Harry Potter: Rise Of The Spiral

Edmund was trying very hard not to try and shove a Rasengan down Dumbledore's throat. He dismissed the situation as a prank, which clearly was not one. The Chamber of Secrets, he needed to do some research on that. The only thing he knew was that the Chamber was rumored to have been opened fifty years ago. His maternal grandfather liked to keep a journal, who used to go to Hogwarts at that time. Perhaps he had recorded something in it.

Reaching into his multi compartment trunk, he searched for the journal in the library section where he usually kept most of the jutsu scrolls and his books from the Whilpool vault. After rummaging for a minute he found the diary. He quickly scanned though the journal and found what he was looking for.

[Entry #387:

Something very strange and unsettling has been happening recently. Students are being petrified all over the school. Even more strange is that all the victims are muggleborns. A girl from Ravenclaw, Myrtle Warren, was found dead in the second floor girl's washroom yesterday. Not a single wound was found on her body or any spell damage was seen. Even any traces of the Avada Kedavra were absent.

It is being rumored that Slytherin's fabled Chamber of Secrets was opened by a student, Rubius Hagrid, a third year, and the monster that stayed in the Chamber for a thousand years has killed Myrtle. But how? Anyway, apparently Tom Marvolo Riddle, a sixth year Slytherin was able to confront him and now Hagrid has been expelled and his wand snapped. Being a minor, he'll probably be spared of being sent to Azkaban.

Riddle has quite a personality and imposes the image of an ideal student and is considered to be the brightest of his batch. A muggleborn Slytherin who possesses the ability to talk to snakes. He lives in an orphanage in muggle London. He's been awarded a special reward for services to the school as he apprehended the culprit that caused a student's death.

The whole situation is so bizarre. The only animal who could have killed anyone without leaving any mark on the victim is perhaps a Basilisk. But the snake is generally way too big to freely roam around and go killing people. And it's gaze does not petrify it's victims, it kills them. It could be a gorgon but I am not certain. Everyone is pretty scared. Maybe with the culprit being caught, the attacks will stop. No one has been able to find the chamber though. Nobody knows what really is happening, but I hope it all stops soon.]

Edmund re-read the entry again. After confirming he didn't miss anything, he returned the journal back in the trunk. He rubbed his forehead and felt a headache coming. If it all was true, if the chamber did exist and had been opened again, it could spell disaster for everyone. And this time, there was no Riddle to save the day. "First that f.u.c.k.i.n.g wraith of that megalomaniac dark asshat and now this blasted chamber, what next, a post owl rebellion? Malfoy promoting muggleborn rights? Or the weasel actually having brain? F.u.c.k it, I'll just sleep and think about it tomorrow."

(ROTS)

The day started with a Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin. As usual, Iris was chasing the snitch and was struggling as princess Malfoy was trying his best to push her off her broom. Suddenly, a bludger went rogue and specifically targeted Iris.

Iris was able to get the snitch but fell from her broom, holding a broken arm. The bludger didn't stop even as the game ended and Granger finally had to destroy it with a Bombarda to stop it. When Iris was about to be escorted away to the infirmary, the peac.o.c.k Lockhart decided to mess things up and vanished the bones of her broken arm. Edmund still couldn't understand why the ponce was still allowed near students.

Later that night, Edmund was feeling uneasy and couldn't sleep. So he went for a walk on the walls after curfew. He ended up walking inside the infirmary and saw Iris sleeping on the bed. He was contemplating whether to go nearer or not when a house elf appeared near her bed thus waking her up.

"Dobby! What are you doing here?" Iris whispered, looking surprised by the elf's sudden appearance.

"Mistress Iris Potter should not have be coming to Hogywarts!" Dobby replied firmly. He continued, "That's why Dobby tried to force Mistress using his bludger."

Edmund narrowed his eyes at the elf. "This little thing of flesh and bones wanted Iris away from this school. But why?"

"Your bludger!" Iris growled. "So you were trying to kill me."

Alarmed, the elf quickly replied, "Not kill mistress, never kill. Dobby be never doing such a thing to the Great Witch Iris Potter. Dobby just wanted mistress to be safe."

"And how does attacking me with a bludger implies keeping me safe? And why are you trying to protect me? From whom? Is this about the Chamber of Secrets?" Iris asked, thinking furiously.

Poopy Pomfrey, McGonagall and Dumbledore were carrying a boy who looked around eleven or twelve years old. They placed him on a bed beside Iris'. Dumbledore pried a camera off the boy's hands and opened it, only to find that camera had been completely burnt on the inside.

"What does this mean Albus?" McGonagall asked, the fear easily noticable in her voice.

"It means that the Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened," he replied patiently.

"But who Albus? Who could have done it?"

"The question is not who, Minerva, the question is, how?" He said while looking at the sleeping form of Iris. The other looked at her with wide eyes. Edmund was furious. "What the f.u.c.k you piece of shit! What do you think you are implying? Is this son of a bitch accusing Iris? What kind of sick person is he?! On one side he comforts Iris and shows a grandfatherly persona while on the other hand he accuses her. Cleary, he does not shit light out of his arse. There's much more to him that he let's on."

(ROTS)

Edmund was contemplating if he should actually kill Lockhart or not. The peac.o.c.k was masquerading in posh dueling clothes and showing off what little spells his stupid brain could actually remember. Well, the greasy bat showing him how much mother earth loves him was a bit satisfactory. But nothing beats the joy of a fist and a broken nose.

He watched as the ferret and Iris were called to participate in the duel. Iris was good, she packed quite a lot of power for a twelve year old. Suddenly, princess Malfoy decided to summon a snake. To make it worse, Lockhart used a very inconvenient spell to further anger the snake.

Then, something happened that made everyone gasp in surprise. Iris hissed, like a snake at the serpent. The snake looked at a Hufflepuff boy whose name Edmund didn't bother to remember.

The snake looked at Iris and it's possible victim when Snape decided that it was enough and destroyed the snake. Students all around looked at her with fear and backed away. Poor Iris looked quite confused and glanced back and forth. The students were then dismissed and her friends decided to drag her away.

Edmund had only one thought in his mind, "Well, that complicates the matter to a whole new level."

(ROTS)

Everything was going as normal as it should have for Iris. But everything went downhill on Halloween.

When Filch's cat was found petrified, he had accused her out of all the students that were standing there. She had sighed in relief when Edmund had come to her rescue and stopped Filch from grabbing hold of her collar. She found Edmund to be quite amusing. He was snarky and always had something to say about someone whenever they behaved in a manner he disapproved. He didn't even care what would happen when he openly insulted Professor McGonagall and called her an idiot. All to defend her. She felt warmth erupt within her when he did that. Professor Dumbledore had called her innocent until proven guilty. Which meant that she was a suspect.

Things seemed to have calmed down when no other incident took place. When the bludger had turned rogue and targetted her during the game, she went all out with defiance. When Professor Lockhart vanished the bones in her broken arm, she got really scared. But it was for naught as Madam Pomfrey told her about skelle grew potion. It tasted horrible and the pain caused by regrowing bones was almost unbearable.

After Dobby vanished away with a snap of his fingers, Iris had rushed back to her bed. Another student had been petrified. It was Colin Creevey, the first year who had been pestering her for photographs.

During the dueling club practice, Malfoy had summoned a snake who seemed quite angry for being summoned. Iris tried to order it to not attack anyone when Snape destroyed to snake. She knew she could talk to snakes and thought it was quite a normal thing among wizards. Turned out that only Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort were known to have the ability of parseltongue and now her.

The next day, Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Hufflepuff boy who was being stalked by the snake summoned by Malfoy the previous day, was found petrified along with the ghost Ser Nicholas. It was Iris who had found them and was dubbed to be caught in the act.

The whole school seemed to have turned against Iris after that. Even her friends, the weasel and Granger were trying their best to distance themselves away from her. Although they had helped her with polyjuice potion to spy on Malfoy they were really not proving to be of much help. She was being openly bullied and hexed behind her back. The teachers were not helping either as they had turned a blind eye to her.

After what felt half an hour, she heard a noise of someone coming towards where she was sitting. Quickly wiping her tears from her red puffy eyes, she washed her face with the lake's water. As soon as she was done, the person began speaking, "Potter, what are you doing out here? It's dangerous to be out of the castle at night. Come on, let's go back."

Iris instantly recognized the voice. It was Edmund Vulpis. He was the only one who was yet to try anything against her. Usually his voice was full of sarcasm and blunt ruthless insults, but whenever he talked to her, he sounded somewhat warm, but still a bit rough. This time though, he sounded concerned for her safety. She couldn't understand why. There was no curiously in his voice like that in Professor Dumbledore, indifference as in McGonagall's or dismissive like Hagrid. It was just genuine concern.

Hope building up in her fragile heart, she shook her head and spoke as her voice quivered with emotion, "I-I don't want to."

"Wanna talk about it?" Edmund asked as he slowly walked closer. When she didn't reply, he sighed and sat down next to her. Even in the dim light of the moon and the stars, he could clearly see her red eyes and tear stains on her flushed cheeks. His heart pained for her. It was so cruel. Iris never found happiness anywhere be it at her muggle home or at Hogwarts.

After a few minutes of silence, Iris began, "I always thought that I'll find my true home in the Wizarding world. At my aunt's house, I am an outsider, a freak, a burden. I thought that being away from my relatives would help me find happiness. But now, I am being shunned away by my own friends. Is being able to talk to snakes such a bad thing? I guess I really am just a freak."

"Whoever said that is a prat. You are Iris Potter, a twelve year old witch and a brilliant one at that. You are the youngest seeker of the century. No one can deny that. I agree that everyone at school is being rather cruel, but they are scared. Two students have been petrified and no one knows who did it. You are just a scapegoat. Since you are an orphan no one will fear any kind of opposition from your family."

"What am I supposed to do then?" She sounded desperate.

Edmund smiled softly and placed his hand on her head and a blush crept on her face when she saw him smile. "Don't give in. I know you hold back in your classes, ahah! Don't try to deny it," he softly reprimanded when she was about to protest. "I have been observing and you do slip up sometimes. If you are afraid that your friends will leave you if you show that you are better than them then they really aren't friends. Use this as an opportunity to learn to protect yourself. And being able to talk to snakes doesn't make you evil. Do you know what the worldwide symbol for medicine is?"

Iris simply shook her head, but seemed interested.

"The muggle symbol for medicine is the Caduceus — two serpents going up around a staff with wings — for a reason. I think you should try and learn parselmagic and using it would help others accept your ability. Parselmagic was widely known for its healing effects, among other things. Ofcourse, Voldemort ignored the healing part of it as he only wanted to hurt people."

Iris was slightly surprised that he used the dark lord's name so openly, "You are not afraid to say his name?"

Edmund chuckled and replied, "No, why should I? It's not like he's alive is he?"

Inwardly, he cursed himself for his slip. His abilities needed to stay hidden. He sighed when he saw Iris accept his reasoning.

"So, parselmagic is not bad? I can learn it and use it to heal people?" There was hope in her voice and Edmund had no intention to ruin it.

He got up and replied, "Exactly. Find more about it. I'd suggest going to the library and learn what you can about it's history. You can search the Diagon Alley to find some books on it. Anyway, I guess it's time for curfew. Better get back to our dorms."

Iris smiled and shook her head, "I'll stay for a few more minutes."

Edmund just nodded.

When he was about to leave, Iris quickly reached out for his hand and grabbed it. He looked curiously at her when she gave him a tight hug, kissed him on the cheek and thanked him.

Edmund nodded with a dumbfounded expression and rushed back to the castle with bright red cheeks, not noticing the furiously blushing Iris he left behind.