13: missing friends

                                    

                                          
They told Ron and Hermione what they had discovered about Hagrid and Tom Riddle later that night in the common room.

                          
"So, what you're saying is," Hermione started, "that Tom Riddle exposed Hagrid, who is apparently the heir of Slytherin, for opening the Chamber of Secrets the first time fifty years ago and then won an award for special services to the school?"
                          
Percy nodded. "Yes, exactly."
                          
Ron furrowed his brows. "But how do you know that we can trust this Riddle guy? He seems untrustworthy."
                          
"And how do we know Hagrid really is the heir and Riddle isn't framing him for some reason?" Hermione asked.
                          
"Give me one good reason why Tom would do that," Harry said. Ron and Hermione didn't say anything, only shrugging.
                          
"So, what should we do about Hagrid? Should we confront him?" Percy asked.
                          
The other three immediately shook their heads. "No, no, no," Hermione said.
                          
"I say we should only confront him if there's another attack," Harry proposed. They all agreed with his plan and went up to their dormitories to go to sleep for the night.
                          
****
                          
Ron turned thirteen on the first of March and the Easter holidays passed by normally; Hermione had started talking about what classes they should all take for their third year, frustrating her friends to no end. Because Percy and Harry were raised as muggles, they had absolutely no idea which classes would help in the long run. So, they eventually just decided to copy Ron and choose all of the classes he was choosing.
                          
Because there was another Quidditch match coming up, Oliver decided to make practices for the Gryffindor Quidditch team harder than ever. Percy was always exhausted at the end of the grueling two hour long practices. Harry was a bit less exhausted; all he had to do was practice catching the Snitch while Percy was constantly passing and catching the Quaffle and coming up with new formations. Percy and Harry were on their way back up to Gryffindor Tower after one of those practices when they were stopped by Neville. He was frantic and heaving for breath, having run all over the castle trying to find them.
                          
"Harry! Harry!" the blond boy yelled.
                          
Startled, they stopped. "What? Neville, what is it?" Harry asked.
                          
Neville gasped for air. "I'm sorry - I don't know who did it - completely wrecked - all your stuff-"
                          
"Whoa, Neville, calm down! What happened?" Percy said.
                          
Neville just shook his head wildly. "Just come and see!" And he took off running. He led them to Gryffindor Tower, up to their shared dormitory. All of Harry's things were completely trashed. The sheets were torn and pulled off the bed, the pillow was only a bunch of feathers, and Harry's trunk was broken open, its contents strewn about. Harry immediately dove forward and started looking through his things.
                          
"Who could have done it?" Percy said. "It had to have been a Gryffindor, nobody else has the password to the common room."
                          
"Is anything missing?" Neville asked. He had finally caught his breath.
                          
Harry rummaged through his things a moment longer, then turned to Percy. "It's gone. Tom Riddle's diary is gone."
                          
****
                          
The morning of the Quidditch match of Gryffindor against Hufflepuff, Percy and Harry were walking with Ron and Hermione down to the locker rooms with their brooms over their shoulders. They had told Ron and Hermione what happened with Harry's things and many hours were spent speculating about who could have been the one to go through his stuff. And because the voice had been absent from their lives for so long, it was a nasty shock when the two raven haired boys once again heard it on the way down to the pitch.