Sorry it's been such a long time since I've updated this story! I'm planning to be more consistent with it from now on, and post a new chapter every week or two.

Over the next few days, the copies of Hogwarts, A History that commonly resided in the library were checked out again and again. All students appeared desperate to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets. A group of students could seldom be seen without the heavy volume open before them, and the few there were glanced around nervously as they moved from class to class, clearly already aware of the tale. The whole school seemed to be anticipating another attack, and no one knew how to avoid being the victim.

The only student Neville knew of that was not extremely frightened by the Chamber of Secrets was Harry. His constant refrain had become that a mystery had fallen right into their laps, and they'd be crazy not to follow through on it. And besides, nobody cared about Mrs. Norris anyways.

As scared as Neville was, he had to agree with Harry's logic. Perhaps the Chamber of Secrets was a blessing in disguise. Neville had been looking for a chance to prove himself a hero once again, so Harry and Ron would not grow bored with him, and here it was.

A few weeks after the Halloween celebration, notices were put up in the common rooms announcing a dueling club. Most of the school seemed extremely excited, and spent the day speculating about what they would learn. Neville, however, was hesitant to join. "We don't know enough!" He constantly repeated to his eager friends. "We could hardly duel with anyone." He refrained from mentioning his fear of making a fool of himself, for he did not want to seem afraid.

"If we'd had to know certain spells to join, they'd have told us." Ron said, his eyes shining with the idea of learning to duel.

"But you don't have to come, Neville," Harry said, his annoyed demeanor implying that he and Ron would go either way.

Neville weighed his options. He could either be one of the few students to not attend the club, and risk feeling left out among his friends, or he could go and potentially make a fool of himself. "I'll come." He said at last, his stomach a bit nervous at the idea of it.

The following Thursday evening, most of the students gathered in the Great Hall for the first meeting. Thankfully cleared of the large house tables, there was plenty of room to insure that no small students were trampled by larger ones. Neville looked around anxiously at all the excited young witches and wizards. Most of them were gathered in small groups, wands out, laughing and reminding each other of past, unorganized duels they had held. Several more studious groups were reciting useful incantations. Neville felt extremely inexperienced as he turned to Harry and Ron, who were chatting loudly.

"Neville, who d'you reckon the teacher will be?" Ron's wand was already out in preparation.

Neville shrugged. "Maybe Flitwick or someone. Just as long as it's not Lockhart."

"Or my mum." Harry interjected, looking a bit queasy at the thought. Ron and Neville assured him that it was quite unlikely, for there were many talented professors at Hogwarts.

At last, when the noise level in the hall had begun to grow deafening, a deep purple-clad professor strode casually through the door, gesturing for the students to make a path. Harry, Ron, and Neville all groaned silently as Lockhart made his way to the stage that had been set up, smiling and waving. He cleared his throat twice and began.

"Welcome, welcome to my little dueling club! It is here that you will learn some of the many spells that I performed so proficiently in my many successful novels! But do not fear if you cannot perform them as I do, for it takes a very talented wizard to do so. As I was the one to defeat the Wagga-Wagga Werewolf, among other dangerous and dark creatures, I feel it is safe to say that there is no one like Gilderoy Lockhart!" He grinned pompously and bowed to the crowd, expecting a fountain of applause that did not come.

Neville heard Harry mutter next to him, "Sure there's no one like him. The world couldn't survive with two people that egotistical living in it." Ron stifled a laugh as Lockhart continued, unfazed.

"Now, let me introduce you to my assistant! She may be a bit of a novice in comparison to my skills, but fear not! She still has plenty to teach you. Let me introduce Professor Evans!" As Harry's mother stepped out from behind the curtain the crowd did indeed start to clap, for she was a well-liked professor. Lockhart looked quite put-out.

Neville grinned and turned to see what his friends thought of Lockhart's inferior popularity. He found Harry quite annoyed. "And to think I was excited about this club!" He said, put-out. "Why'd my mother have to go getting involved?"

"Probably so that Lockhart wouldn't teach us to kill ourselves by accident," Ron said jokingly. Harry managed a weak laugh, and, despite Neville's hopes, did not request that they leave. The three boys turned their attention back to the front of the room, where Lockhart was still speaking loudly.

"Professor Evans and I will now perform a short demonstration for you! Not to worry, I'll take it easy on her." He winked as Lily raised her eyebrows and frowned. They walked to separate corners of the stage and prepared. Lockhart looked as though he were posing for a photograph, for he was smiling rather than looking at his opponent, and did not seem to be in a very easy position for wandwork. Lily, however, appeared ready to curse him as soon as possible.

"One… Two… Three!" Lockhart called out cheerfully, still smiling. He expression quickly changed, however, as he was hit by a spell just moments later. Neville could hear several decidedly female gasps among the crowd, though most everyone else cheered quietly. Lockhart sat up, dazed, and attempted a smile.

"Well now, that was a bit…. Predictable, shall we say? It would have been all too easy to block, of course. But a lovely try, Professor."

Lily did not smile as she took charge of the room. "Alright now, everyone find a partner. I will be coming around to study your skills, in order to determine what to teach first." She stepped down from the stage, making no effort to help Lockhart, and began to help sort out the pairs.

Neville turned to Harry and Ron, who were looking at one another a bit guiltily. Neville realized, with a sinking feeling in his chest, that they intended to be partners. He cast around desperately for a kind soul with whom to pair, and found none. Just as Harry was about to speak, Lily reached them, looking slightly frazzled. Harry's face grew red with annoyance, though she pretended not to notice.

"Let's see now…. Neville, why don't you and Ron pair up? And Harry, why don't you pair with Mr. Malfoy?" She leaned in close. "No need to go easy on him," she said, making her motives clear.

Harry regained a bit of his normal confidence as Malfoy walked over, unhappy with the arrangement. "Want to give up now, Potter?" He spat, looking bored. Harry shook his head and uttered a spell, taking Malfoy by surprise. Ron and Neville watched, their own duel forgotten, as the fight between Harry and Malfoy grew more intense.

Just then, a whistle sounded around the hall, echoing loudly. Lily stood once again on the stage, a now-recovered and still-smiling Lockhart beside her. "Right, now I'm going to call up a pair from each year to duel, to give each of you an example of the kind of spells you can aim to perform. First years, as your training has just begun, you will not be dueling. So we will begin with the second years." Her eyes roamed the crowd for a suitable pair, falling upon the area where Neville stood with his friends. Neville's heart skipped a beat and his palms grew clammy. Surely he would not be forced to duel?

Thankfully, Lily had another plan. "Harry sweetie, why don't you and Malfoy be our example?" Her face grew red as she realized her mistake, just a moment too late. Neville glanced at his friend, who gripped his wand tight enough to break it in half. He could see Malfoy smirk and glance at his friends as titters broke out around the hall. Slowly, Harry made his way up to the stage. He stared straight ahead, and made no acknowledgement of his mother as he passed her. Neville and Ron pushed and shoved, finally finding themselves directly below where Harry and Malfoy now stood, preparing to duel.

"Remember, the only spells you should be using are to disarm your opponent! Ready then? One… Two… Three!" called Lily as both boys raised their wands.

Harry opened his mouth to utter a spell, but Malfoy spoke first. "Serpensortia!" he shouted, pointing his wand at Harry. Neville watched in shock as a snake appeared out of the wand. The hall was quiet as the snake slithered towards Harry, who suddenly appeared quite nervous.

"I'll handle this!" Lockhart cried, obviously pleased to be the hero. He uttered some unintelligible syllables and the snake twitched violently. Neville and Ron glanced at each other, worry etched upon their faces. They raised their wands in unison, feeling as though something had to be done, though they didn't know what.

As the snake inched closer and closer to Harry, Neville grew desperate. Lily seemed to be waiting, hoping Harry would be able to get rid of the snake on his own. But Harry either did not know how, or was unable to think with the animal in question directly in front of him.

As the snake reeled back its head in preparation to strike, Neville suddenly shouted "STOP!" He was not sure why, for clearly the snake wouldn't listen, yet his mouth seemed to have acted independently of his head. So his surprise however, the snake paused, glancing at Neville. "Stop!" He said again, a bit less loudly this time. The snake hissed at Harry, then curled up, now docile. Lily quickly got rid of it with a flick of her wand, then looked suspiciously at Neville.

"I'm afraid we're out of time for tonight, everyone! The date of the next meeting will be announced soon!" With that pronouncement she hurried out of the hall, leaving Lockhart to shove his way through the crowd of students.

Ron and Neville met Harry by the side of the stage. Neville realized both boys were looking at him a bit funny. "What?" he asked, confused.

Harry glanced around the near-empty Great Hall. "You spoke to the snake!"

"I guess it was sort of stupid," Neville admitted. "It's not like snakes speak English."

Ron looked confused. "But neither were you."

"I wasn't?" Neville didn't understand.

"You were speaking Parseltongue! Y'know, snake language." Ron seemed surprised that Neville was unaware of this talent.

"Oh, alright." Neville didn't understand what the issue was.

"Neville, don't you get it?" Harry looked as serious as Neville had ever seen him. "Speaking Parseltongue isn't all that common. And on top of that, Slytherin himself was a Parseltongue! Now everyone probably thinks you're the heir of Slytherin because you can speak it too!"

"B-b-but I'm not! You know that!" Neville was shocked and dismayed. Surely the school would not start to suspect the attack on Halloween was his doing.

Suddenly Neville heard the same strange murmurings as before. "Let me rip you….. tear you….." He ignored it, more preoccupied with his recent linguistic discovery.

The three boys hurried out of the hall, still talking quietly about the events that had just unfolded. They were meant to be back in their dormitory in several minutes, or would risk punishment from Filch. Harry turned a corner quickly, with Ron and Neville right behind. Suddenly, Harry stopped dead in his tracks. Neville glanced around him and gasped as he made out the shadowy shape of a human form. He stared at Ron in shock as Harry sank to his knees over his mother's lifeless body.