Well everyone, here it is, chapter ten, and on time too, I might add. I'm sorry that most of this stuff is very similar to the book, I tried my best with it. I'm so happy that you all like it, 100 review for only nine chapters and so many favorites and follows! You all inspire me to do my best, and I feel lucky to have such wonderful readers such as yourselves. To those of you who have stuck with this story from the very beginning, I thank you and appreciate it, truly.

Now, enough of all this blabber, let's get on with the story! Please read and review, you all know how much I love them ;) Any comments or concerns just let me know! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine.

Chapter Ten: Parselmouths

MPOV

It was really hard for Mia to take in the news she received just barely a half hour ago. Colin Creevey—tiny, adorable Colin Creveey—had been attacked. He was attacked by Slytherin's monster, the first human victim since they had discovered the writing on the wall. Mia couldn't imagine Colin looking like Mrs. Norris, frozen stiff, and unmoving like a statue. Mixed feelings of sorrow and determination swelled in her stomach at the thought of it. Sorrow because Colin was just a small boy who loved taking pictures and didn't deserve to be attacked, and determination to get started on the Polyjuice Potion so her and the others can interrogate Malfoy and find out some more information about the Chamber of Secrets.

That's what led them to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom instead of the hospital wing. Ron and Hermione wanted to start the potion just as much as she does. Grabbing a cauldron and some supplies from their dorms, they hurriedly walked down the corridors, making their way to the bathroom as fast as they could. Once they were in, they went to the very last stall and squished themselves in, with great difficulty, as the cauldron took up the most room. Hermione placed the cauldron on top of the toilet, and then lit a fire underneath it. They worked silently for a few minutes, trying to focus on the potion, with Mia re-reading the instructions from Moste Potente Potions, making sure she did everything correctly. While she was starting to add the first ingredients, Hermione broke the silence.

"I can't believe Colin's petrified," she said softly.

"Me neither," said Mia. "This Heir of Slytherin is really sick, attacking students just because they come from a Muggle family—Colin's done nothing wrong."

"He was an annoying little guy, but he shouldn't of…" Ron said, a stony look on his face. "I swear, if Malfoy is the cause of this I'm going to—"

Ron made a gesture with his hands that looked as if her were strangling someone. Mia rolled her eyes at him and continued to work. She still had high doubts that Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin, but this potion could still be helpful in figuring gout everything that he knew about it. Hermione handed Ron some toad's stones to add into the cauldron when they heard a sudden voice come from outside the stall.

"It's me."

"Merlin's beard!" Ron exclaimed, jumping into the air and bumping into the cauldron, dropping the stones in it with a loud splash.

"Ron, careful!" Mia said as Hermione peeked through the keyhole.

"Harry!" she said. "You gave us such a fright—come in. How's your arm?"

"Fine," said Harry as he opened the door and squeezed into the stall with them. Now it was extremely crowded, and Mia was lucky to have enough arm space to drop things into the cauldron. She had the potion's book nearly pressed into her chest as they tried to rearrange themselves.

"We would have come to meet you, but we decided to get started on the Polyjuice Potion," Ron explained as Harry, with difficulty, locked the stall again. "We've decided this is the safest place to hide it."

"I have to tell you guys something," said Harry. "It's about Colin—"

"We already know," Hermione cut in. "A first year heard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick this morning and then told us. That's why we decided we'd better get going—"

"The sooner we get a confession out of Malfoy, the better," snarled Ron. "D'you know what I think? He was in such a foul temper after the Quidditch match, he took it out on Colin."

"'There's something else," said Harry. "Dobby came to visit me in the middle of the night."

"Dobby?" repeated Mia as she looked up from the book. "As in the house elf who ruined your uncle's dinner party, Dobby?"

"That's the one," Harry confirmed with a nod. "He came to me last night while I was sleeping. He was upset that I had found some way to go to school, because—you won't believe this—it was Dobby who stopped Ron and I getting through the barrier at Kings Cross."

"What?" said Ron. "That was him? Why did he do that? We were nearly expelled!"

"He thought that we'd have to stay home if we missed the train," Harry explained. "He didn't know we'd take the car here ourselves, but that's not all. Dobby wanted to make sure that I was sent home, so he made the Bludger chase after me yesterday."

"He what?!" Mia said sharply. "You could have died because of that Bludger!"

"Blimey Harry, are you sure this elf isn't trying to kill you?" asked Ron.

"He told me he only wanted me injured enough to go home," said Harry. "But he made a slip up though—he told me that this is actually the second time that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. When I tried to get him to tell me more, he started beating himself, and wouldn't say anything else, he just kept telling me to go home. Then Dumbledore and McGonagall came in with Colin, and Dobby vanished."

There was a brief silence as Harry finished talking, and Mia's mouth was hanging open, along with Ron and Hermione's

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione said.

"This settles it," said Ron. "Lucius Malfoy must've opened the Chamber and now he's told dear old Draco how to do it. It's obvious. Wish Dobby had told you what kind of monster's in there, though. I want to know how come nobody's noticed it sneaking around the school."

"Maybe it can make itself invisible," said Hermione, prodding leeches to the bottom of the cauldron.

"Or maybe it can disguise itself," Mia added. "Pretend to be a suit of armor or something—I've read about Chameleon Ghouls, and they have that ability."

Ron just shrugged and looked over at Harry.

"So Dobby stopped us from getting on the train and broke your arm," he said, shaking his head. "You know what, Harry? If he doesn't stop trying to save your life I think he really is going to kill you."

"Thanks for those wonderful words of comfort Ron," said Mia, stirring the contents of the cauldron. "You sure know how to brighten up the room."

Ron retaliated by flinging a leech at her, where it stuck to her face. Mia let out a sharp yelp and quickly yanked it off.

"Ron!" she said, glaring at him. Ron started snickering but stopped short when she flung it right back at him, and it landed directly on his nose. He jumped back and knocked into Harry, making them slump on top of each other against the door.

"Will you two knock it off? Honestly, sometimes you're no better than children," Hermione scolded.

"She started it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Enough!" Hermione cried, brandishing her wand threateningly. "Not another peep out of you two!"

Mia and Ron instantly shut up, and Hermione glared at them for a moment before going back to the potion. Out of the corner of her eye, Mia saw Harry shaking with restrained laughter and she gave him a sharp nudge in the side with her elbow.

"Thanks for sticking up for me Harry," she mumbled.

"Anytime Mia," he replied with a smirk.

…

The school was in a nervous state after hearing about the attack on Colin Creveey. Unknown to the teachers, amulets, talismans, and other enchanted devices were being given out to students, in hopes of providing protection from the Slytherin monster. There was an unspoken fear that loomed over everyone, and no one dared to go anywhere alone, especially at night. Ginny was one of the many first years who were frightened and distraught, and the twins didn't help much by jumping out from behind statues and scaring her. Most days she sat by herself at a table in the corner of the common room at night, studying and writing in her diary. Whenever Mia would go over to say hello, Ginny would jump a little in her seat and give her a greeting as well, and discreetly tried to hide her diary from view.

The next couple of weeks came and went, with the promise of winter's wrath inching closer and closer with each passing day. The corridors of the castle were extremely cold, and students could be seen huddled together in groups on their way to their classes. Every morning Mia woke up hoping to see the first snowfall of the year, desperately wanting to go and play in it, but to no avail. During class breaks, Hermione would conjure up her little fires and carry it around with them so they could keep warm. In the second week of December, Professor McGonagall came around the Gryffindor table one morning, handing out sign-up sheets for all those who would be staying at the castle for Christmas. Mia, Harry, Ron and Hermione had all signed the paper—they had heard that Malfoy was staying for Christmas, and they found it highly suspicious. Of course, Crabbe and Goyle would be staying too, for whatever Malfoy did, they did. Mia was a little sad because this was the first Christmas that she wouldn't be spending with her parents and Brian. She couldn't tell them the real reason why she wanted to stay at the castle, so she just settle for telling them she heard the was beautiful at Christmas, and she wanted to stay at school at least once to have the experience. Ben and Catherine told her they understood, but she was still sad. Ron cheered her up by talking about opening presents in the common room and the dinner they would share with the teachers who were also staying at the castle during the holidays. It comforted Mia to know that although they still had to interrogate Malfoy, she would be spending the holidays with all her friends.

Unfortunately, the Polyjuice Potion was only half finished. They still needed the bicorn horn and the boomslang skin, and the only place they were going to get them was from Snape's private stores. Harry and Ron were still not all for breaking into Snape's private stores. He hated Harry enough already, and Mia was positive they would never see him again if Snape caught him. So it was decided that Harry would cause a distraction long enough for Hermione to go into Snape's office to get the ingredients they needed.

During their next potions class, they were all assigned to brew a Swelling Solution, and Snape was walking around, preforming his normal duties of complimenting the Slytherins and antagonizing the Gryffindors, especially Neville, whose hands would start to shake every time Snape walked past him. Mia's potion was going well, and she worked silently next to Hermione, who would give Harry the signal when it was time to start the distraction. After Snape walked away once he criticized Harry's potion, Hermione looked over at him and nodded. Mia saw Harry pull something out of his pockets and prod it with his wand. The object immediately started to fizz like a firework, and after checking to make sure no one else was watching, Harry chucked it into the air. Mia watched as it fell into Goyle's cauldron. Knowing they had seconds, Mia quickly dropped the knife she was using to squish the juice out of the fish eyes and bent down to look like she was retrieving it, pulling Hermione with her. In the next moment, Goyle's potion exploded, showering the whole class. People shrieked as splashes of the Swelling Solution hit them and Mia had to keep herself from smirking at Malfoy, who got a face full of the potion, and his nose was starting to swell like a balloon. Mia nudged Hermione, and the bushy haired girl nodded before sneaking off into Snape's office while he tried to disband the confusion.

"Silence! SILENCE!" he roared. "Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draft—when I find out who did this —"

Mia tried not to laugh as he watched Malfoy hurry forward, his head drooping with the weight of a nose like a small melon. It took a little while for Snape to hand out the draft to everyone who had gotten splashed with the potion, and by the time he was finished, Hermione had already come back inside the classroom, the front of her robes bulging. When she came over to stand next to her, she handed Mia the ingredients she took and then Mia stuffed them inside her bags, underneath her books so no one would see them. Once she was sure she had them hidden, Snape walked over to Goyle's cauldron and scooped out the twisted black remains of the firework. There was a sudden hush as everyone looked at the Potion's Master, whose face was twisted into one of rage.

"If I ever find out who threw this," Snape whispered, "I shall make sure that person is expelled."

Snape was looking right at Harry as he said this and Mia silently thanked God that Snape couldn't prove that it was him. When the class ended, Mia and the others hurriedly left the room, and made their way up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"He knew it was me," Harry said. "I could tell."

When they reached the bathroom, they went into the stall and Mia threw the ingredients into the bubbling cauldron, watching as it changed color.

"It'll be ready in two weeks," she said happily.

"Snape can't prove it was you," said Ron reassuringly to Harry. "What can he do?"

"Knowing Snape, something foul," said Harry as the potion frothed and bubbled.

"Don't worry, he won't do anything Harry," said Mia. "He'll have to get through me first."

"Mia you can't possibly hope to take on a professor," Hermione countered with a frown. "You're only a second year."

"Mione, it's like you don't know me at all," said Mia sweetly. "Last year I jumped on Quirrell's back and yelled in Voldemort's face. What makes you think the old dungeon bat can scare me?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head while Ron laughed, and Harry just smiled, placing her arm around her and giving her a tight hug.

"You have some guts Mia," he said to her. "You're a true Gryffindor—a real lioness."

Mia's heart fluttered and she beamed at him.

"Thanks Harry. That means a lot."

HPOV

Not too long after they set the firework off in Snape's classroom, Harry and the others were walking through the entrance hall when they saw a small knot of people gathered around the notice board, reading a piece of parchment that had just been pinned up. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas beckoned them over, looking excited, along with Alex Parker.

"They're starting a Dueling Club!" said Seamus.

"Really?" Mia asked in interest.

"First meeting tonight," Alex replied. "I wouldn't mind dueling lessons, they might come in handy one of these days."

"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" said Ron, but he, too, read the sign with interest.

"Could be useful," he said to Harry, Mia and Hermione. "Shall we go?"

"I don't see any reason why we shouldn't check it out," said Mia. "Like Alex said, it could be very useful in the future—no harm in getting an early start, right?"

So at eight o'clock that evening, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mia hurried back to the Great Hall, eager for the first lesson. When they entered, Harry saw that the long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited.

"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" said Hermione as they edged into the chattering crowd. "Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young—maybe it'll be him."

"As long as it's not—" Harry began, but he ended on a groan. Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his usual black.

"Thanks a lot Harry, you jinxed it!" said Mia, scowling at him. "Now we have to deal with this idiot for an hour…"

"Shh!" Hermione hissed, looking at Lockhart dreamily as he looked out towards the crowd.

"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions—for full details, see my published works."

"Can we leave now?" Mia groaned.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," continued Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry—you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Ron muttered in Harry's ear as Snape's upper lip was curled. Harry wondered why Lockhart was still smiling—if Snape had been looking at him like that he'd have been running as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

"Oooh, Snape is going to murder him," Mia whispered, her face breaking into a grin. "This is going to be good."

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed—at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. Harry snickered as he watched Mia rub her hands in anticipation out of the corner of his eye. They all watched as Lockhart and Snape raised their wands, each of them taking their own defensive stance.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Mia murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth.

"One—two—three—"

Both professors swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent. Snape cried, "Expelliarmus!" In the next second, Lockhart was blasted off his feet, flying through the air and crashing into the far wall behind him, slumping to the ground and landing on his stomach. Some of the Slytherins were cheering, and some others were covering their mouths to hide their snorts and chuckles. Hermione, however, was dancing on tiptoes, trying to peer over the sea of heads.

"Do you think he's all right?" she squealed through her fingers.

"Who cares?" said Harry and Ron together while Mia let out a muffled laugh behind her hand.

"I told you Snape was going to show him," she giggled.

"Well, there you have it!" Lockhart said, standing back on his feet and fixing his hat as he walked back on stage. "That was a Disarming Charm—as you see, I've lost my wand—ah, thank you, Miss Brown—yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy—however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see. Now, enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me—"

Both Snape and Lockhart jumped off the stage and then started walking through the crowd, matching everyone up with somebody. Lockhart was pairing up random people, while Snape walked right over to Harry and his friends, a twisted smile on his face.

"Time to split up the dream team, I think," he said. "Weasley, you can partner Finnigan. Potter—"

Harry moved automatically toward Hermione and Mia, but Snape wasn't having that.

"I don't think so," said Snape, smiling coldly. "Mr. Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. And you, Miss Granger—you can partner Miss Bulstrode, while Miss Thatcher works with Mr. Parker."

Harry frowned as Draco Malfoy walked over with a Slytherin girl who reminded Harry of a picture he'd seen in Holidays with Hags. Hermione looked rather intimidated as she and Millicent Bulstrode walked off, and Mia glared at Malfoy as he stood across from Harry.

"You can go now Thatcher," he said smugly at her. Mia looked as if she were about to say something, but Alex, who had walked up behind her, placed his hand on her arm and shook his head, leading her off to a different spot on the floor. Harry waved at her before turning back to Malfoy, his frown deepening.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart, back on the platform. "And bow!"

Harry and Malfoy barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other.

"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents—only to disarm them—we don't want any accidents—one…two…three—"

Harry moved his wand, but Malfoy, who had already started moving on "two", shot a spell at Harry that most definitely wasn't a disarming one. His spell hit Harry so hard he felt as though he'd been hit over the head with a saucepan, and he took a gasp as he staggered backwards, clutching his stomach where the spell had hit him. Furious, Harry repositioned himself and pointed his wand at Malfoy.

"Rictusempra!" he shouted. A jet of silver light burst out of his wand and it hit Malfoy in the stomach and he doubled up, cackling with laughter. Before Harry could do anything else, Malfoy gasped out another spell, aiming at Harry's legs, and soon Harry found that his legs were moving out of his control, doing a sort of weird dance in fast motion. He had to lean against the wall for support and Malfoy had fallen to his knees, unable to hold himself upright due to his never-ending laughter.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted in alarm, as nearly everyone was fighting against one another. He tried to call for order, but no one was listening to him. In the end, it was Snape who cast the spell that ended all the various enchantments that were inflicted upon the students. Harry's legs ceased dancing, and Malfoy stopped laughing, taking a few deep breaths. Looking around, they saw that most of everyone else had been on the receiving end of a bad curse or jinx. Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting, while Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, apologizing for whatever his broken wand had done. Mia was helping up Alex, who didn't seem to be hurt, and was red in the face as she handed his wand back to him. However, Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving—Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain, both their wands lay forgotten on the floor. Harry and Mia leapt forward and pulled Millicent off, even though she was a lot bigger than they were. Harry pulled her off while Mia helped get Hermione head out from Millicent's arm.

After that moment of chaos, Lockhart decided to have some volunteers demonstrate how to block unfriendly spells. He first called on Neville and Justin, but Snape quickly shot that idea down. Instead, he offered Harry and Draco up as volunteers.

"Are you serious?" Harry heard Mia hiss under her breath. "Is he really trying to cause a fight?"

Everyone backed off to give them room as Lockhart gestured for Harry and Malfoy to come to the center of the hall.

"Now, Harry," said Lockhart. "When Draco points his wand at you, you do this."

He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action, and dropped it.

"Whoops—my wand is a little overexcited—" said Lockhart as he bent down to pick it up off the floor. Snape moved closer to Malfoy, bent down, and whispered something in his ear. Malfoy smirked, and it made Harry a little uneasy. He looked up nervously at Lockhart and said, "Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?"

"Scared?" muttered Malfoy, so that Lockhart couldn't hear him.

"You wish," said Harry out of the corner of his mouth. In the crowd, he could see his friends looking at him, with Mia and Hermione smiling encouragingly and Ron giving him a thumbs up.

"Just do what I did, Harry!" said Lockhart, smiling.

"What drop my wand?" said Harry.

"Three—two—one—go!" he shouted.

Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, "Serpensortia!"

Harry watched as a long black snake shot out of the end of Malfoy's wand, landing on the floor and hissing dangerously, slithering towards him slowly. Everyone instantly moved away from the snake, but Harry found that he couldn't make himself move at all.

"Don't move, Potter," said Snape lazily. "I'll get rid of it…"

"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart. He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang—the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged and hissing furiously, it slithered straight toward Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike. Thinking fast, Harry rushed forward and yelled at the snake.

"Leave him!"

All at once, the snake recoiled and slid away from Justin, turning its piercing eyes to Harry, and he let out a sigh of relief, knowing that Justin was safe now. He smiled as he turned to look at him, but what he saw shocked him. Justin was staring at Harry with a mix of anger and fear on his face, and he was slowly backing up, looking back and forth between him and the snake.

"What do you think you're playing at?!" he shouted. Before Harry could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the hall. Harry was completely bewildered by Justin's reaction, and he hardly noticed that Snape had gotten rid of the snake, or that everyone's eyes were now fixed upon him, and they were all whispering. He was only brought back to reality when he felt Ron tugging on the back of his robes.

"Come on," he said. "Move—come on—"

Ron grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him quickly out of the hall, and everyone moved aside to let them pass, each one with the same scared expression on their face. What in the world was going on? Harry remained silent as Ron hauled him through the corridors with Hermione and Mia right behind them, trying to figure out what had just happened. None of them spoke until they finally reached the entrance to the common room. As soon as they were inside, Ron shoved Harry into an armchair and stood in front of him.

"You're a Parselmouth? Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked.

"I'm a what?" said Harry.

"A Parselmouth!" said Ron. "You can talk to snakes!"

"I know," said Harry. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once—long story—but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to that was before I knew I was a wizard—"

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Ron repeated faintly.

"What the big deal Ron?" asked Mia. "You don't need to get upset over this."

"Not get upset?" Ron said, staring at her as if she were mad. "You don't know what this means Mia."

"Of course I know what this mean Ron," Mia countered. "And it's absolute rubbish."

"Can someone please tell me what's the problem with me talking to snakes?" said Harry. "I bet loads of people here can do it."

"Oh, no they can't," said Ron. "It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is bad."

"What's bad?" said Harry, starting to feel angry. "What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin—"

"Oh, that's what you said to it?"

"What d'you mean? You were there—you heard me—"

"We heard you speaking Parseltongue Harry," said Mia. "Snake language."

"You could have been saying anything," Ron added. "No wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something—it was creepy, you know—"

"I spoke a different language?" Harry said, his mouth dropping open. "But—I didn't realize—how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it? Mia, you never—"

"I honestly forgot about the whole zoo incident with your cousin, Harry," Mia said apologetically. "I've read about Parselmouths, but I didn't remember you were one until now."

"Well do you want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a massive snake biting off Justin's head?" Harry said to Ron. "What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"

"It matters," said Hermione, speaking at last in a hushed voice. "Because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent."

Harry's mouth fell open even more.

"Exactly," said Ron. "And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-great-grandson or something—"

"But I'm not," said Harry, with a panic he couldn't quite explain.

"You'll find that hard to prove," said Hermione. "He lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be."

"But that doesn't mean anything!" said Mia, crossing her arms over her chest. "Not all purebloods are related to the founders of Hogwarts—I'm positive Harry isn't a descendent of Salazar Slytherin."

"But only relatives of Slytherin could speak Parseltongue," said Ron. "It's a sign of a dark wizard…"

"That's stupid!" Mia exclaimed loudly. "Just because most dark wizards have that ability doesn't mean they're all evil! You've known Harry for over a year and I've known him since I was little, he's not dark."

"We know that Mia, but that doesn't mean the rest of the school will," Hermione said gently. "They might think that he's Slytherin's heir."

"Well then they're all prats!" Mia snapped. "Harry saved Justin from the snake—if they can't understand that then they're just bunch of tossers! There's the possibility that Harry isn't the only Parseltongue in the school, and he doesn't hate Muggleborns! If they're going to be that dumb then they can take their wands and shove it—"

"Mia," Harry said, standing up from the armchair and placing a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. "Take a breath. Trust me, I'm angry too, but there's not much we can do about it now."

Mia stared at him for a moment, then she sighed, relaxing her stance. She looked directly into his eyes, her own sapphire blue ones glowing fiercely.

"You are not bad Harry Potter," she said firmly, her tone suggesting that she was trying to drive it into him. "No matter what being a Parselmouth means…you are not bad."

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