The first time Harry meets Matthew Gamp is in his second year at Hogwarts.

Oh sure, he's seen him before (It's hard not to, when he is Ron's older brother, Percy's best friend), even greeted him a few times, but he had never talked to him, not properly at least.

Harry had never known what to make of him really. He seemed alright, a bit stuck-up sometimes, but was still ready for a laugh with Fred and George form what he'd seen. Then again, he was a Ravenclaw and a friend of Percy Weasley so if he wasn't stuck up then Harry would've thought something was wrong. That was all Harry really knew about him though as he had never really thought about Matthew Gamp all that much.

…Harry started to think that he had made a mistake not thinking about him as soon as Gamp accosted him on the second floor.

Okay, so maybe he hadn't accosted him, but Harry had been wanting to quickly check on the polyjuice potion before he made his way to Transfiguration, and Professor McGonagall didn't like students being late so Harry wasn't really in the mood for a chat.

"Potter." A voice rang out. It was a deep voice; one that bellied Gamp's short and stocky (almost squat-like) appearance.

Harry turned on a dime, knowing that voice and not wanting to get caught going into a girls' bathroom by a prefect (he would get in trouble and he already had enough rumours about him going about!).

"Yes?" he asked, slightly curious. Gamp had never talked to Harry without Percy before.

In fact, looking at him, Harry would have to say he looked…well, not nervous, but uncomfortable perhaps. His lips were pursed, and he glanced down the hall as if he wanted to be anywhere but here, though his voice never wavered.

"I wanted to talk to you about…" Gamp waved his hands as if looking for the right words "… the whole Chamber of Secrets thing."

Harry grew cold at that. Ever since the Duelling Club, the whole school seemed to think he was the Heir of Slytherin and was petrifying everyone. Nobody had really asked or confronted him yet, thankfully, but Gamp's constant glancing around made Harry wonder whether he would be spending the next few weeks in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey.

"Sorry," Harry said. Some of his nervousness coming through as he slowly walked backwards. "but I'm almost late for Transfiguration."

"So, you're going to Transfiguration through the second-floor corridor?" Gamp retorted with a half-grin.

That made Harry want to run for his life. Harry Hunting had made him fast, but Gamp was no Dudley and had magic to boot, so Harry would probably not make it far.

Gamp must have seen some of Harry's nervousness as he said "No. Wait. Don't run. I believe you, alright? I just want to talk to you."

"What?" Harry asked, stopping his backwards movement. That hadn't been what he was expecting at all "You believe me?"

"Well…" Gamp said slowly "I don't know if I believe you, but you're what? 12? And friends with a muggleborn? So, you're probably not petrifying everyone, and it's 'Innocent until proven guilty', right? And I looked up parseltongue in the library and there was parcelmouths in Ancient Greece that were healers so they can't be that bad. It was actually quite funny, I was just looking for ways in which the Greek wizards inspired Greek mythology, and I found it. I guess you never know where you'll get your answer from. It is the Hogwarts Library after all. And that's not even considering that…"

He seems to catch Harry's wide-eyed look. "I was rambling, wasn't I?" he asked with a wry grin and short laugh.

Harry nods, his eyes slowly coming out of its glazed defence that he had got from being around Hermione.

Gamp pushed his fingers through his thick, brown hair "Look, what I wanted to say was that I told the Ravenclaws to stop harassing you. I've got a bit of weight being a prefect and all, so they shouldn't bother you too much. If they do, just tell me, alright?"

Harry contemplated that. It was weird that Gamp had done that. He didn't really know Harry and Percy probably didn't put him up to it, knowing him. Harry had to ask the one question that sprung to mind then, "Why?"

"I want to become a wizarding advocate, Potter." Gamp says with a seriousness that shows why he is friends with Percy "And that means defending people who are wrongly accused…even if the whole world hates me for it."

Harry stands there, not really knowing what to say. Thinking that thanking someone that has helped him is probably a good thing to do, he does exactly that.

"No problem." Gamp says, before saying with a sudden half- grin, "Better head to Transfiguration, don't you think?"

Harry almost jumped to the ceiling, remembering that he had McGonagall. He started running as fast as he could towards Transfiguration, the Polyjuice potion all but forgotten in his haste. Even from two floors above, Harry thought he could still hear Gamp's echoing laughter at his predicament.

A few weeks later, and Harry has started to notice a difference in how the Ravenclaws treated him. Most, though not all, had stopped leaving rooms and standing as far away as possible when Harry came in. Some of the older years (mainly Sixth years, Harry noticed) had even started to stick up for him. When he had noticed that, he had looked to Gamp, only to get a sly smirk and a wink in return from where he was sitting next to Percy at the Gryffindor table.

When Harry had asked around about him, the only thing he had gotten was from Ron, who said that he was just like Percy, just "not as much of a prat." That, and that he seemed to go on about his family almost as much as Malfoy.

There wasn't much he could do, Harry decided, so he'll just to wait and see what happens.

As it happens, it wasn't the last time Harry met Matthew Gamp.

Not by a long shot.