you both here, after classes," he said, smiling once again, and continuing to list down the rules.

  Did she really bring him into this mess, on the first period of the first day? Not even ten minutes had passed!

  But still, he doesn't understand the need to go and unlock the Chamber of Secrets. It had to be called that for a reason! And, just because he was the new Slytherin heir, didn't mean that he needed to be the one who discovers what's going down in these chambers. He's got better stuff to do, for sure.

  "Merlin's beard, did you really got into detention in the first ten minutes of the new school year? That's got to be a record," joked Adam, Wout shoved an elbow in his ribs to shut him.

  "It's not even funny! Lotte told me that Demi had found something about the Chambers of Secrets!" he exclaimed in frustration.

  "Geez, you're such a liberal. You're the Slytherin heir, you definitely got to go down there and see! We could even go down with you! Wouldn't that be cool?" Adam whined.

  "Yeah, we wan't to see too, and as far as we know, you're the only one that speaks parseltongue!" suggested Lotte.

  "But how did you even got into the restricted area? Isn't it, like, restricted?" asked Wout, to Demi.

  "A real witch doesn't reveal her secrets!'' Demi said and winked. "But on a serious note, you should definitely go down there!"

  "Wait, what do you mean by down there?" Adam said, plopping down and claiming a seat in Potion's classroom.

  "Sources say that it's inside the second floor girl's bathroom," whispered Demi, though not before glancing and making sure that nobody's around.

  "Second floor girls' bathroom? Really?" asked Wout in disbelief. Who would put a secret chamber in the second floor girls' bathroom? Wasn't that the same one which was very unpopular between the student body?

  "Yes, the one where Moaning Myrtle resides in!" Lotte kept her voice low.

  "Who is that..." Adam asked.

  "You'll see in the lunch break," winked Demi as she turned back into her seat, preparing the last bits for the lesson to begin.

  Professor Niermann was the head of the Slytherin house, which made him a bit biased towards fellow Slytherin students... He's heard multiple students from other houses complaining about that. But it's not like any of the other head of the houses prefer their respective house students over the other...

  "Greetings, class," the professor said, taking slow but long strides towards his desk. "I expect you all to be prepared for each lesson, though I think that we'll stick to theory for the first two weeks," he informed the class, and an audible groan emerged. "What was that?" he hissed, before walking towards his blackboard and taking a white chalk in his hand.

  "Today we'll be listing down all of the potions and ingredients that we'll be working with this semester. In order for you all to understand them correctly, I expect you all to be all ears in Herbology..." he trailed on, ordering for them to open their notebooks and start writing down.

  "Warra class..." muttered Wout, making Adam snicker besides him. 

  This, definitely wasn't what he expected from the teacher this year. Listen in Herbology? Is he being for real? Even staring at a blank wall is more interesting than that...

  "van der Poel, could you share with us the appearance of a Belladonna?" asked professor Niermann, resting against his desk. 

  Is this even fair? I swear that we haven't learned it yet... He's a Ravenclaw, would probably still know it, thought Wout.

  "It's black-"

  "It's a dark blue, sometimes purple small berry with big, green leaves. Thank you, van der Poel," 

  "I swear he's got an agenda against the half-bloods," whispered Adam. Wout shook his head in agreement.

  "Before entering, you all need to know something very important," said Demi, standing in the way of the door.

  "What," Adam said, dragging out the 't' before earning an elbow in rib by Lotte.

  "She's very, very sensitive. Don't offend her, no matter what it takes," Demi warned, giving Adam an especially stern look.

  "Who's she?" Adam exclaimed.

  "You'll see," chuckled Lotte.

  Wout chuckled under his breath, as the quartet entered the bathroom.

  "This bathroom isn't even that bad, I don't see why it's not used-" Adam started, before he was cut off by a high-pitched voice.

  "Oh my days! Demi! I haven't seen you in so long!" the voice exclaimed. The owner of the voice was a ghost - glasses on, hair tied in two ponytails, as well as a Ravenclaw robe hanging down her shoulders. The ghost hugged Demi. 

  "Hello, what's your name?" Wout asked, trying to be as polite as possible, though an uncomfortable smile crept it's way on his face.

  "Hello, I'm Myrtle - people often call me Moaning Myrtle, which I find very offensive..." the ghost whined. Yeah, there was probably a good reason why she's called that, he thought.

  "Isn't there a reason for that?" asked Adam - by the looks of things, he was oblivious of what he just did.

  That's probably something that would offend someone like her, someone who was offended by a nickname... How sensitive can a person be?

  The ghost looked offended for a second, before she flew away, just to return, mouth wide open, barging at Adam, flying right through him.

  He screamed. Lotte's hand was over his mouth in two seconds. The ghost was gone in three. Wout hadn't comprehended what happened even after 30. Didn't look like any of his housemates were doing any better though.

  "Good, now you've scared her away! She can tell whoever she wants to, too!" Lotte loudly exhaled, letting Adam free.

  "Tell what?" out of thin air appeared Moaning Myrtle, eyeing them curiously.

  "We want to get into the Chamber of Secrets," Demi said straight up. It's probably for the best for her to do the talking.

  "You know that you'll need the Slytherin Heir to even gain control over the Basilisk, right?" she said, puzzled.

  "Wait are Basilisk's real?" Adam exclaimed.

  "You'll have to wait and see!" Myrtle fluttered her eyelashes at him, before turning back into Demi - "So, who's the Slytherin heir?" She's so weird.

  Lotte clapped his back and pushed him forward.

  "Oh, this kind gentleman?" she looked genuinely surprised.

  "Yes, this kind gentleman," Demi tightly smiled. Wout tried to keep a polite look on his face.

  "Interesting! But I think that you all will have to delay your plans, the next lesson is starting... soon," Myrtle smiled, waving at them before disappearing into one of the pipes.

  "Seriously? Why is the break so short!" whined Adam. Wout was much happier about the whole thing, maybe she had made others just as uncomfortable that she had made him, and that they'd scrap the idea entirely.

  "Let's go, come on," Demi said, grabbing Lotte's wrist. The two girls led the way to their next class - Transfiguration.

  Transfiguration went by in a breeze - it was never too hard, but interesting enough to keep them for talking. The professor had a good sense of humour too - which is not a thing that Wout can say about Gryffindor's often. She was definitely an exception.

  The same case was with Divination - of course, the professor was a tad bit more weird, but it still kept him from joking with his friends like a couple of other classes and professors did, for sure.

  Now, he was sitting in professor Cummings' cabinet, him being long gone with the two just listing down the rules, an enchanted bunch of pixies screaming and pulling at their ears if they decide to talk. They figured it out the hard way.

  I swear that he has forgotten about us

  Was written on a piece of paper that Lotte had torn out of her notebook just seconds ago. 

  Wout dipped his quill in the ink, before writing - I know right.

  Sneak out? It's not like he would notice at this point..

  Wout nodded and stood up, brushing his hands against the robe as he closed his notebook and stuffed the writing tools inside the table.

  Speak of the devil, the man entered the room the given second. That's what you get for following Lotte's ideas though - she was like a talisman of bad luck.

  "Where do you two think that you're going?" he said, looking like he had just seen a troll. With a flick of his wand, the pixie was back in it's cage - eyes still fixated on them two, though.

  "The time is almost up, and you didn't look like you were going to come in anytime soon,'' said Wout, trying to sound as diplomatic as possible.

  "I dismiss you. And of course I would have came! And what's with the note? Hm?" he asked.

  "Oh, It's nothing-" Lotte said, scrunching the paper and slipping it inside her pocket.

  "If a student says that it's nothing, then it is everything but nothing. Come on, hop hop, give me the note!" professor Cummings crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes.

  Lotte handed him the note in defeat, giving Wout an apologetic look. 

  "Interesting... Students planning an escape... Detention for the next week, you're free now only because I'm obliged to let you go because of the time," he sternly replied.

  Wout and Lotte scurried to the door, paying careful attention so that they don't end up slamming the door. That would be the last thing that they want at the given moment.

  "So, about the Chamber of Secrets... We're still going tonight, right?" Lotte asked when they were just about to enter the dungeons, on their way to the Slytherin Common room.

Chapter Text

  Ever since he was handed the sheet to select his elective subjects at Hogwarts, back at the end of year two, he knew that the subject of Care of Magical Creatures was something that he really, really wanted to try out - it was no surprise that it ended up being one of his favourite subjects - alongside Charms and Astronomy. 

  "What would we do without Newton Scamander," whispered Nielson, one of the few friends he had outside his house, a Hufflepuff - also, probably the oldest Hatstall currently attending Hogwarts. They met through Sepp and Demi (which he decided that he's not friends with anymore, even if the latter still attended this very class), if his memory is to be trusted.

  "Let me correct you - what you would do without Newton Scamander," Mathieu sneered back.

  "Might have forgotten than all Ravenclaws are nerds," he joked.

  "We're not nerds, you're all just muppets,"

  "Yea yea, sure," Nielson rolled his eyes before opening his book.

  The class was just outside the forbidden forest - Creature care being one of the only instances in which they're even allowed to enter it, there's a reason why it's called the Forbidden forest, after all.

  "Alright, I want you all to open 16th page in the A-Z section, and read about fairies. Individually," said the teacher, directing the second part to a duo of Gryffindor's - one of whom had a dodgy reading. 

  Mathieu opened the book - page 16, page 16.

  "Fairies are treated as slaves and you cannot prove me wrong," Nielson whispered.

  "They're described as having little intelligence, I don't think that they're even self aware..."

  "They can laugh!" Nielson exclaimed.

  "Well you know that they will not laugh at their jokes, like everybody else," Mathieu chirped.

  "Sepp laughs at my jokes!" defended Nielson.

  "Because he feels bad for you mate," Mathieu replied before turning his attention back on the book.

  He finished the rest of the text that N. Scamander had written in their schoolbook, just as the teacher enticed the class to finally move forwards.

  "Today we'll go to a special place, where Fairies are known to linger about, so I hope that you all remember how to act around an XX rated beast," their professor stated as the group had finally begun to move.

  Beasts. Mathieu really disliked the term, especially used on species who can quite frankly do nothing to you. Yeah, they have some kind of magic, but despite their quarrelsome nature, a competent witch or a wizard should definitely be able to put a one into their place. 

  "Do you dislike it when people call pretty much unharmful species 'beasts'?" questioned Mathieu.

  "Oh yea, definitely. They're used as slaves, I said it before!" Nielson agreed.

  Mathieu sat in the Ravenclaw common room, legs stretched out on the table as he read the Charms schoolbook - another subject that he fancies. Actually, he's pretty sure that once he graduates, it'll be the subject that he'll return at Hogwarts for and teach.

  He hadn't even noticed the presence of a certain first year, up until the latter straight up asked him - What's this book.

  "Yea? Which one?" asked Mathieu, rising his eyebrow.

  "Newton Scamander - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them?" Jasper said.

  "Oh, it's my Creature Care book. I have to revise a thing or two before my next lesson," Mathieu informed.

  "Creature Care?" Jasper rose his eyebrow.

  "Yea, it's one of my favourite subjects. You just go out in the Forbidden Forest and learn about them," 

  "Ooh. Can I borrow the book?" asked Jasper.

  "Only four thirty minutes, maximum. I'll still need it," Mathieu nodded, returning back to the Charms schoolbook he was reading just before.

  "Have you ever taken care of a Basilisk, Mathieu?" asked Jasper, out of nowhere.

  "Taken care of what?" Mathieu asked in surprise.

  "A Basilisk, Mathieu..." Jasper said.

  "Is that even in the book?"

  "It looks like it - page two. Oh, it says that it hasn't been spotted in over four hundred years, so I guess that's that," Jasper informed.

  "Does it?"

  "Yeah. It's pretty deadly - you can die from just glancing into their eyes!" Jasper exclaimed.

  "Oh... Can I have my book back, please?" asked Mathieu, thanking Jasper as the boy hurried back to do his own things.

  For some reason, Mathieu had just taken the biggest interest in this supposed creature.

  If what the book had written is to be trusted, it's some type of snake, but he already knew that. Actually, there was a rumor that one had lived under Hogwarts a long, long time - but as far as he knew, if it didn't live in the dungeons and was some dodgy Slytherin secret, then the rumor was false. Maybe the Chambers of Secrets, but the existence of that alone was a rumor.

  If a fifty feet green snake was really living in the Slytherin dungeons, then his trust for Sepp would lessen, and he wouldn't even want to look at Demi anymore. He had no proof of any of this though, so off to the library he went. Worse if they were hiding any kind of Chamber down there too - or anywhere for that matter.

  But would the Slytherins really include a muggle into their schemes? Probably not, but it's better to be safe than sorry. 

  It wasn't too late - around eight o'clock if he had to guess. The sky had begun to darken a while ago, but that wasn't anything that a quick flick of a wand and a phrase muttered couldn't solve.

  He walked down the stairs of the Ravenclaw tower, brick walls illuminated by the light beaming from his wand. Finally, after reaching the end of the stairs, he went straight to the library.

  He greeted the librarian with a polite smile before he took a curt glance around the room - students were scattered sparsely around the library. Yes, he silently thought as he started to look for any clues.

  After around an hour, he had a hefty collection of books where something related could be in.

  He started with Most Macabre Monstrosities. Just by the name alone, something like that had to be between the pages - and he wasn't wrong. Page 724 - Basilisk.

  Though his heart begun to swell with disappointment not long after - the only thing that was added to the tally was the fact that he now knew the perfect climate for them.

  Not before late, he realized that maybe even the library couldn't bring peace to his heart - plus, the time that students were allowed out of the dormitories was slowly but surely ticking out.

  His plans changed once he took a quick glance into the direction of the restricted section. Maybe that's where he'll find the answers, he thought. Could he just come up to the librarian and ask her about whether he can enter? Probably not. But does it stop him from trying? 

  He approached the librarian after putting all of his books back in place, and asked "Ma'am, could I possibly enter the restricted section?"

  She rose her eyebrow. "One student at a time, only,"

  "Wait, is someone in there already?" He rose his eyebrow.

  "I let in miss Vollering in around half a hour ago," she said. "Now shoo, we're closing soon anyways,"

  Mathieu retreated in defeat, making the wand shine again as he scurried back through the stairs up to the Ravenclaw tower.

  "Where were you out so late, Mathieu?" Marlen questioned, rising her eyes from her Arithmancy book.

  "I was doing something, got to head to sleep now, night, Marlen," he said, hoping that she wouldn't ask any questions as he hurried to his dorm.

  What was Demi out of all people doing in the restricted area? Maybe all the Slytherins had formed some alliance against everybody else this year after all, because Demi hadn't made any effort in communicating with him at all. Sepp did, but mostly with Nielson - they shared more classes together than he and Sepp did, and after all, Slytherins had always been closer with Hufflepuff's. Maybe because they're just naive, he thought for a second before reminding himself that he's got absolutely no proof of anything he had just conspired. 

  He sighed, plopping down in his bed with a silent thud, sinking in the sheets. He stared at the ceiling for most of the night instead of sleeping. 

Chapter Text

  Wout shivered as they now stood at the door of the second floor girl's bathroom, the dusk creeping through the large windows, only the torches dimly illuminating the castle walls. At least enough so they could get their way around, but that's it.

  Footsteps echoed in the hallway, sounded like someone was running in their direction. But Wout knew most of his friends by just footsteps, so he was pretty positive that it's just Adam. He was proven right when he emerged from the corner, creeping towards them through the hallway that led to the bathroom.

  "Finally! We've been waiting for so long!" hissed Lotte, opening the door with a loud creek.

  "In the name of Merlin, you can't even get out of the Common Room at this hour without everybody questioning you!" Adam complained.

  "Shh, later," Demi hissed, and with that, Adam shut up, as the quartet entered the bathroom.

  Immediately, Moaning Myrtle appeared from one of the pipes, waving her hand and greeting them each. "I've been so lonely here, without all of you!" she wailed.

  It's not like you sent us away when we could have simply skipped a class or anything, thought Wout, trying to keep a polite expression present on his face.

  "Hello hello, Myrtle, but could we get to the chamber of secrets? We're kind of a hurry right now-" Demi started, cautiously as in not trying to offend the ghost - we've seen how that ends.

  "Oh, sometimes I forget that not everyone spends their days crying in pipes," Moaning Myrtle said, tilting her head as she flew towards the sinks. That's such a weird thing to say, too!

  Demi approached the sinks, and pulled a sheet out of her robe, handing it to Wout.

  His fingers traced the wrinkled parchment sheet, as he read the following - To get into the Chamber, one must say 'open' in Parseltongue. But where was the Chamber, exactly? He asked exactly that.

  "Oh, the Chamber?" Moaning Myrtle said, surprise present in her tone. "Well-" she started, but Demi seemed to be the first to get to it.

  "It's in front of you," she said in a much more monotone voice.

  "Oh," was all that Wout said as he looked forwards - it was the sinks, wrapping around the pillar-resembling block. He stood there in shock, for a good moment or two - this wasn't what he had expected, for sure.

  "Come on, open it!" urged Adam, who looked way too excited.

  "Wait, before you enter, there is something that you need to know!" warned the ghost, standing in the way of him and the pillar-resembling thingy, as if she could do anything.

  "What is it?" Wout groaned, hoping that he wouldn't sound too impolite and offend the ghost - no matter how much he wanted to do so.

  "The snake, it's alive and well. But not to the extent for anyone to worry," 

  "Is that supposed to make anything better?" questioned Adam, before Lotte shoved her elbow straight into his rib. That shut him up, and with that, Wout got to the business.

  He whispered the word, and in awe stared as the chamber twisted open, creating a massive pit below them. "Jump," urged Myrtle. 

  Wout sighed, glancing down - it was all black, no light in wherever the drop led to, "Do you all still want to go?"

  "Yes," the trio said almost in unison. Moaning Myrtle kept encouraging them, and sooner than later, the trio was down - Myrtle wishing them luck as they fell before going back to doing whatever she was doing prior to this - sitting and moaning in a pipe, he supposes.

  The area was dark, gloomy, cold and wet, a green-ish hue - moss, if Wout's knowledge was to be trusted, making the atmosphere feel even worse. He took a step forwards, to the circular door, the stone snakes slipping into the correct order as the door fell open, even cooler and more humid air hitting them.

  It stank of must and old water, thought Wout, his first thought was to pinch his nose - didn't look like his housemates were doing any better. Adam was the first to adress the elephant in the room, others rapidly agreeing.

  "I thought that this was going to be a lot cooler," whispered Lotte.

  "Honey, you haven't seen the best part yet! We need to head in, smell be damned," Demi replied.

  "I am not going there," protested Adam, plopping down against the wall and crossing his arms. 

  Wout sighed loudly, before stepping through the elevated door - his footsteps echoed loudly, as he gazed up to the grandiose statues of serpents, followed by one of the man himself - Salazar Slytherin. The further the trio walked, the more it stank.

  "Is that the statue of... him?" Lotte asked, curiosity present in her voice.

  "Yeah, that's him. Don't worry, I'm not here to persecute against any muggles, or half-bloods for that matter," he joked, shoving Demi in the shoulder in a playful manner.

  "Well you better," Lotte chuckled, as they went inside, further and further more. 

  "We should be way more careful than we are, what about the snake?" asked Lotte.

  "Wout can control it, there is nothing to be worried about," she cooed. Wout narrowed his eyes at the pool just under the head of the statue of Salazar Slytherin. There was something there - maybe that's the snake? It surely couldn't be that small...

  "Do you all see the same thing as me?" Wout asked, pointing in the direction of the pool. There definitely was something there.

  "I mean, Myrtle told us that there's nothing to worry about - do we worry about something that size?" Demi asked, trying to make sense out of this.

  "Yes, Demi, we do..." Lotte whispered.

  "Wout, you're the only one who can control it - can you, like, check it out, maybe?" Demi suggested, shooting a glance towards the thing, whatever it was, that was swimming circles in the water.

  Wout sighed, but obliged, scurrying to the pool - and sure it was, a snake. Half a meter at most, not wider than ten centimeters. That's a worm, not a snake. "Hello," he tried to speak to it in Parseltongue - of course, having no idea how to greet a snake. 

   But sure enough. the green scaled creature popped it's head out of the water, and oh my days, the poor thing - it's eyes were purely white, swollen all around, no pupils in sight. Must be blind, he thought.

  Surprisingly, the snake hissed back,  - "Master?"

  That definitely was not the word that he desired to be adressed in, he thought, as he crouched down on one knee. "No, just Wout."

  "Are you sure, Wout?" it hissed back. For sure, it felt weird to be talking to a snake out of all things. It was even more weird, that the snake had an intonation. Just like humans. It sounded uncertain. He for sure didn't know how to express his emotions in this language, out of all.

  "Yes, I'm sure. Now, do you promise me to do a couple of things?" he asked.

  "I'll do whatever you please... Wout," it hissed back. It looked so, so young, for a Basilisk at least. Now he understood with that Moaning Myrtle meant about it being harmless. It's scales were soft, he thought as he traced his fingers over his head.

  "Alright - I have just one thing," he started. "That you're not going to kill a single witch or a wizard,"

  The snake didn't look startled though - simply nodding, and saying that it couldn't anyways - which once again reminded him that it's blind. It seemed safe to introduce the snake to his friends, in that case.

  In the mean time, it looked like Adam was done with his little rebellion and had joined the girls, who he called over with a quick wave of hand.

  "I want you guys to meet..." he started, before he realized that the snake didn't have a word. He recalls thinking of it being a worm, for a split second, "Worm, the Basilisk."

  "Hello Worm, my name is Demi - nice to meet you-" started Demi. After years of Care of Magical Creatures classes, she was probably the most eligible to greet the snake first. The snake didn't seem to understand a thing, though it bumped it's head against her palm in a friendly manner as Wout spilled a bunch of comforting words, hoping that the serpent wouldn't act up, out of nowhere. It shouldn't, but it's better to be safe than sorry, of course.

  Lotte was next, and then was Adam. Simultaneously, he introduced each of them in the tongue that only they two spoke, so that was done with no bumps in the road. 

  Though, all of them knew that they couldn't stay here forever - tomorrow is a day full of classes too, and after all, they can meet again, so he said his farewells, wishing Worm a good night before he left, making sure that the Chamber is locked properly.

  Back in the entry, they were met by Myrtle - who questioned them of everything. Yeah, she might be annoying, but she was right about the fact that the Basilisk was, well, pretty much harmless - it's poison was deadly, but if it listens to him, then there should be no problems.

  When Wout opened his eyes in the morning, he felt absolutely exhausted. While they had managed to get back to their dorms in one piece, time had passed a lot quicker down there than they had anticipated, which resulted every one of them coming out as a mess in the morning.

  They all met in the Slytherin common room, dark eye bags present on their face, and made their way to the dining hall. While enjoying their breakfast, Wout felt like somebody was watching them. It for sure was an uneasy feeling, which he couldn't quite shake off so easily.

  "At least today we're having astronomy," said someone from his friend group - he tried to focus on whatever topic that they were discussing, but it was quite of a task when you're operating on maximum four hours of sleep and a suspicion that someone's staring at them.

  He nodded along, finally deciding to let his eyes wander - it didn't take long before he met the stern, blue gaze of van der Poel. Though he wasn't looking at him, and when he followed his gaze, he saw Demi.

  He remembers them being very close - him, Sepp, Demi and that Hufflepuff whose name he can't quite spell right. Nelson, Neilson, Nielson - he doesn't care, if he's being honest. But now, if looks could kill, Demi would probably be limp on the ground right now - did they fall out, or something?

  He can ask that, right? "Hey, why is van der Poel shooting daggers in your eyes?"

  Demi looked puzzled for a second - "Is he?"

  "I mean yeah, he was looking at you like you killed his dog, or something..." Wout muttered. So they hadn't fallen out - or if they had, Demi wasn't aware of it.

  Demi looked at the Ravenclaw table, but when her eyes landed on Mathieu, he was back in the conversation with a couple of Ravenclaws, head low, strands of blonde falling into his face. "Oh," she muttered.

  "Yeah, have you done something that he might not like or something?" Wout asked.

  "Not that I'm aware of-" she started. "Actually, there is something."

  "Is there?" Lotte interjected.

  "He thinks that all pure blood Slytherins are racist, or something," she whispered, making sure that not a single soul out of their bunch hears.

  "That's why he was friends with Sepp and you, wasn't he?" Adam asked, rising his eyebrows.

  "Yeah, but he hasn't talked to me since I became friends... with all of you. It does make sense, while at the same time it doesn't," Demi entered some sort of a monologue.

  "It doesn't make sense, like at all. We're not racist!" Wout said in a hushed tone.

  "That's not called being racist, both of you," Lotte said. "He just believes this old stereotype that some Slytherins still follow up to this day, we're just liberal as hell,"

  "She's making sense, for once!" Adam said in an exaggerated tone, pretending to be shocked. 

  "Can you imagine that?" Lotte mouthed.

Chapter Text

  With the Care of Magical Creatures homework, which the professor had given them last minute - an essay about Fairies, tucked into the school book, Mathieu stepped outside the castle - a cool autumn breeze hitting him right in the face right after. 

  Most of his year-mates, who had picked the Creature Care subject as their electives, were already there - hunched in close groups. His eyes immediately looked for Neilson, though he quickly remembered that he was most likely going to arrive at the last minute, or even worse, be late.

  Oh well, he thought as he sat down on one of the benches, and pulled his essay out, giving it a good look-through, just in case. He heard the clock tick nine, signaling the start of the first lesson before he was even a quarter through the work. He was itching to tell him Neilson about a lot of things at the given moment.

  It looked like he was nowhere in sight, though. Maybe he's late? Doesn't matter anymore, since the professor has finally arrived and had just called them to gather around and hand in their homework. 

  After everyone's essays were handed in, they headed down a rooted dirt path that led to the forbidden forest - now all ready to use their knowledge for good. "Today we're going to enchant fairies," the professor started.

  "We'll try to make them docile, but for now, stay on the path," the professor instructed further as the class moved forward, the forest starting to tint yellow and red while the trees cast long shadows over them.

  That's surely animal abuse, Mathieu thought to himself. Though looks like he doesn't have any other choice than to comply.

  In no time, the class approached the same place that they were a couple of days ago - a mossy glade with ripe, red berries sprouting around the mushroom surrounded by stumps and boulders. The air was frosty and humid, dark clouds lingering about from yesterday.

  There were only two other Ravenclaws other than him in this exact class, since the majority of them had gone and joined Divination instead - a subject that Mathieu has called b.s. on ever since he first saw it. But since he wasn't really friends with either of them, he stuck to himself, hoping that Neilson would arrive sooner rather than later. 

  The teacher went on to describe how exactly to behave around fairies, what to feed them, and such - it's not like they had written an essay about all of this already or something, so Mathieu resorted to plopping down on one of the dryer looking boulders.

  All it took was one brief moment of not paying attention to his surroundings, and out of nowhere, he found himself thirty trees away in a ditch, shoulders aching from the uneven tree roots and the grasp of whoever was holding him down.

  He took in a shaky breath, immediately the scent of a familiar perfume filled his nostrils. One he hadn't smelled in a good while.

  He looked up, meeting Demi's icy blue gaze, trying to get rid of her grasp. "What are you doing!" he hissed.

  Her out of all people? After what she did? Merlin's beard!

  "I think that we need to talk,"

  "There's nothing for us to talk about, Demi," he muttered, though it came out more shaky and unsure than he had wanted it to. She knew him too well, though. 

  "I think that there is something that we need to talk about, Mathieu," she said, letting go of him, knowing that he's not going to leave now - she's won this.

  After a brief moment of deliberation, Mathieu said "You started it, and you know it,"

  And she had the audacity to look shocked now? Can't she see that her new friends ruined their friendship? "I did what?"

  "You knew how much I hated those Slytherins. I genuinely thought that you were different, but no, you fucked off and joined them!" he snapped.

  "If they were as 'racist' as you claim them to be, then they wouldn't befriend me!" she hissed back.

  "That doesn't make any sense! Just months ago all you did was complain about them!"

  "That was months ago, Mathieu. Stop living in the past! They've done nothing!'' she yelled back.

  "Done nothing? You literally wouldn't talk with me, or Sepp and Neilson for that matter, like at all! They ruined our friendship!"

  "Maybe if you wouldn't have acted so unapproachable, I'd actually do something! And don't say that I haven't tried, because I saw you receive these letters days on end," she took in a heavy breath, "I really, really wanted to introduce you to them, but instead, you- I don't even know,"

  Now she was right, he had received multiple letters - though as soon as he saw who they were from, he'd discarded them. "Why would I read a letter from someone who befriended them? Why? They're all purebloods, and you literally know how they are!"

  "Maybe if you stopped and took a look at them, really, really get to know them, you'd know that they're the opposite!" she fought back.

  "You betrayed us, do you know that?"

  "There was no deal, between any of us, that I can't have friends, Mathieu," she said, eyebrows furrowed, while glaring at him.

  "Can't you understand? Really? I thought that you were smarter than this, Demi," he yelled, turning around as he began the walk back to the class.

  By the looks of things, Demi had other ideas, because sharp nails dug into his shoulder, "Give them one chance. Please, Mathieu," she said, beginning to sound desperate.

  "Why do you think that I would want to hang out with them," he hissed.

  "Because I know that you want to make things right - and so do I! Wout told me how you glared at me the other day during lunch! Just, please, one chance!"

  Realistically, this is not a good idea - who knows what they're doing in their free time - going down the dungeons, feeding random muggles to the Basilisk? But at the same time, what if they're doing none of that, which a small part of Mathieu actually wants to believe in? It's one chance, if they blew it then it's on them, he thought.

  "Tomorrow after school, you all got one chance," he said, and walked away, with that.

  "Thank you so much, you don't know what it means to me," he recognized Demi saying from behind. He sighed, and returned to the class.

  By the looks of things, they haven't gotten very far, and, Neilson had finally arrived too - it's safe to say that the lesson was finished in one piece.

   Only later in the evening, Mathieu realized that he had forgotten to ask Demi his biggest question yet - what exactly was she doing in the restricted area, for God knows how many days in a row? Today included, because the librarian had just rejected his request to entry, the same reasoning as the days prior - Miss Vollering's already occupying the area, one student at a time!

  With a frustrated groan, right after exiting the library, Mathieu repeatedly hit his fist against the cobble brick, hissing in pain and regretting it right after. Ouch.

  Now, with a blurred mind and an aching hand, he slowly made the walk of shame back to the room, silently hoping that nobody had actually seen him throw a fit, if it even counts as one. 

  In the Ravenclaw common room, it was more crowded than usual. Since all of the armchairs were taken, his last resort was to join Marlen and the girls on the massive sofa, all currently invested in their books. He hissed as his hand touched the pillow, trying to move it away.

  "Oh my days, Mathieu, are you alright?" Marlen asked, raising her eyebrows. "If I were you, I'd want to check your hand, it's swollen as hell,"

  "Yeah, you might want to check that one," her friend added.

  Mathieu took a look at the hand - it was swollen around the side of his fist that he hit the wall with, and only now he realized that he couldn't even bend his pinkie finger right. What a shame. 

  "I'm going to do it tomorrow, too tired for that stuff, plus can't roam around the castle at this hour and all," he simply said.

  "I think that in case of emergency, you can break the rules," Marlen argued. 

  "This doesn't look like a case of emergency, now does it," Mathieu chuckled. "Anyways I'm heading to bed, night," he muttered as he stood up, brushing his hands against his robe.

  Marlen muttered her farewells, though was back at the book she was reading just before.

  He fell asleep way too late, the hand might be bothering him more than he expected. Hell, it couldn't be that bad, right?

  He woke up in the morning, and the first thing he felt was his arm. Yeah, he's going to have that checked, if the spell won't work, of course. 

  Mathieu took a glance at the window - pissing rain, as usual, and an occasional roar of thunder in the distance. Typical Scottish weather, though.

  He picked up his wand from the bedside table with his healthy arm and muttered the respective words - the pain was gone, but it still looked unpleasing. Yeah, he's going to have to get this checked out. He might have overestimated his skills a bit, too.

  Quickly, he put on his robe and scurried down to the common room. It was empty, but it was rather early too, so that's expected, probably.

  He quietly moved through the hallways, even with the knowledge that he technically could be out here this early because it was important, he still felt like he needed to stay somewhat under the radar. Unsurprisingly, he was glad that he made it to the hospital wing in one piece, even more, that the matron was already awake, sitting in her office with the door open, which to him, meant an invitation.

  He scurried to explain his problem, the spell he used on himself, while the matron gave a diagnosis. 

  "Looks bad, but nothing that a phoenix's tear can't fix. You might want to be careful with it for a week or so, though," she had informed while tending his bruises.

  A week was a long time, he silently thought, a tight smile present on his lips. Hope it won't get into the way too much, either way.

  "And, there you go! Now, off to the dining hall!" the matron said, putting emphasis on the first word of the sentence as she retreated to the actual hospital part, probably to tend to the actual wounded, Mathieu thought.

  He let out a heavy sigh, but stood up, and went off to have breakfast. Now, he's just got to be more careful. Nothing that he can do about it other than that.