Hailey woke up on Sunday morning to find the hospital wing in winter sunlight and her arm reboned, but very stiff. She turned to look at Colin's bed, but it had been blocked from view by the high curtains she had dressed behind yesterday. Seeing that she was awake, Madam Pomfrey came bustling over with a breakfast tray and then began bending and stretching Hailey's arm and fingers.

"All in order," Madam Pomfrey said, as Hailey clumsily fed herself porridge left-handed. "When you've finished eating, you may leave."

Hailey dressed as quickly as she could and hurried off to Ravenclaw Tower, to tell Mandy and Michael about Colin and Dobby, but found that they weren't in there. She figured that they were in the library with Ron and Hermione went there. Maybe they were busy with something in there that they forgot to check in on her. As she went to the library, Percy Weasley was strolling out of it, looking in far better spirits than last time they met, but still a little annoyed.

"Oh, hello, Hailey," he said. "Excellent flying yesterday, really excellent. Ravenclaw has just taken the lead for the House Cup—you earned fifty points! Although I would prefer Gryffindor taken the lead—"

"Have you see Ron, Hermione, Mandy, or Michael?" Hailey interrupted anxiously.

Percy's smile faded, "No, I haven't. I hope Ron's not in another girls' toilet…"

Hailey forced a laugh, and watched as Percy walked out of sight, and then headed straight for Moaning Myrtle's lavatory. She tried the door, but it was locked. She pulled out her wand and said, "Alohomora."

The door opened and she walked in. "Hey, are you all in here?"

There was a clunk and a splash in a stall. Hermione's eye peered through the opening between the door and wall. "Hailey! You gave us such a fright—come in—how's your arm?"

"Fine," she said. She wasn't sure how five people were going to fit in the stall, but she managed to squeeze in. She was pressed against the wall next to Mandy and right across from Ron, on the left, if one walked in the stall. Michael was between the stall wall and toilet. His arms were crossed and he was looking displeased at something. Hermione was across from him, looking at the cauldron.

The cauldron was old and was perched on the toilet lid. There was a crackling fire under the rim, which told Hailey that they had lit a fire beneath it. Conjuring up portable, waterproof fire was a specialty of Hermione's.

"We'd've come to meet you, but we all decided to get started on the Polyjuice Potion," Ron said, as he tried to lock the stall again. "We've decided this is the safest place to hide it."

Hailey tried to explain what happened to Colin, but Hermione interrupted, "We already know—we heard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick this morning. That's why we decided that 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 that he took it out on Colin."

"There's something else," Hailey said, watching Hermione and Michael tear bundles of knotgrass and throwing them into the potion. Michael was viciously tearing the knotgross, until Hermione took it from him and gave him a sharp look.

"Sorry," said Michael.

"Dobby came to visit me in the middle of the night," Hailey continued. The four looked at her, and Hailey told them everything Dobby had told him—or hadn't told them.

Mandy's jaw had dropped, "The Chamber of Secrets was opened before?"

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

"Maybe it can make itself invisible," said Hermione, smacking Michael's hand away at he prodded the leeches harshly to the bottom of the cauldron. "Or maybe it can disguise itself—pretend to be a suit of armour or something—I've read about Chameleon Ghouls—"

"You read too much, Hermione," said Ron, pouring dead lacewings on top of the leeches. He crumpled up the empty bag and looked at Hailey. "So Dobby stopped us from getting on the train and broke your arm." He shook his head, "You know what, Hailey? If he doesn't stop trying to save your life he's going to kill you."

"I kind of figured that out," Hailey said, watching as Hermione wrestled the spoon from Michael's grip. She looked at Michael, "What's going on with you?"

"He got a letter and then he started acting like that. Won't tell us what's bothering him," Mandy asked.

"I won't be able to stay for Christmas," Michael said. "My mum is dragging me home because my cousin, Eva—" he cut himself off.

"Oh," the others replied.

Hailey felt awkward, "Sorry for your loss."

"She's not dead," Michael said, looking at them. "She got kicked out because her parents realized she's a witch. Next term, she will be starting here. My parents want me to be with her for Christmas."

"Your aunt and uncle did what?" Mandy asked flatly. Her face was turning pink, out of anger.

"My grandmother kind of raised my mum and my aunt to be deeply religious. When my mum turned out to be a witch, Aunt Temperance turned out to be a Muggle. Aunt Temperance turned highly jealous and bitter, and turned to religion really hard. So, she decided that she would stay in touch with my mum, if my mum never spoke about being a witch because it was deeply against her beliefs and due to jealousy. I guess my mum was ingrained to never speak out about her being a witch because…I guess she got some backlash against it from her mother and sister. So, I think that's why my mum never told me about magic. I don't know her line of thinking. We never really spoke about it at Christmas or over the summer holidays. Aunt Temperance married a man, who was also deeply ingrained with religion, too.

I guess Eva has been showing signs of being a witch for a while, but they have been writing it off as coincidences. There was this incidence where Eva and Aunt Temperance got into this big argument and all of the dishes shattered. That was when Aunt Temperance knew that Eva was a witch. So, Aunt Temperance and Uncle Raphael kind of freaked out and threw Eva out. My aunt and uncle disowned my ten year old cousin and kicked her out of the house," Michael explained, sounding bitter.

Hailey wasn't sure how to respond. She was thankful that the Dursleys didn't kick her out of Privet Drive or dropped her off at an orphanage.

"Oh, god," Mandy said, "Poor Eva. If I met her, I would give her a hug."

"She would probably smack you if you randomly hugged her," Michael said.

"Let's just get out of here," Ron said, motioning to the toilet stall. "It's getting a little stuffy in here."


By Monday, Colin Creevey's attack and the news of him laying as if dead in the hospital wing, traveled through the school. There was rumours and suspicion. The first-years seemed to travel in tight-knit groups, as if scared they would be attacked too, while going alone.

From what Ron and Hermione told her, Ginny Weasley sat next to Colin in Charms, and was distraught. Fred and George were trying to cheer up Ginny by taking turns by jumping out from behind statues, covered in fur or boils. They stopped when Percy, filled with rage, told them he was going to write to their mother and tell her Ginny was having nightmares.

Hailey had came across four students trading talismans, amulets, and other protective devices. Neville bought a large, evil-smelling green onion, a pointed purple crystal, and a rotting newt tail. Colton had pointed out that he was in no danger because he was a pureblood and it was unlikely he was going to be attacked.

"They went for Filch first," Neville had said fearfully, "and everyone knows I'm almost a Squib."


In the second week of December, Professor McGonagall came around, collecting names of those who be staying at school for Christmas. Hailey, Ron, Hermione, and Mandy signed her list, since they had heard that Malfoy was staying, which seemed suspicious. They decided that the holidays would be the perfect time to try and use the Polyjuice Potion to worm a confession out of him.

Unfortunately the potion was only half-finished. They still needed the bicorn horn and the boomslang skin. Hailey knew that the only place to get it was from Snape's private stores. Mandy said that she would rather face Slytherin's monster than face the wrath from Snape if he found out they stole from him.

On Thursday afternoon at lunch, Hermione said, briskly, "What you need is a diversion. One of you can sneak into Snape's office and take what we need." She passed the Ravenclaws a list of ingredients that they needed.

"I think I'd better do the actual stealing. You two will be expelled if you get into any more trouble. I've got a clean record. So all you two need to do is cause enough mayhem to keep Snape busy for five minutes or so," Mandy said.

Hailey smiled feebly. She figured causing mayhem in Snape's class was probably as safe as stealing food from Dudley's plate.

Twenty cauldrons stood steaming between the wooden desks, on which stood brass scales and jars of ingredients. Snape prowled through the fumes, making waspish remarks about the Ravenclaws work, while the Slytherins sniggered appreciatively. Draco kept flicking puffer-fish eyes at Michael and Hailey. They knew that if they retaliated, they would get detention.

Hailey was trying to keep her Swelling Solution from getting to watery, and she hardly listened as Snape paused to sneer at it, before going along to criticize Stephen. Mandy caught Hailey's eye and nodded. She nudged Michael and he took out one of Fred's Filibuster fireworks. He gave it a quick prod with his wand and the firework began to fizz and sputter. He straightened up and took aim. He threw it in the air, which landed right on target into Goyle's cauldron.

Goyle's potion exploded, showering the whole class. People shrieked as splashes of the Swelling Solution hit them. Malfoy got a faceful and his nose began to swell, Golyed blundered around, his hands over his eyes, which had expanded to the size of a dinner plate—Snape was trying to restore calm and find out what happened. Through the confusion, Hailey watched as Mandy crouched down and snuck into Snape's office.

Through the chaos, Snape roared, "Silence! Silence! Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draught—when I find out who did this—"

Hailey watched as Malfoy hurried forward, his head dropping with the weight of his nose, which was the size of a small melon. Half the class went forward; some weighed down with arms the size of clubs, and some who can't talk through gigantic, puffed-up lips.

Mandy returned, the front of her robes bulging at weird angles. When the various amounts of swelling went down, Snape went over to Goyle's cauldron and pulled out the blackened, twisted remains of the firework. The class went suddenly quiet.

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

Hailey tried to make her face look as puzzled as possible. Snape's eyes were directly on her and Michael. Ten minutes later after the bell rang, they tried to keep their pace matching the others, but broke off as soon as they got to the stairs.

"He knew it was Michael," Hailey said, as they went to Moaning Myrtle's lavatory. "I could tell."

Mandy threw the ingredients in the cauldron and began to stir it vigorously. "I think it would be ready in two weeks. Besides, he can't prove that it was Michael who threw it."

"I think he was looking at you," Michael said to Hailey.

"He was looking at the both of you," Mandy said. "What can he do to you both?"

"Something really foul," Michael stated flatly.


A week later, Hailey, Ron, Hermione, Michael, and Mandy were walking across the entrance hall when they spotted a small knot of people gathered around the notice board, reading a piece of parchment.

Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas beckoned them over, looking excited.

"They're starting a Dueling Club!" exclaimed Seamus. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days."

Hailey wondered if Colton was going to a meeting.

"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" asked Ron, but he, too, read the sign with interest. He looked at the other four, "Could be useful." They walked inside the Great Hall for dinner. "Shall we go?"

"I think I heard something about Professor Flitwick being a good duelist," Mandy said. "I think it could be something about how he was a dueling champion when he was young."

"It could be Colton's mother," Hailey said, remembering what Colton told her when she entered the common room.

"I wouldn't mind learning how to duel from Professor Flitwick," Michael said. "It might be fun."

For dinner, all it seemed like the other students could do was talk about the Dueling Club and who might be teaching them. Most of the Ravenclaws were deciding that Professor Flitwick was going to be the teacher because of him being a dueling champion.

There was minor talk about how they hoped it wasn't Lockhart, but it was mostly excited chatter.


At eight, the three Ravenclaws and two Gryffindors stepped into the Great Hall, which has been decorated with a long golden stage, with thousands of floating candles overhead. The long tables were gone and the ceiling was velvety black.

"I hope it's not—" Hailey groaned when she saw Lockhart standing on the stage, wearing deep plum-coloured robes. Snape was standing beside him wearing black robes.

"This guy is everywhere," Ron muttered.

Lockart waved an arm for silence and called, "Gather around, gather around! Can anyone 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 have done on countless occasions—for full details, see my published books."

"He can barely duel pixies," Mandy whispered to them.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," said Lockhart, smiling widely. "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."

"I bet you five Sickles that Snape agreed so he can kick Lockhart's arse," Hailey whispered to Michael.

"I think we all know that," Michael said.

"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!" Lockhart continued.

"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Ron whispered in Hailey's ear.

"I think I would rather have Snape finish Lockhart off so Lockhart can get off of Hailey's back," Mandy whispered to them.

Hailey looked at Michael, "five Sickles that Snape sends Lockhart flying down the stage."

"Five Sickles that Snape turns Lockhart into something really disgusting," Michael said.

Snape's upper lip was curling and Hailey wondered why Lockhart was still smiling. If Snape looked at her like that, she would be running in the other direction as fast as she could, like Dudley and his gang were chasing after her.

Lockhart and Snape turned to each other. Lockhart bowed with as much hand twirling as possible. Snape jerked his head, as if irritated, not that Hailey blamed him for being irritated. The two adults raised their wands in front of them, like swords.

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

Snape had his teeth bared and Hailey whispered to her friends, "I wouldn't bet on that."

Lockhart said, "One—two—three—"

Both of them swung their wands over their heads and pointed them at each other. Snape cried, "Expelliarmus!"

There was a flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet. He flew backwards down the stage, hit the wall, and sprawled to the floor. His wand had flown into the crowd of Gryffindors.

Malfoy and some other Slytherins cheered.

Hailey kept an eye on Lockhart as she held out her hand to Michael, palm up. She wiggled her fingers, and said dryly, "Pay up, handsome."

There was a pause and Michael asked, "Do you have a Sickle?"

"Do you think he's all right?" Hermione asked.

"Who cares?" Michael, Ron, Mandy, and Hailey asked at the same time.

Hailey felt the Sickles drop in her hands. Michael said, almost sarcastically, "Here you go. Five Sickles, gorgeous."

Hailey looked at the coins in her hand to see if there was five Sickles and stuck them in her messenger bag.

"You owe me a Sickle," Mandy hissed at Michael.

Lockhart stood up unsteadily, his hat had fallen off, and his wavy hair was standing on end. He trotted onto the platform, while saying, "Well, there you have it! That was a Disarming Charm—as you see, I've lost my wand—" a girl, who Hailey was positive was Lavender Brown, held out the wand to Lockhart. "—ah thank you Miss Brown—" Lockhart took the wand. "—yes, and 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 to easy—however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…"

Hailey rolled her eyes and saw that Snape was looking murderous. Lockhart must've noticed, because he said, "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—"

The two moved through the crowd, matching up partners. Lockhart teamed Neville with Justin Finch-Flecthley, but Snape reached Hailey, Ron, Michael, and Mandy first.

"Time to split up the dream team, I think," Snape sneered. "Weasley, you can partner Finnigan. Brocklehurst, you can go partner up with Cornfoot. Potter—" Hailey looked at Hermione and Michael. "I don't think so." He smiled coldly, "Mr Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter." He turned to Hermione, "You, Miss Granger—you can partner Miss Bulstrode. You, Mr Corner, can partner up with Mr Zabini." Hailey watched as Michael went to Blaise, almost dejectedly.

Hailey looked at Malfoy, who strutted over, smirking. Milicent walked behind him. She was large, square, and her jaw jutted aggressively. Hermione gave her a weak smile, which wasn't returned.

"Face you partners!" called Lockhart, back on the platform, "And bow!" Hailey and Malfoy barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other. Lockhart continued, "Wands at the ready! When I count to three, cast your charms to Disarm your opponents—only to disarm them—we don't want any accidents—one…two…"

Malfoy did a spell that made Hailey stumble backwards, making her feel like she got hit in the head with a saucepan.

She pointed her wand at Malfoy, "Rictusempra!" The tickling charm had just came to mind.

A jet of silver light hit Malfoy in the stomach, causing him to double up wheezing.

"I said Disarm only!" Lockhart shouted over the noise of battling students.

Malfoy was on his knees, laughing, and it seemed like he could barely move. Hailey considered hitting him with another spell, but figured that was unsportsmanlike.

"Tarantallegra!" choked Malfoy and Hailey's legs began to jerk out of her control in a kind of quickstep.

Lockhart screamed, "Stop! Stop!" However, the class was out of his control.

"Finite Incantatem!" Snape shouted, taking charge. Hailey's legs stopped moving and Malfoy stopped laughing, long enough to look up.

A haze of greenish smoke was hovering over the scene. Neville and Justin were on the floor, panting; Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, Stephen was helping Mandy up from the floor, and Michael was standing with his arms crossed as Zabini shakily stood up from the ground. Hermione and Millicent were still moving, because Millicent had Hermione in some sort of headlock.

Hailey went forward and grabbed at Millicent. She was bigger than her and built like a brick house. Michael went over and helped Hailey with Millicent. Millicent was thicker than Michael, but they managed to get the Slytherin girl off of Hermione.

"Dear, dear," Lockhart said, walking through the aftermath of the duels. "Up you go Macmillan…" Hailey was positive that Colton used some type of jinx to hold Ernie, who was a blond stout Hufflepuff, upside down in the air, before dropping him. Lockhart turned to Susanna Fawcett who was bleeding profusely from her arm, "Careful there, Miss Fawcett. Pinch it hard, it'll stop the bleeding." He turned to Terry, who was on the ground, holding his stomach and groaning in pain. "Boot…"

Michael went to check on Terry, who he helped up. Terry was shaking from whatever spell the third year Ravenclaw hit him with.

"I thick I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells." said Lockhart, standing flustered in the middle of the room. He glanced at Snape, who's black eyes glinted and he looked away quickly. "Let's have a volunteer pair—Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you—"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," interrupted Snape. He walked over like a large and malevolent bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Neville's pink face went pinker and Colton grabbed his shoulder in comfort. Snape gave a twisted smile, "How about Malfoy and Potter?"

"Again?" Michael whispered to Hailey.

"Excellent idea!" exclaimed Lockhart, gesturing for Hailey and Malfoy to get onto the platform.

"Good luck," Michael whispered to her.

Hailey passed her messenger bag to Michael before stepping forward.

"Now, Hailey," 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.

I'd rather get hit before I even attempt to do that, Hailey thought as Lockhart quickly picked it up.

"Whoops—my wand is a little overexcited—" Lockhart lied quickly.

Snape moved closer to Malfoy, bent down, and whispered something in his ear. Malfoy smirked too. Hailey looked at Lockhart, considering asking him how to do the blocking thing.

Malfoy taunted, "Scared Potter?"

Hailey looked him dead in the eye, "You wish, Malfoy."

Lockhart cuffed Hailey on the shoulder, "Just do what I did, Hailey!"

"What? Drop my wand?" Hailey asked confused.

Lockhart didn't listen as he shouted, "three—two—one—go!"

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

"Pet—" Hailey started, but watched as the end of Malfoy's exploded and a long black snake came from the end of it. It fell heavily to the floor and there were screams.

"Don't move, Potter," Snape said, in a lazy manner, clearly enjoying the sight of Hailey being eye-to-eye with an angry snake. Hailey slowly raised her wand, ready to use the Freezing Charm on the snake and Malfoy. "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 flew ten feet in the air and landed on the floor with a smacking sound. Enraged, the snake went to Justin and raised itself, teeth bared, ready to strike.

Hailey ran over to the snake, and quite stupidly, shouted, "Leave him alone!"

The snake slumped to the floor, as harmless as a garden hose, turned its eyes on her. She smiled, realizing that it wasn't going to hurt anyone. She looked at Justin, but he looked angry and scared instead. She was confused.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Justin shouted, turned, and stormed out of the hall.

Snape walked up, waved his wand, and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. Snape was looking at Hailey, in a shrewed and calculating look, which Hailey didn't like.

It seemed like the crowd started muttering to themselves and someone tugged at Hailey's robes.

"Come on," Ron whispered in Hailey's ear. "Move—come on—"

Ron dragged her out of the Great Hall, Hermione, Mandy, and Michael following after.

People steered clear of them, as though they were afraid of catching something. Hailey was aware that something bad happened, but she wasn't sure what it was yet.

They went inside an empty classroom, and Ron pushed Hailey into a desk. "You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?" Michael dropped Hailey's messenger back on Hailey's lap, but she barely noticed it, since her mind was racing at what happened. She wasn't entirely sure why Snape had Malfoy conjure a snake like that and she wasn't sure why Justin freaked out like that. "I'm a what?"

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

Hailey blinked and thought about that time at the zoo. She figured that she was talking to the snake and the snake was responding to her without her realizing it. She figured she was thinking what the snake's expression said, and then she could've sworn she heard the snake thanking her. She replied, "Oh. It was the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally released this boa constrictor at the zoo. That was before I knew I was a witch. It told me that it never seen Brazil—"

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

Hailey frowned, looking at the others, who were pale. "So? I bet loads of—oh. You all aren't Paselmouths either?"

"No," Mandy said. "This isn't good."

"It's not a common gift. Hailey, this is bad," Ron said.

"I told the snake to leave Justin alone," Hailey replied.

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

Hailey frowned, "that's what I said to it."

"You were speaking Parseltongue," Mandy explained, "Snake language."

Ron said, "You could've been saying anything—no wonder Justin panicked, sounded like you were egging the snake on or something—"

"It was all kinds of creepy," Michael added and Hailey turned to look at him.

She noticed that they all were looking like someone had died. It all started to click into place.

"Salazar Slytherin could speak to snakes," Hermione interrupted in a hushed tone. "That's what he was famous for. It's why Slytherin's symbol is a serpent."

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

"But I'm not," countered Hailey panicking.

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

"Everyone's family history is deeply entwined with one another's, even the pure-bloods," Mandy said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we happen to be highly distant cousins, because my dad was a pure-blood as well; or Michael and I being highly distant cousins."

"You all know my mum's Muggle-born," Michael said.

"There was that magical blood somewhere in your mother's bloodline that caused her to be a witch," Mandy replied.

"All right," Hailey said slowly. She still didn't want to think about being the granddaughter of Salazar Slytherin.


Hailey lied in her bed that night, pouring over everything that happened. She couldn't be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, but then again, she knew nothing about her dad's bloodline. Mandy did say that the wizarding world's bloodline is deeply entwined.

Mandy and she could be distant cousins through her dad, because both of their dads' were pure-bloods.

She knew nothing about her dad's family, so there was the slight chance that she wasn't a descendant of Salazar Slytherin.

If I have Slytherin blood in me, would I have been put in Slytherin? Hailey wondered. She was considered for Gryffindor. She had to think about it. Malfoy's family has been in Slytherin for generations, they could be descended from Slytherin, but she was positive they didn't speak Parseltongue like her.

I really should dig into my family history, she thought.


The last Herbology class on the term was canceled because of a thick blizzard. Professor Sprout wanted to fit socks and scarves on the Mandrakes, an operation so tricky, she didn't trust anyone else to do it, now that they were important to revive Colin Creevey and Mrs Norris.

The Ravenclaws were in the common room, finishing up some work after snagging some rolls from the Great Hall.

Hailey wanted to set the story straight with Justin Finch-Fletchley over the thing at the Dueling Club. She could barely concentrate on her work, that it got to the point she was blotting her parchment with ink.

"Oh, for god's sake," Michael snapped out. "Go talk to him if it means so much to you."

"What crawled up your arse?" Mandy asked looking at Michael.

"The fact that I have to read that parchment," Michael said looking at the ink blots.

"All right, fine," Hailey said throwing her hands in the air. "Do any of you want to come with me?"

Mandy considered it, "I'll go. My butt is going numb."

Together the two girls left the common room, Hailey was unsure where to even find the Hufflepuff boy. She heard that Hufflepuffs were good finders after all.

"We should try the library, they're hard-workers," Mandy whispered to Hailey.

Everything was dark because of the blizzard, but they made it to the library.

A group of Hufflepuffs were sitting at a table in the back, their heads together, having what looked like an absorbing conversation. They couldn't see if Justin was among them and they began walking to them.

"So, anyway," Ernie was saying, "I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory."

The two Ravenclaws hid behind a bookshelf, which Hailey noticed was labeled 'Invisibility Section'.

"I mean to say, if Potter's marked him down as her next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Potter's Gryffindor friends he was a Muggle-born. Justin actually told them he'd been down for Eton. That's not the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin's heiress on the loose, is it?"

"You definitely think it is Potter, then, Ernie?" the blonde, pigtailed girl asked, anxiously.

"Hannah," said Ernie solemnly, "She's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a Dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."

Hailey looked at Mandy, who nodded.

There was some murmuring at that and Ernie continued, "Remember what was written on the wall? Enemies of the Heir, Beware. Potter had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat's attacked. That first year, Creevey, was annoying Potter at the Quidditch match, taking picture of her while she was lying in the mud. Next thing we know—Creevey's been attacked."

"She always seems so nice, though," Hannah said, uncertainly, "And, well, she's the one who made You-Know-Who disappear. She can't be all bad, can she?"

"No one knows how she survived that attack by You-Know-Who," Ernie said, his voice lowered mysteriously. "I mean to say, she was only a baby when it happened. She should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark wizard could have survived a curse like that." His voice lowered to where it was barely more than a whisper, "That's probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill her in the first place. Didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers Potter's been hiding."

Mandy and Hailey both looked at each other.

"Interesting theory, really," Mandy whispered. She stepped forward and cleared her throat. From what Hailey could see, the Hufflepuffs looked Petrified, and it looked like the colour was draining from Ernie's face, "Hello. Hailey and I were just looking for Justin."

Hailey stepped forward to stand by Mandy. The Hufflepuffs looked at Ernie, fearfully.

"What do you want with him?" Ernie asked in a quavering voice.

"I wanted to tell him what really happened with the snake at the Dueling Club," Hailey responded, crossing her arms.

Ernie bit his lip and took a deep breath. "We were all there. We saw what happened."

"Then you noticed that after I spoke to it, the snake backed off?" Hailey asked.

"All I saw," said Ernie stubbornly, though he was trembling, "was you speaking Parseltongue and chasing the snake at Justin."

"I didn't chase it at him!" said Hailey, getting angry. "It didn't even touch him!"

"It was a very near miss," said Ernie. "And in case you're getting ideas," he add hastily, "I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood's as pure as anyone's—"

"I don't care what sort of blood you've got!" Hailey said, fiercely. "Why would I want to attack Muggle-borns?"

"I've heard you hate those Muggles you live with," said Ernie, swiftly.

"It's not possible to live with the Dursleys and not hate them," said Hailey. "I'd like to see you try it." She turned on her heel and stormed out of the library.

She was in such a fury; she walked into something solid, which knocked her backward right onto the floor.

"Hello, Hagrid," Mandy said running up to Hailey to help her friend.

Hagrid's face was entirely hidden by a woolly, snow-covered balaclava. It couldn't have possibly be anyone else, as he filled most of the corridor in his moleskin overcoat. A dead rooster was hanging from one of his massive, gloved hands. He pulled the balaclava from his face, "All righ', Hailey?"

"I'm all right," Hailey said. "What're you doing in here?"

Hagrid held up the limp rooster. "Second one killed this term. It's either foxes or a Blood-Suckin' Bugbear, an' I need the headmaster's permission ter put a charm around the hen coop." He seemed to peer more closely at Hailey. "Yeh sure yeh're all righ'? Yeh look all hot an' bothered—"

Hailey and Mandy shared a look. Hailey really didn't want to repeat what Ernie and the rest of the Hufflepuffs have been saying about her.

"It's nothing," Mandy said. "We should get going."

"We have Charms next and we should go pick up our books," Hailey pointed out.

The both of them walked up and Hailey could still hear what Ernie said about her.

"Of course, Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Potter's Gryffindor friends he was a Muggle-born."

"I wouldn't put to much stock in the Hufflepuffs," Mandy said, as Hailey stomped up the stairs and through another corridor, which was oddly dark. "I know they're supposed to be kind, but one of their own was threatened and they're extremely loyal to their own. I would probably react the same way." They were halfway through the corridor when Hailey tripped headlong on something. Mandy gasped, "Is that—"

Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, rigid and cold, a look of shock frozen on his face, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. Next to him was another figure…Nearly Headless Nick. He was no long pearly-white and transparent, but black and smoky, floating immobile and horizontal, six inches off the floor. His head was half off and his face wore an expression of shock identical to Justin's.

Mandy helped Hailey to her feet, both breathing fast and shallow. Hailey's heart was doing a kind of drumroll against her ribs. She looked wildly up and down the deserted corridor and saw a line of spiders scuttling as fast as they could away from the bodies.

The bell had rung and soon the corridor would be filled with students.

"We could run and no one would ever know we've been here," Mandy said.

"We've got to help them," Hailey said.

"Would anyone believe us?" Mandy asked, "More like, would they believe you?"

A door to the right of them opened and with a bang, Peeves came shooting out. "Why, it's potty wee Potter and her friend tiny wee Broccoli." He cackled as he bounced past them, knocking Mandy's headband askew. "What's Potter and Broccoli up to? Why's Potter and Broccoli lurking—" he stopped halfway through a midair somersault. He spotted Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. He flipped the right way up, took a deep breath, and screamed, "Attack! Attack! Another attack! No mortal or ghost is safe! Run for your lives! Attack!" He flew down the halls screaming, 'Attack' repeatedly.

The sound of feet pounding up the staircase on both sides got louder. People flooded the corridor, sending Mandy and Hailey against the wall. Justin was in danger of being squashed and some people were standing in Nearly Headless Nick. There was a drone of voices asking about what happened. Professor McGonagall came running and used her wand to set off a loud bang, which restored silence. She ordered everyone to get to class. After the scene had clearned, Ernie arrived, panting on the scene. He pointed, in Hailey's opinion, a little dramatically, at both Ravenclaws. His face was stark white. "Caught in the act!"

"That will do, Macmillan!" said Professor McGonagall sharply.

Peeves was bobbing overhead, now grinning wickedly, surveying the scene. As teachers bent over Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, to examine them, Peeves started singing:

"Oh, Potter, you rotter, oh, what have you done,
You're killing off students, you think it's good fun—"

"That's enough, Peeves!" barked Professor McGonagall. Peeves zoomed away, backward, sticking his tongue out at Hailey. Justin was carted off to the hospital wing by Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra. At first, no one seemed to know what to do with Nick, but Professor McGonagall conjured a fan out of thin air and had Ernie use to waft Nick upstairs to the hospital wing. Mandy and Hailey didn't miss the dirty looks that Ernie was now giving to the both of them. No doubt, Mandy would probably be known as Hailey's henchwoman in this entire thing, in approximately two hours.

It left Hailey, Mandy, and Professor McGonagall alone.

"This way, Potter and Brocklehurst," Professor McGonagall stated.

"Professor," said Hailey, "I swear we didn't—"

"This is out of my hands, Potter," said Professor McGonagall curtly.

They marched in silence around a corner and they stopped outside an large and ugly looking gargoyle statue.

"Lemon drop!" Professor McGonagall said. The gargoyle suddenly sprang to life and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in two. Mandy looked amazed.

Hailey, full of dread, couldn't help but be amazed too.

Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, like an escalator. As the three stepped onto it, there was a thud and Hailey turned round to see it close behind them. They rose upward in circle, higher and higher, until at last, they saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocked in the shape of a griffin.

"This must be where Dumbledore lives," Mandy whispered to Hailey.


A/N: On Fawcett's Harry Potter wikia page, it listed her first initial as S so I came up with a name that was S, and my first thought was Susanna.

Oh, and I figure that Peeves would call Mandy, Broccoli, because of her last name. I thought of Bratwurst, and decided Broccoli was more fitting, since Peeves calls Harry, 'Potty'.

Oh, and I couldn't find out a reason for the Ravenclaws to be outside of class since they don't have Herbology with Hufflepuff and decided to make it where it was lunchtime, with Herbology still being canceled.