The second attack

Madam Pomfrey glared at him.

"I'm glad you had the sense to come to the Hospital Wing, but I'm very displeased that you didn't come straight to me!"

She lifted the pitiful, lifeless thing. It was as limp as Harry's other, not-yet-fully-developed arm.

"I could mend the bones in a second-but making them grow back-"

"Is impossible now?" Cyrus finished for her. "It can never get hard again? I mean-the bones."

"What else could you mean?" Ron asked, confused.

"Of course I can grow them back, but it will hurt. He'll have to stay here overnight," Madam Pomfrey said sternly. She tossed Harry a set of pajamas, then gave Cyrus a pointed look. "What's going on in that head of yours, young lady..."

The curtains around Harry's bed were drawn. Ron helped him change into his pajamas while Hermione and Cyrus waited outside. It took Ron quite a bit of effort to get the rubbery, boneless arm into its sleeve.

"How can you still defend Lockhart now, eh, Hermione?" Ron called through the curtains as he pulled Harry's limp fingers out of the cuff one by one. "If Harry wanted his bones removed, he would have asked."

"Everyone makes mistakes," Hermione said. "Besides, your arm doesn't hurt anymore, does it, Harry?"

"It certainly doesn't hurt anymore." Even Cyrus looked at Hermione as though she were being absurd, so there was no need to describe the expression on Harry's face as the actual victim. "Hermione, you need to be more rational. Think about it. If Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix this, Harry's right hand would be useless. Lockhart nearly left him permanently disabled."

"He has no real skill at all. He should never have attempted something he wasn't sure he could do."

Those words left Hermione a little upset. Then Madam Pomfrey came through the curtains carrying a large bottle labeled Skele-Gro. The two of them followed her in.

"You're in for a rough night," she said, pouring out a large, steaming cup and handing it to Harry. "Growing bones is a very unpleasant business."

Seeing how miserable Harry looked, Ron decided to change the subject. "At least we won! All thanks to you catching the Golden Snitch. The look on Malfoy's face... he looked ready to kill someone!"

"I really want to know what he did to that Bludger," Hermione said angrily. They had already laid all the blame for the Bludger on Malfoy.

"We can add that to the list and ask him when we've taken the Polyjuice Potion. I hope the Polyjuice Potion tastes better than this stuff..." Harry's voice grew quieter and quieter. Before Hermione and Ron realized anything was wrong, they noticed that Harry's gaze seemed glued to Cyrus.

"Polyjuice Potion?" Cyrus voiced his "confusion" at just the right moment.

Now they realized something was wrong, too.

"Harry! You let it slip!" Hermione frantically pressed a pillow over his mouth.

Ron hurriedly stepped in front of Cyrus, flailing as he said, "You misheard, Ginny. There's no Polyjuice Potion. How could we possibly brew Polyjuice Potion? Even older students can't brew it, never mind that the recipe is hidden in the Restricted Section, and we'd have to steal potion ingredients from Snape! It's impossible! Besides, we couldn't find anywhere to brew it without being disturbed..."

"Ron, I should point out that you've told him just about everything!" Harry struggled to pull the pillow away with his left hand.

Ron went deathly pale and immediately began pleading, "Don't tell Mum. Please..."

He all but fell to his knees before Cyrus.

"Heh..." Hermione laughed awkwardly.

"Of course I won't tell on you," Cyrus said, shaking his head.

That would do him no good. But... "So you're planning to use Polyjuice Potion to turn into Slytherin students, then find out whether Malfoy opened the Chamber of Secrets?"

The trio nodded at once.

Then Hermione caught on and said in surprise, "Wait, you know about Polyjuice Potion? And you know what it does?"

Ron, for one, had never even heard of Polyjuice Potion.

"I read about it in a book," Cyrus said casually. Riddle had read Powerful Potions more than once back in his day. Cyrus moved past the subject and continued, "If you don't mind, you can bring me along when the time comes."

"You too-" Ron was just about to refuse when a noisy commotion came from outside the door. The Gryffindor Quidditch Team crowded in, forcing him to shut his mouth and signal frantically at Cyrus with his eyes.

The team had brought plenty of food and drink, as though they intended to hold a party right there in the Hospital Wing. This infuriated Madam Pomfrey, who rushed out from the other side and drove everyone out.

"This boy needs rest! He has thirty-three bones to regrow! Out! Out!"

At the entrance to the Hospital Wing, Cyrus ran into Colin, who had come to visit. The boy had been trying to get inside, but the crowd of players swept him back out. His small figure craned its neck to peer over the crowd.

Ron wanted nothing to do with him and immediately moved farther away.

"Stop looking, Colin. Madam Pomfrey won't let us visit Harry anymore," Cyrus reminded him "kindly." "But you could sneak in..."

With that, he left.

Ginny's body was a little too exhausted. To avoid harming her health, Cyrus decided to get some rest. There were still several hours before curfew at Hogwarts.

That night, Cyrus awoke in the dark Chamber of Secrets.

The enormous basilisk coiled around him.

Although its eyes held terrifying magic, they could not harm him, the one who controlled it.

"Let the second hunt begin!"

He sat atop the basilisk's head and ordered it to close its eyes. This fantastic beast was actually very different from a snake. It relied more on sight and hearing to move around than on sensing heat.

"Follow my commands. I'll guide you." A terrifying sound came from Cyrus's mouth, like the whispering of something evil.

Hogwarts was quiet and eerie at night. Cyrus deftly avoided Filch, who was still on patrol, and rode the enormous serpent toward the Hospital Wing.

Meanwhile, Colin had brought a bunch of grapes he had secretly saved from dinner, intending to sneak in to visit Harry Potter just as Cyrus had suggested. Since this was his first nighttime excursion, Colin had also brought his camera, hoping to photograph something out of the ordinary.

In that respect, one could say he got his wish.

Humming, he rounded a corner with a spring in his step, only to collide with something enormous. Colin fell to the floor, dropping the grapes in his hand.

"What the-" His voice quickly died in his throat as his gaze rose.

An enormous snake-its head alone was bigger than his-faced him with its eyes closed. And atop that great serpent sat the familiar figure of "Ginny Weasley."

"Ginny, you're the Heir of Slytherin?" he asked in utter disbelief.

"That's right. Unfortunately, no third person will ever know," Cyrus said mockingly.

As though realizing something, Colin immediately raised his camera and aimed it at the basilisk and Ginny, trying to photograph the culprit.

He could die, but at least-

Click!

"Good night, little lion of Gryffindor."