It was the Quidditch season once again.
Like last year, excitement and tension rose and filled inside Hogwarts. The first game was Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw and as Ron guessed, Ravenclaw outperformed the House of Badger by sixty points. Ron sat beside Ginny and the rest of the Weasley siblings (minus Percy who preferred to focus more on his studies). Ginny's eyes were glued on the game, her eyes widening in fascination and awe while Ron and the twins threw a number of points about the two teams' performance.
"Well, that was rather something," said George as everyone trooped out from the stands.
"Yeah," nodded Fred. "Hufflepuff almost won over against Ravenclaw. I guess we should watch out for them."
"You'll win," said Ron confidently and he briefly remembered the bet he and Draco made few weeks ago. "You're going to get the cup this year, that's for sure."
"That'll make Oliver's day," grinned George while Fred chortled. "So did you enjoy the game?" he asked to his younger sister.
"It's great, it's better than the games you played at home," said Ginny with a smile. Though it wasn't in her hand, Ron knew she brought her journal which was pocketed in her robes. "What are you thinking, Ron?" she suddenly asked.
Ron blinked and said, "Oh nothing. Just something not important." Not really since I'll be getting those Galleons in no time.
"Keeping secrets, are you Ronniekinns?" teased Fred lightly as the young redhead Slytherin scowled. "Careful now, you might become a fully-fledged snake if you continue doing that."
"Yeah right, all of us have something to keep to ourselves," said Ron scratchily, not noticing Ginny's shifty expression. "Anyway, I have to go now. I have to finish one homework I have – tomorrow's the deadline –"
"Alright, just watch the next game – we're going to kick your House's arse," called out George as Ron went to another direction.
"I'm sure you will," laughed Ron before going out of sight. "You should win," he muttered to himself as he paced down the hallway quickly. "My dignity and pride are on the line." For the next following days before the awaited match, Ron couldn't help but be nervous, but thankfully enough he didn't show it because that would surely make Draco happier if he were. Every evening before he went to bed, he wished badly that the House of lions would win the first match or die trying.
On the day of the fated match, Ron sat on his usual spot, feeling his hands shaking uncontrollably but managed to stifle it. He watched both teams making their way out on the pitch with their brooms in their hands, zoning out the noise erupting from his surroundings. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Blaise Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle approaching on his right side. "Ready to lose, Weasley?" smirked the dark boy while the other two grunted.
"Let's see about that Zabini," growled Ron and the next thing he knew, the game had begun.
For the next six minutes, the Slytherin team had been gaining the upper hand with sixty points. The House of snakes from the stands cheered madly as the points went up. Ron's knuckles were turning white, his anxiety rising. He looked around and finally saw Harry between his older brothers Fred and George as if being guarded by them. Then he realized one particular Bludger had been repeatedly going to Harry's way without halt.
Don't tell me the Bludger's been -? Ron's thoughts were interrupted when Gryffindor's Quidditch captain, Oliver Wood, called for a time-out. As the Gryffindor team huddled together, he watched the other team; every one of them wore smirks on their faces, with the most noticeable one from Draco. Ron scowled at the sight. Though he expected the time-out would last a bit longer (he thought they would discuss new tactics), the game was back on and to Ron's surprise, his brothers weren't there around Harry to block the rogue Bludger.
He watched in awe and shock as Harry turned, spun, rotate and other ridiculous-looking stunts just to avoid the menace. Then moments later, he was finally hit on the left arm and staggered a bit from the collision. "You're going to lose this one," laughed Blaise.
"It's not ever yet," breathed Ron, his eyes glued on Harry.
The Gryffindor Seeker continued to fly and avoided the relentless attacks of the Bludger while his left arm was rendered motionless. To Ron's shock, he saw Harry zooming straight at Draco. "He's going to attack Draco!" cried Pansy Parkinson while the others near her gasped.
The next thing that happened, Ron could see the Golden Snitch struggled helplessly in Harry's right hand. A grin broke on Ron's face and he shouted gleefully as he punched the air with his fist, "YES! They won!"
He didn't care when Harry fainted on spot while holding the Snitch, that Lockhart was approaching Harry for some unknown reason, or how the Bludger was fixed. He simply didn't because right now he knew that he won against Draco and his cronies and that he'd earn a couple of Galleons so easily. He turned and smirked at Blaise and his other dorm mates who were quite sour and said coolly, "Now who just lost, eh?"
"Shut it, Weasley," snapped Blaise, his face flushed.
"Well? Where's my prize?" said Ron, raising an eyebrow at them. "You can't break your word or that'll make you look really pathetic, mind you."
Blaise growled as he rummaged and pulled out a pouch. He then tossed it to Ron and said spitefully, "Here's your Galleons. I'm sure you really need it since you're dirt-poor."
Ron rolled his eyes and opened it to check if it's real. "Is that all you can say? Pathetic –" It gets tiring hearing you lot saying that I'm poor. But it doesn't matter because as long as my family's well, it's fine. He counted the golden coins and smiled in satisfaction. "Nice making business with you," he said cheerfully to annoy them more.
But that feeling of triumph didn't last when something terrible happened later that night. One of the students in the name of Colin Creevey was petrified who was found on one of the floors in his pyjamas. This terrified the students, especially the Muggleborns and rumors began to spread around, particularly about Harry Potter. One of the most prominent rumours was that Harry Potter was the one attacking the students since he was there.
"That's a load of bull," said Ron to Theodore as they made their way out to the dungeons one day. Apparently, Theodore made some excuse to Draco and his cronies about having to finish the Potions project with Ron so that seeing them together wouldn't be suspicious. "Harry Potter – Heir of Slytherin?"
Theodore shrugged. "Everyone here will believe in everything. Since Potter was caught in the scene twice –"
"Not exactly," cut across Ron. "I heard that Creevey boy was petrified somewhere in Hogwarts, not where Potter was – speaking of which, don't you think Lockhart is a danger to everyone? Removing a person's bones –" They entered inside the Potions classroom and during class Ron didn't expect something would happen.
He knew Goyle was terrible at potion-making (he only passed because he was a Slytherin and Snape wouldn't fail anyone from his House), but it was odd. This time, they were on solo work and as everyone were minding their own potion when it happened; Ron saw a glimpse on something shooting toward Goyle's cauldron and the cauldron exploded. The students close to him screamed, ducked and ran away from spot while Goyle took most of the damage. As Snape cleaned up the mess and administered cures for those who were caught by the potion, Ron glanced around and saw Harry covering his mouth and trying his hardest not to laugh.
It dawned to him that it was Harry who exploded Goyle's cauldron, "If I ever find out who threw this," Snape whispered in fury as he held up a piece of firework in his hand and sweeping a hard glare to everyone, especially at Harry's direction, "I shall make sure that person is expelled."
Ron grimaced. If Snape knew who the culprit was, the person would be dead a thousand times over. He decided throughout the rest of the period not to say anything about what he saw and pretended not to have seen something. It was betraying but Ron didn't care much because he wasn't exactly loyal to the Slytherin House.
A few more days passed by and a different kind of rumour floated across the whole school. Apparently, it wasn't as farfetched considering where it came from; from the notice board on the entrance hall was a piece of parchment hung with words that caught the attention of the students passing by. Ron went in to see it for himself and stared incredulously at it. "A Dueling Club?" he repeated. "Is this for real?"
"Definitely," answered Fred who suddenly appeared behind Ron's back.
"Fred!'" scowled Ron who was surprised by Fred's sudden response.
Fred simply ignored his reaction and asked casually, "So, who do you reckon's going to oversee the whole thing?"
"I dunno," grumbled Ron. "Where's George?"
"Right beside you, Ickle Ronniekinns," replied George the same way his twin brother did earlier. "If you ask me, I hope it's anyone but Lockhart because if it's him –"
"- it's no-brainer it'll end in disaster," finished his twin.
"We'll just hope it isn't him," said Ron sighing. Sadly, fate wasn't on their side.
At exactly eight in the evening, the four tables in the Great Hall vanished and only a platform stationed at the middle was there. Students of all ages were milling inside, surrounding the platform and talking amongst each other. Ron stood somewhere near the right end of the hall, not wanting to get bumped too much. He glanced around to see who would be teaching but ended up groaning instead: walking up the stage was no other than Lockhart and surprisingly enough, following behind him in his usual black was Snape, looking more sinister than ever.
"This is going to be interesting," mused Theodore who leaned against the wall, watching with mild interest.
"Humorous," snorted Ron. "Do you think Snape will finish off the git in one go?"
"He can," answered the weedy boy shortly. "But considering they're up on the stage, Snape will have to restrain himself and that'll be a feat."
"True," sighed Ron, glancing at the two. "I just hope Snape will embarrass him big time." Few moments later, his wish finally came true when Snape used a strong Disarming spell against Lockhart which knocked him off his feet. He and the other Slytherins cheered for their Head House for what he did on the man. When the demonstration was over, they began pairing students and have them try to do the same thing (Ron doubted if anyone of them could do what Snape did).
As Ron expected, the whole event was turning out to be a joke. None of the students chosen were good enough or as close to what they had seen in the demonstration. Even Hermione, one of the students chosen, wasn't doing much as her head was in a headlock by Millicent Bulstrode.
"This is getting pathetic," said Ron dryly.
"It is," said a female voice suddenly. Ron and Theodore jerked their heads and saw Tracey Davis standing close with her hands on her waist. "Do you think it's possible if we leave the place? It's such a waste of time," she said boringly.
Both Ron and Theodore stared at each other, wondering who should reply. "I don't think they'll notice someone leave," said Theo to her. "But won't that be rude of you to leave Bulstrode?"
"True," agreed Tracey before turning her head. "Hullo Daphne," she greeted to one of her dorm mates.
"Tracey," acknowledged the blonde girl with a well-practised smile. "Enjoying the event?"
"Hardly," Tracey rolled her eyes.
As the two girls talked, Ron couldn't help but be annoyed. Of all the places they can talk, why here?, thought Ron irritably as he tried to pay attention on the duelling (or lack of it). "Oi you two, will you go somewhere else?" he said while scowling. "I don't want to hear you two talking about useless garb –"
Before Tracey could say anything, the other girl turned around and said, "I had it enough with you Ronald Weasley, you are becoming too rude to us." Theodore raised an eyebrow, surprised by the outburst made by her.
"What did you call me -?" gaped Ron.
"Isn't your name Ronald?" said Daphne inquiringly. "Anyway, you're too rude and inconsiderate to us females. I've seen you treating everyone like insignificant beings and yet we didn't do anything to you –"
"And what do you care anyway, Greengrass?" sneered Ron, recovering his spite against Slytherins. "It's none of your business how I treat –"
"Oh yes I do," interjected Daphne, now glaring at him.
"Daphne, it's useless –" began Tracey, shooting Ron a hard look.
"It won't," said Daphne firmly. She took one step forward toward Ron, who inched back instinctively, and said in her most authoritative tone, "I do not care if you hate us Slytherins or that you got yourself in this House – don't deny it, I know people like you despise the House of Snakes for obvious reasons – but that doesn't mean you can treat us so rude. You have been mean to me twice and this is the third time; I'm not going to let this slide."
"What do you mean twice? I didn't –" argued Ron.
"I was the one who you rudely told me and I quote 'Out of the way' one day from the Slytherin common room when I just got in," she reminded, her eyes narrowing. "Don't deny it." When Ron didn't respond she continued.
"I am a Greengrass, one of the most prominent and well-respected families in the wizarding Britain," she said. "And you are a Weasley. Despite the financial disposition -" Ron twitched slightly, "- you are currently in, you and your family are also respected amongst others. I expect that you respect me as I would have respected you. And honestly, I haven't done anything to you in the first place, nor have the others you've been treating so poorly. You should be ashamed of yourself. And need I have to point out, you're acting like Draco –"
"Don't compare me to that git!" hissed Ron before shooting a glare toward Theodore. "Not funny, Nott."
"She does have a point," said Theodore while shrugging.
Ron couldn't believe this was happening. Right now, Daphne Greengrass greatly reminded him of his mother. "I – you –" he spluttered.
"I know I do not have any authority or say on your actions but the least you can do is be civil to those who didn't do anything bad to you," said Daphne softly, sighing slightly and relaxing her shoulders. "That is all I'm asking." She turned to face Tracey and Theodore and said with a smile, "I should look for Pansy – she might be wondering where I am." She gave the three a small curtsy and left.
"I can't believe she said that," blurted out Ron finally, earning questioning looks from both Tracey and Theodore.
"Well, I can't believe you're a prat to those who have done nothing to you," said Tracey with a huff while crossing her arms. "If I were treated so rudely, I would've –" she stopped abruptly and turned to look over the stage when Theodore gestured to watch. "Hmph. This should be interesting."
Ron moved to see and grimaced slightly. "Interesting is an understatement," he said dryly.
On the stage other than Snape and Lockhart were none other than Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy with both of their wands raised and pointing at each other, wearing a determined yet serious look. Almost everyone fell silent as they watched the two steadily. "On the count of three – two –" said Lockhart loudly.
Draco threw the first spell, hitting Harry perfectly. The raven-haired wizard fell down, looking as if getting hit by something hard judging by his face but managed to fire a spell at the blonde Slytherin in retaliation. Draco collapsed in a fit of laughter, his laugh ringing across the hall. "Too basic," drawled Theodore, tilting his head away from the scene.
"Well they are second years, all of us I mean," pointed out Tracey. "And we hardly learned anything from last year. Even this year," she added with a scowl.
Nott is an exemption, possibly Granger, said Ron mentally as he watched.
Then, something happened after the first round. After Snape whispered something in Draco's ear (Ron suspected the Slytherin Head instructed a spell to the git) and when the second round began, he shouted "Serpensortia!" With a loud bang, a black poisonous-looking snake erupted from his wand and slithered its way toward Harry before turning to face one Hufflepuff student whom Ron barely recognized. Before the snake could strike its fangs on the boy, Harry did something that shocked everyone: he let out a hiss, directing it to the snake and disturbingly enough, the snake responded by coiling itself.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the Boy-Who-Lived who was looking around with a grin on his face but was replaced with confusion and worry. Then both Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger pulled him down and hastily left the hall, dodging everyone in their way.
The moment they left, Snape raised his wand and vanquished the snake. "The Dueling Club is now over, go back to your common rooms," said Snape in his deadly strict tone before leaving the stage, his black robes billowing behind him. Ron decided to leave the hall along with Theodore and Tracey (and Millicent who had re-joined them). As he walked, his mind went reeling in what he had just witnessed. Potter is a Parselmouth.
When the Slytherins entered the common room, everyone began talking. "I can't believe it –" said one seventh year.
"How can that possibly happen? He's a Gryffindor –"
"That's supposed to be an inherited trait – how he did he get that ability -?"
"Do you think it's the reason why You-Know-Who wanted to kill him as a baby -?"
"What do you think?" murmured Theodore to Ron as everyone was too busy talking about what happened.
"…it's mental," said Ron without looking at him. "Potter, Gryffindor Golden boy, vanquisher of You-Know-Who, a Parselmouth. Since that happened, more will think he's the heir."
"And you still think he's not?" questioned Theodore.
"No," he snorted. "Firstly, he's a goody-two shoes. Secondly, he's best mates with a Muggle-born so I doubt he's the heir." He left the weedy boy and clambered up to the dormitory to sleep. Before he could enter the dormitory, he heard Draco talking. "- matter if he can speak Parseltongue, he's still Potter and he's associated with blood-traitors and Mudbloods –" Ron felt a rising urge to hex him on spot but supressed it. Shaking his head, he entered inside and went straight to bed.
But what if Potter is indeed the Heir of Slytherin? With that last thought, Ron fell asleep and hoped for the best the following. But things turned out for the worse; another Muggle-born was attacked during daylight and it was a second year Hufflepuff who almost got bitten by the snake from the Dueling Club along with the Gryffindor ghost called Nearly-Headless Nick. From what he also heard, Potter was found with the two victims and this fuelled the rumours about him more.
The weather became colder and frostier, and snow fell from the sky more often when December came. Hardly anyone signed up to stay at Hogwarts as everyone wanted to be with their families and avoiding to be the next victim altogether. Surprisingly enough, Ron noticed that Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle decided to stay and wondered suspiciously what made them decide to stay here rather than at his home where he preferred much more.
But there were more pressing matters to think about. Ron was torn whether he should go back to the Burrow or not. "Have you decided?" asked Percy one evening, a week before the end of the first term. They were in the secluded corner of the library, near the Restricted Section. Percy was surrounded with a number of huge books and a couple of parchments and quills were scattered across the table.
"I'm not sure," grumbled the youngest Weasley. "I wanted to but staying in the dorm with Malfoy and his two idiots doesn't make it appealing to be honest."
Percry pressed his lips as though forcing himself not to retort to his choice of words about his Housemates. "It's your choice," he said to him as he picked up a quill. "It'll be nice if you stay here with us. But you can go to Egypt with Mum and Dad to see Bill –"
"And talk about how expensive it is to there," murmured Ron, sighing. "I don't want to burden them."
The two fell silent as Ron said this. Although they wouldn't say it, it was hard living in borderline poverty. Yes, they were still lucky to still have food on the table, have a house of their own, and clothes to wear, but it was still hard. But they always tried to overlook it become resourceful on things they could hardly have. And they had to admit, they grew up in a good environment with loving parents. "Well Ron," said Percy, cutting off the silence, "You still have a few more days to decide."
"Yeah, I know," grumbled Ron before standing up. "Thanks for listening, I don't think Fred or George will hear me out -'
"It's no problem," he said airily, waving his hand offhandedly. "I'm your older brother – it's my duty to take care of my younger siblings. Just go and enjoy yourselves, but not too much – you still have to study –"
"Yeah, yeah, I get you," Ron rolled his eyes. "But I should say that to you. Don't study too much and enjoy a bit – it's bad for the brain and your social life," before he could hear any reply from his older brother, he left the table and walked out from the library.
The more he thought about staying at Hogwarts, the more he wished to book a seat at the Hogwarts Express and stay away from Malfoy as much as possible. Three days before the end of term, he almost decided to come home and join his parents to visit his older brother Bill in Egypt when something else changed his mind immediately. Ron thought he was punishing himself for no reason at all but it seemed worth it to say the least.
He was on his way to the notice board in the Great Hall with a self-inking quill in his hand (he borrowed it from George whom he met on the way) to get a seat from the train when he ran into Harry and Neville. He almost fell on the floor but managed not to and fumbled on his feet. "Sorry," mumbled Harry without looking at him.
"Yeah, you seem to be in a hurry," noted Ron, raising an eyebrow at him. "Heard from my brothers you're going to have some tea with your fanged servant."
Harry and Neville stared at him. Then Harry cracked a small grin. "You don't believe that -?"
"- you're the Heir of Slytherin? Nope," shrugged Ron. "That's a load of Hippogriff dung. Two reasons: you're in Gryffindor and you're best mates with Granger who's a Muggle-born. People aren't making sense these days."
Harry seemed to have lightened up slightly after hearing him talk. "Thanks," he said quietly, avoiding pointing looks and whispers coming from the other students passing by.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Don't mind them," he said offhandedly. "They'd believe in anything. It always happens here, that's what my brothers says." He saw a quill lying on the floor between him and the two Gryffindors and bent down to pick it up. "This must be yours," he said as he handed it to Harry.
"Thanks," said the raven-haired Gryffindor, accepting it.
Much to Ron's surprise, his surroundings changed and he knew at once that he earned himself another vision.
Harry stood inside one stall with one glass filled with khaki-colored bumpy substance Ron didn't want to know. As he watched in disgust and horror, Harry pinched his nose and took two huge gulps from the glass and almost gagged from the taste. Then he doubled up – clutching his stomach as if having a tummy ache. It was the oddest thing Ron ever seen; Harry's skin began to bubble and steadily his face and body began to expand until he turned into Goyle, much to his shock.
The redhead blinked a couple of times. What just happened to him? He didn't realize he was staring at Harry as if he had grown an extra limb on his face until Neville dared to call him from his reverie. "Er – I believe George is calling me," he said hastily without answering the round-faced boy's question and ran away from them.
He turned to the right corner and made his way down to the Slytherin dungeons in a hurry. "Oi Nott," called Ron, ignoring the questioning looks from the other Slytherins.
Sitting with Theodore in the common room were Draco and his followers. "And what do you want from him, Weasel?" sneered Draco.
"Never you mind, you skinny albino," snarled back Ron. "Sheesh, don't your parents feed you enough food?" turning away from him, he said to Nott, "Potions work. Now."
Theodore stood up to leave. "Where are you going? Don't tell me you're actually going with that filthy blood-traitor?" questioned Blaise. He was still upset with Ron winning the bet and Gryffindor winning against Slytherin for the second time.
"I don't want to fail in case you don't remember," drawled Theodore before leaving them. "Let's go," he said to Ron with his barely moving.
"Just don't stay with that disgrace too long, his poorness might rub off you," yelled out Draco and earned a number of laughs and shrieks from the others.
"That stinking, foul –" Ron muttered under his breath as he and Theodore left the dungeons until they were in a secluded area. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down and faced Theodore. "Right, sorry to drag you from your inner cool circle," said Ron sarcastically. "But I need to ask you something and I'm hoping – more on expecting you - to answer it."
Theodore raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"
Ron began telling him what he had seen earlier, not leaving out any details. "- and in the end, he turned into Goyle! What on Merlin's sagging pants happened?" he finished with a confusing look on his face.
"Obviously you're not listening to Snape's lectures," he said mildly, earning an irritated look from the redhead.
"Just tell me what it is, Nott," said Ron testily, glaring at him.
"Polyjuice potion," answered Theodore shortly. "It's a potion that can make any person except for giants or any half-breeds alter their appearance to another person for only an hour. It's a complicated and very dangerous to make. From what you have just told me, it's the only potion that can do that."
Ron stared at him then sighed. "So, a Polyjuice potion," he muttered. "Why would Potter want to turn into Goyle anyway? I don't understand – wait," a thought went across his mind and a number of things began to crop up. "I'm sure Granger is the one making the potion – I doubt Potter or Longbottom can make one – and since Potter will drink it, I'm sure the other two will do too, so that means –"
"- they're taking the appearance of other Slytherins," finished Theodore, catching on what Ron's thinking. "If they had planned this for a long time, then they must have gotten at least a hair from some Slytherins like Potter getting Goyle's."
"That's right," nodded Ron. "And if we're going to guess what they're planning, it's –"
"To get inside the Slytherin dungeons," said the two.
"That sounds impossible, no one has ever done that - entering another House's common room," he said, frowning slightly. "The only way they can find any of the House's destinations is if one of the students from that House shows them where it is located. No can be that stupid."
"Unless they're taking the appearance of another person," reminded Theodore. "And no one is dumber than Crabbe and Goyle. They tend to forget the password so they have to be with Malfoy most of the time."
"Fair point," noted Ron. "Well, what do you think? Why would they want to enter to our dungeons? I don't see –"
"Unless they're looking for something," pointed out Theodore. "For every act, there's a reason. And besides, it proves to be interesting what those Gyffindors are capable of doing." He turned around and began leaving Ron.
"Oi where are you going?" called out Ron.
"I have a change of plans," he said coolly without looking back.
Ron didn't understand what he said until the following day. On the notice board inside the Slytherin dungeons, Theodore's name was written down right below Crabbe's scrawled name. Theodore had decided to stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays, which surprised both Ron and Draco. "What made you change your mind, Theo?" asked Draco curiously as all of the Slytherins made their way to the Transfiguration classroom.
"I thought it's a good change to try and stay here," shrugged Theodore. "And I don't like going to Transylvania and visit my distant relatives – tiring –"
Ron suppressed a snort. He knew what really changed the weedy boy's mind. It's going to be an interesting holiday, mused he as he and the others entered the classroom and took a seat.
It took a while, sorry about that!
Here's the latest chapter and Ron decided to stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays along with Theodore! Yes, Daphne Greengrass put her foot down and scolded Ron for his rude actions. Tracey Davies seems like a cool girl in my opinion but who knows? Draco is still a spoiled brat, so is Blaise, and Crabbe and Goyle are still Crabbe and Goyle lol.
This chapter covers Rogue Bludger, Duelling Club and some bit of Polyjuice Potion. I'm not sure how many chapters book 2 will have but we're reaching half of the year anyway. The next one will cover Polyjuice Potion and A Very Secret Diary. Not sure if I'll add Cornelius Fudge but I'll be able to decide in the end.