"If you feel out of place anywhere, I'll save a spot for you right here. I've never met you, but don't you feel that we're so close?" 

Red Velvet - Cool World
 

“What are you doing here?”

Jimin shrieked and looked up, almost toppling over his own feet when he spotted the Slytherins in front of him. The door of the hospital wing closed right behind them and Jimin felt caught red handed, fingers shyly gripping on the sleeves of his robes. The Slytherins all stared curiously and slightly amused at him, a boy with bright blonde hair in the very front, cheshire cat grin on his face and arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Kim Himchan, in case you forgot,” he sat and pointed at the Slytherins behind him, “We all came as soon as we heard it – but no worries, we’re leaving now. I never knew you’re close with Caroline though?”

“We’re not close but,” Jimin swallows and shuffles his feet, “She was always – nice to me. And what happened …”

Himchan’s face hardened visibly and the other Slytherins exchanged narrowed-eyes glances.

“It’s disgusting,” Himchan then spit out and furrowed his brows, “Whoever did this – should better watch out, seriously. Hurting our prefect, and Caroline never did something wrong. She’s nice to everyone, even those annoying Gryffindors. I can’t believe it.”

A redhead behind him formed a fist, knuckles turning white, and their head girl Chaerin’s face was pale in rage. Slytherin, known to be one of the most loyal houses ever, was attacked right in their middle. Ever since the news surfaced the whole house hasn’t been in its usual state anymore. Slytherins, especially the younger students, were only seen together in big groups, low whispering and hissing following their every steps. There were scary looking seventh years doing investigations on their own, questioning the other students about the incident. The students from the other houses were alert too – after the teachers told them a student was attacked, rumours were flying around like crazy. “Hogwarts isn’t safe anymore,” Jimin heard two fourth year in his house whisper, “We should all leave.” If Hogwarts wasn’t safe anymore, Jimin wondered what was safe then.

“The teachers informed us,” Jimin mumbled and bit his lower lip, “They’re investigating. They said – they promised they’ll find the culprit soon.”

The Slytherins exchanged another set of glances, their faces stony. It scared Jimin a little.

“Well they better do before we find him,” Himchan said with an ice cold voice, “Or else things won’t be all peachy anymore.”


Inside the hospital wing, Jimin felt slightly out of place. He feared Madam Pomfrey will show up and kick him out. He wished he brought flowers at least.

“Hey,”

Jimin felt his throat tightening and swallowed down a few tears. He never heard this familiar voice so – broken.

“Hi Yoongi,” he whispered and shuffled closer, taking a seat next to the prefect, “How is Caroline?”

Yoongi looked like he didn’t sleep a minute during the last night. There were dark circles around his eyes and his skin was pale with a slight shade to grey. His gaze was directed on the blonde girl in the bed in front of them. Caroline’s eyes were closed, her light blonde hair grazing down her face delicately. She looked almost peaceful.

“She’s sleeping,” Yoongi said and bit his lower lip, “Madam Pomfrey gives her sleeping potions every hour – it’s the only way to spare her the pain, seriously. No one knows what or who attacked her yet and if she’s not doing any better, they’ll bring her to St Mungo’s.”

“I heard she was injured badly,” Jimin whispered and stared down at his knees, “I thought Madam Pomfrey can heal – anything in seconds.”

“There’s something off about her wounds,” Yoongi explained slowly and swallowed hard, “Madam Pomfrey can only close them temporary. There’s something like poison in her wounds – this was either the work of a powerful wizard or …”

“Or?” Jimin asked and his eyes widened.

“A powerful monster,” Yoongi sighed and shook his head, “But that’s ridiculous. The thing is – someone attacked Caroline. She’s my partner. She doesn’t deserve this in any way. I can’t understand just how –“

Jimin couldn’t hold himself back anymore. He blinked rapidly while leaning over, wrapping his arms around Yoongi. Then, he tilted his head and nuzzled his face in the other’s neck, pressing a quick kiss on his skin.

“I’m sorry,” Jimin whispered and pulled Yoongi as close as possible, “I’m so sorry Yoongi – I can’t even imagine how you feel right now, just – I’m sorry. If I knew how to help you …”

Yoongi didn’t react for a while. Then, Jimin felt the other slightly smiling against his cheek. Yoongi reached out, hands settling behind Jimin’s back, and pulled him right against his chest.

“You,” Yoongi said and ran a hand through Jimin’s hair, letting the strands slip through the gaps of his fingers, “You’re the only thing helping right now.”

Jimin turned his head and pressed another kiss on Yoongi’s cheek before burying his face in the elder’s robes. If this was the only thing helping he’ll gladly continue.



“I’m sorry Mr Min,” Madam Pomfrey shook her head and wiped her hands on her apron, “I can’t help her – in this state, Miss Leeker needs the professional Healers in St Mungo’s. A team will drop by later this evening and relocate her.”

Yoongi nodded and crossed his arms, gaze dropping back on Caroline’s face. She was in a half-asleep half-awake state, eyelids fluttering and sweat glistening on her forehead, while her skin was of an unhealthy grey colour.

“If there’s at least anything I can do,” Yoongi mumbled.

The room was cold, it was raining outside, dark clouds and long shadows tainting the hospital in faint light. Just staring at Caroline made Yoongi feel helpless. His partner was attacked and all he could do was – nothing. He wished Jimin hadn’t left.

“You know Mr Min,” Madam Pomfrey crossed her arms, “There is actually something you can do – Miss Leeker keeps requesting for her cat. I’m not sure if it’s allowed to bring it to St Mungo’s, but if its presence makes her feel better –“

“Merlin, of course,” Yoongi nodded and jumped up, “I’ll be back soon, Madam Pomfrey. Thank you.”

And with that he rushed out of the room, with Madam Pomfrey yelling after him “No running in the hospital wing, Mr Min!”



“Chasing a cat?” Hoseok raised an eyebrow and laughed, “You got to be kidding me.”

Classes ended and students were all busy on their way to the great hall, but Yoongi couldn’t care less about food right now. Instead, he had stopped Hoseok right in front of the entrance, even though he’s not necessarily sure how the other could help him.

“This is not the right moment for jokes,” Yoongi rolled his eyes and tugged on the other’s collar, dragging him down the hallway, “Caroline asked for it – Merlin – and the bloody cat decided to completely vanish out of the common room.”

“And now it’s your job to find a cat somewhere in this castle?” Hoseok raised an eyebrow, “This is stupid – you’ll search for ages.”

“Well, thank god I’m a wizard, right,” Yoongi said dryly and furrowed his brows. He rolled up his sleeves and pointed his wand in front of him. Then, he quickly flicked it.

“No magic in the hallways, Min Yoongi,”

Seokjin materialized from the middle of extremely skittish first years, gesturing them to go on before he approached the two prefects with raised eyebrows. “Great you guys are here, after the incident with Caroline I totally forgot there’s something important I need to tell you.”

“Bad timing, Seokjin,” Hoseok said and gave the other a pat on his back, “We’re searching for Caroline’s cat – Merlin, huge, white and puffy. Have you seen it?”

“No, but listen to me Yoongi,” Seokjin said and crossed his arms, steps quickening to keep up with him, “I finally solved it – what’s going on with the bathroom.”

Yoongi groaned and ran a hand over his face. “Do I look like I have any nerve to discuss about this bathroom right now?”

“It’s important!” Seokjin snapped and wrapped a hand around his wrist, dragging him backwards, “Caroline was attacked right in front of the bathroom, wasn’t she? They told us they found her unconscious, lying on the floor with deep wounds all over her stomach and upper torso. Don’t you understand Yoongi – whoever is behind all the bathroom mysteries also attacked Caroline.”

Yoongi felt his chest tightening, wand almost falling out of his hands. He exchanged a glance with Hoseok, whose eyes widened.

“No,” Seokjin raised his hands when the other two were about to say something, “Listen – I read Hogwarts, A History, and everything makes sense. Do you guys remember the incidents during the school year 1992 / 1993?”

“What is this Seokjin, a history lesson,” Hoseok sighed.

“The Chamber of Secrets,” Seokjin hissed and grabbed his shoulders, “The Chamber of Secrets, don’t you understand – the bathroom locates the entrance and over the whole year now someone was trying to find said entrance. The Chamber of Secrets is one of the only spots in whole Hogwarts were something can be hidden for centuries, so it definitely makes sense one would want to find it – and not only find, someone clearly also wants to open it, what with the destruction of the whole bathroom and everything. Now that Caroline was attacked – either she saw something she wasn’t supposed to see or whoever is behind this succeeded and now –“

“Are you kidding me, Seokjin?” Hoseok’s face paled drastically and he crossed his arms in front of his chest, “Don’t say this – do you think someone opened the Chamber of Secrets? And now, the monster inside is released?”

“No, this can’t be,” Yoongi shook his head, still releasing unspoken spells from his wand, “I know about the Chamber of Secrets – I know what happened 1993. Harry Potter defeated the basilisk which was inside, so there is no such monster that can be released. Why on earth would someone want to open the Chamber then?”

Seokjin opened his mouth but didn’t manage to speak when suddenly, there was a loud screech and something like white fluffball came flying in their direction. Yoongi opened his arms and wrapped his hands around the cat.

“Mate,” Hoseok said and furrowed his brows, “Did you just accio Caroline’s cat? And is it dead?”

“Only asleep,” Yoongi mumbled and held tightly onto the cat, “Merlin doesn’t like me. No nerve to get all scratched right now.”

“You hexed it asleep from this distance?” Hoseok shuddered, “I’m glad I’m your friend Yoongi, seriously.”

Yoongi only rolled his eyes and then looked up to Seokjin. “I’m sorry, I have to bring the cat to Caroline – they’ll relocate her to St Mungo’s. If you guys still think something’s up with this bathroom, I join your investigations – later.”


He was almost too late. Yoongi rushed in the hospital wing, right when two healers with St Mungo’s uniforms relocated Caroline from her bed to a stretcher. She was awake, barely, eyes fluttering in an attempt to not fall asleep again.

“No,” Caroline whispered, almost feverishly, “No, wait, I need my cat –“

“Caroline!” Yoongi shouted, sprinting towards the stretcher and ignoring the healers curious looks, “Wait, I have Merlin – her cat!”

She really loves her cat a lot, Yoongi thought, with the way Caroline’s eyes lit up. The relieved look on her face is hard to miss, and even the healers smile and take a step aside.

“Yoongi …” Caroline whispered and tried to raise her hands.

“Easy there,” Yoongi said and carefully lowered the cat in her arms, “Here you go. Merlin’s only asleep – he’ll wake up soon, don’t worry.”

Caroline swallowed and her hands dug deeply into the cat’s fur, holding it as close as possible. Her lips quivered, as if she tried her best to form words she desperately needed to release.

“Yoongi,” she said again, voice barely a whisper, “Yoongi – it’s my …”

“It’s ok, Caroline,” Yoongi managed a weak smile and reached out to touch her hand, “You’ll see, one week in St Mungo’s and you’re all fine again.”

Caroline blinked rapidly and slowly shook her head. “No … listen – it’s my … fault – be careful –”

“Mr Min!”

There was Madam Pomfrey again, arms crossed and brows furrowed while she strut over. “Please don’t hinder the healers of St Mungo’s, Mr Min – I know you’re concerned for your friend, but this is not helping.”

“I just brought her cat, Madam Pomfrey,” Yoongi muttered and squeezed Caroline’s hand one last time, “Don’t worry about me, Caroline. All you need to do is get well soon.”

It’d be a lie to say he didn’t feel like something was slightly off. If it wasn’t for the panicked expression on Caroline’s face, it’d be for the way her hands still held so tightly on her cat, knuckles almost turning white. But Yoongi felt like all he could do is take a step back and watch the healers exchanging a few words with Madam Pomfrey. The anti-disapparition jinx was lifted just for this occasion and soon they their spots, disappearing in the next second.

Yoongi stared at the spot they just vanished, thoughts running crazy in his mind before he turned right on spot. He needed to find the rest – soon.



“Seriously?” Stephanie almost dropped her fork, staring at him with wide eyes, “Seokjin, this isn’t a joke, is it?”

“When have I ever made jokes?” Seokjin rolled his eyes and reached out to curl his hands around her wrist, “Come on Steph, we need to go – now!”

“But – wait, we can’t just go by ourselves, we need to inform the teachers!” Stephanie protested, stumbling behind Seokjin away from Ravenclaw’s table, the other students giving them dumbfounded looks, “Seokjin, this is serious! If someone really goes around in Hogwarts and tries to open this chamber –“

“No teachers,” Hoseok said vehemently, coming from the other side with Namjoon right on his tracks, “Here Seokjin, I got your boyfriend –“

Seokjin rolled his eyes and ignored the way Namjoon beamed at him. “Anyways, no teachers yet – we’re not sure if this is really true after all and then there’s also –“

“Xero,” Hoseok nodded sternly, expression darkening slightly, “If this is really about the Chamber of Secrets, he’s unfortunately our number one suspect. Since the monster inside was a basilisk, it’s obvious only parselmouth’s are able to find the entrance. And since Xero’s a parselmouth –“

Seokjin interrupted him with raised hands. “We’ll talk about that later. Now, we need to get to that bathroom – quick.”

Namjoon exchanged a glance with Stephanie, who only shrugged, then the both of them followed Seokjin and Hoseok. All prefects put on very stern faces when they passed the teacher’s table, and Hoseok’s eyes instinctively wandered over Hufflepuff’s table in search for significant white hair. There was none …

“Know what?” Stephanie breathed out and held her sides while they ran down the hallways, “I actually have it with me.”

“What?” Seokjin snapped and quickly checked their surroundings for any teachers or sneaking first years.

“Our first artefact, you know, the red stone,” Stephanie declared and stuck a hand in her pockets, “I always carry it around – and I did some tests with it, actually. I don’t know if this will help us, but –“

“We’re there!” Hoseok cried out suddenly and raised a hand, all of them almost toppling over one another while they skidded to a stop.

“Running’s not allowed in the hallways actually,” Seokjin said to no one in particular and held his side, breathing heavily, “But never mind. Let’s go in there, shall we?”

Hoseok didn’t look too thrilled about it and Stephanie reached out to curl one hand tightly around Namjoon’s sleeve.

“If only Yoongi was with us,” Hoseok muttered and felt something cold running down his spine, “We’ll need a skilled dark wizard with us, seriously.”

“Skilled dark wizard? Please,” Seokjin rolled his eyes and unceremoniously kicked the door open, revealing – nothing.

Nothing, but a normal, regular ladies’ bathroom. There was no water running, no ghost suddenly appearing from the stalls, no unnatural destruction, no striking heat or coldness.

“Creepy,” Hoseok whispered and hid behind Seokjin, chin resting on his shoulder, “Check, is there an open hole somewhere? The entrance is surely something like a trap door, quick Seokjin look at the floor if –“

“Shut up Hoseok,” Seokjin groaned and shoved his face away, “Don’t you think we’d noticed a trap door by now?”

“Seokjin –“ Stephanie started, but Seokjin raised a hand to stop her.

He pointed his raised wand at the stalls, but still – nothing. There was no hole on the floor, or a magical door appearing somewhere. There was definitely nothing off about the bathroom, and it made the whole situation even more suspicious.

“Kim Seokjin, listen to me,” Stephanie called out, freeing herself from Namjoon’s robes and stepping forward. She took a deep breath and then grabbed Seokjin’s hand, carefully placing the red stone on his palm, “The tests I did – Seokjin, this stone is something special! It’s like nothing I’ve seen before, incredibly hard to destroy, fire resistant, and somehow, I think this came from like far away –“

“Fire resistant?” Seokjin repeated, voice cracking on the last syllables, “Did you say fire resistant, Stephanie?”

“Well yes?”

Seokjin stared down at the stone, its scarlet red, shining surface, and suddenly, time was flying around him and Seokjin was back in a store, closing his hand around something suspiciously similar. Seokjin felt his head spinning a little, time and place moving again and now he was in a classroom, and there were voices, and suddenly, all the puzzle pieces clicked on the right places. Seokjin felt his stomach turning incredibly cold.

“!” Seokjin cried out, hand tightly around the stone, “ – I knew it. I knew I’ve seen this before –“

“Seokjin, calm down,” Namjoon interfered and reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, “What is it?”

“This is bad,” Seokjin said and shook his head, “This is so bad – we can’t go in the Chamber, we can’t – or else we’ll all die.”

 

Cliffhannnnger. No but seriously guys, this whole chapter is like just a pure filler for what’s coming next (so excuse the bull I wrote orz). Mystery is picking up in pace ever so quickly and is about to go down in several ways. Nothing makes me happier than reading your theories, so throw them at me ~

Uni starts in a couple of days and I’m super busy anyway driving all my stuff back to my dorms so no quick updates. I’m super sorry. Authors updating once every blue moon drive me crazy so I know how you guys must feel …

Again, a big thank you because wow - You're the potion to my Cauldron reaches one year this October o.o This is now officially the longest time I've ever written on a story and I'm still so very amazed you guys like it. Group hug everyone, love you guys!
 

xxxx