Lumos: Year Two

As the hours passed, Helena wasn’t quite able to stay awake. The sheer boredom of waiting around the bathroom stall was beginning to get to her as her eyes drooped down, weighing on her body. Nodding off for a moment, she heard slight shuffling against the tile floor not too far.

“Oh, it’s you,” Myrtle sighed, “What do you want this time?”

“To ask how you died,” the familiar voice spoke.

Helena narrowed her eyes, peeking through the crack in the door, trying to stay quiet. She knew who it was right away. Harry Potter. She listened to the story in silence, about how Myrtle had not known how she died, only seeing eyes. She peaked through the crack in the door and watched as they headed over to the sinks that didn’t work.

“Say something in parsletongue,” she heard Ron Weasley say.

“But—“ he stopped himself. “Open up.”

“English,” Ron replied.

Helena then heard a hush whisper that sounded rough and eerie. It caused the hair on the back of her neck to stick up. The sounds of scraping metal began as Harry and Ron were looking into a gaping hole in the ground. The boys argued about who’d go down until they suddenly pushed—

Wait, what is that idiot doing here? Helena was astonished to see Professor Lockhart, who they then pushed in. She wanted to laugh, but tried to contain it. She didn’t want to let her presence be known. When they jumped after him, it suddenly hit hr. They were about to go against a vicious monster. She had to tell someone. What if they were killed? She knew she’d get in trouble though, so she had to tell someone who’d be on her side.

Dumbledore.

How would she see him though? His office had a password. She sighed… McGonagall would know. At this point,s he was willing to take the risks. She waited for a moment, realizing that Myrtle wasn’t in sight. She took this as an opportunity to run for it.

Escaping the bathroom was no struggle. She made her way through the halls quickly and headed for McGonagall’s classroom. When she arrived, she banged on the door loudly. The professor opened the door quickly and looked down at Helena with apprehension.

“Dear child, what is it? Why are you so far from your dormitory?”

“Please, this is urgent, I NEED TO SEE DUMBLEDORE!” Helena shouted, tears practically welled in her eyes.

“Why—“

“Harry is in Danger—Ron and Harry—I can’t explain, please! I need to speak with him!”

“Oh, very well,” McGonagall gave in, leading her to his office quickly.

As the professor had led her to the headmaster’s office, she went up the spiral staircase that rose from the statue and waited for a sign of his presence as she entered the heavily decorated room.

“Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise?” Dumbledore spoke from the corner of the room.

Helena rose toward him and gave him a grave expression, “Sir, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are in danger...”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“In Moaning—in the girl’s bathroom that’s out of order, Harry found the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and entered it with Ron and Professor Lockhart!”

“Really?” So it’s in the first floor, out of order girl’s lavatory…” he looked over to his phoenix. The brilliantly colored bird bowed its head as it quickly spread its wings and glided down the staircase.

Unsure of what this meant, Helena didn’t say anything afterward, trying to figure out what the bird was going to do.

“Confused?” he asked.

“Just a bit,” Helena nodded.

“Faux will take care of dear Harry, however I must thank you for telling me he was in danger,” he smiled. “You have grown so much since last year. I couldn’t help, but notice that you spend a lot of your time at the Gryffindor table with miss Tonks.”

“Well, she’s the only friend I have in this school. My siblings are too obligated in their schoolwork or Quidditch.”

“You should consider making some new friends next year so that you’re not so limited,” the professor’s eyes twinkled.

“I just feel like I don’t belong in my own house anymore…” Helena sighed.

“Helena, you were not put in Slytherin because of the stereotypical reasons many of you are so familiar with. You are kind and compassionate, but you are also determined, sly, and not afraid to take risks. Those are the traits of the true Slytherin. To do their best and be confident.”

Suddenly, Helena felt a bit better. The entire year, she had been ridiculing herself for not being like the other Slytherins, but she was the true one after all.

****
Helena and the rest of her house were called to the Great Hall for a feast that would take place abruptly out of nowhere. When they arrived, the other houses were gathering and sitting at their tables, many in their pajamas, like Helena who was sporting a pair of black and white flannel pants and a black tank top.

“So what’s going on? They saved the school?” Helena looked around. She hadn’t sat down yet, leaning against the wall with Lanee.

“Thanks to you. It sucks that you didn’t get points for helping though! Dumbledore really does favor Gryffindor I guess,” Lanee shrugged.

Indeed, Gryffindor won the house cup again, but it didn’t even bother Helena. She earned something much greater than house points, and that was the true acceptance of being a Slytherin.

“Oh well. Something tells me I’ve won something greater. Exams are cancelled on a plus side!” Helena laughed.

When term had come to a close, Helena noticed that Draco had become distant and gloomy. IT had apparently been decided that his father would no longer be school governor.

The Hogwarts Express was waiting as students piled on with their belongings. Helena had gotten on with Lanee, Seamus, and Dean as they sat in a compartment together.

“So are you still upset with your house? You haven’t been moping about not being accepted lately,” Lanee asked. “Your actions were pretty courageous like a Gryffindor, after all.”

“Well, it so happens that I’m proud to be a Slytherin after all. I may not be strict about pureblood friends and being the very best, but I show the good attributes of a Slytherin,” Helena laughed.

“That’s good to know. It would suck if you hated the house you were in for five more years!” Seamus frowned.

The four talked for hours until the arrived to Kings’ Cross Station, where Alabaster and surprisingly, her mother were waiting with open arms and bright smiles. She suddenly felt a lot better, as though she knew she would have a better summer.