With everything that had been discovered in the Hospital Wing, the quartet set to work on the Polyjuice Potion as soon as Maribella and Harry were discharged, fueled by Colin Creevey's attack. They worked in Myrtle's bathroom, resting the bubbling cauldron on a toilet seat. Hermione conjured up a waterproof fire, and with some ingredients she and Ron had gathered, they set to work.
News of the petrification had spread out fast around Hogwarts, and it seemed everyone was wary of everyone. That included Maribella herself, who was wary of her friend Harry, but for an entirely different reason. The night they had spent together in the Hospital Wing, Harry had seen her deep scarring, left as a memento by the werewolf that had attacked her. No one, bar Hermione (but Hermione was exempted. They were practically sisters, Maribella thought. They fought like sisters, anyways), had seen Maribella's shoulders uncovered. Maribella had made sure of that, always wearing her robe or a long-sleeved shirt in front of her friends.
Of course, given that she and Harry shared all their classes, the avoidance attempts proved to be quite fruitless. During their next DADA class, Harry was quick to set things straight, as Lockhart rambled on.
"Mari," he whispered. "We're good, right?"
"'Course, Harry!" Maribella said, sounding too enthusiastic to pass as sincere. She kept her eyes firmly on the parchment she was using (or meant to be using) to take notes.
"Er… we- I- don't think any less of you because of the, uh, scars," he said, then added, "if that's what you were afraid of."
Maribella shook her head and sighed. "I know," she reassured. "I just… feel so ashamed. It's embarrassing. A nasty reminder of what a bloody nasty thing I am." Maribella twirled her quill around her fingers, then used its sharp tip to inscribe her initials at the side of the table. Through the corner of her eyes, she discreetly observed Harry.
He had gone all red, looking as if he was hit by a Confundus Charm. He wasn't good at dealing with emotion., Maribella knew this. It was at times like this that she longed for Hermione's advice, but the girl was seated at the back of the class with Ron.
"You're not nasty, Mari." Harry eventually said firmly through his blush. "Your condition doesn't change who you are."
"I guess."
"I'm serious," Harry pressed on. "And, I know what I'm talking about, I'm very familiar with scars." He pointed towards his forehead, where his famous lightning bolt triumphed. "Besides," he continued with a grin, "we've had many classes with Snape for you to know what really is nasty."
"Ah, Snape, yes," Maribella said distractedly. She laughed. "Nasty personified, basically."
Lockhart, having great timing for once, hauled Harry to the front of the classroom to interpret yet another character in the Professor's tale. It saved them from the air of awkwardness, and when Harry sat back down at their table, all was well.
At least within Maribella's immediate group of friends.
Meanwhile, in the remainder of the school, fear crept in and settled comfortably. So much so, people had started taking drastic measures: illegal trades of talismans, amulets, pendants, and sigils had commenced. Maribella had traded an entire tube of Shrieking Sherbet she had been saving for two protective pendants, one for herself, and the other for Hermione, who was a Muggleborn, and was therefore in greater danger. Maribella's had a moon stone hanging on it, and the irony was quite entertaining.
When presented with the pendant, one night in their dorm, Hermione had taken a glance and determined:
"They're fake."
"What!" Maribella exclaimed. "How can you know that?"
"These things are more often fake than not, and if they are real, chances are they're cursed." Hermione said decisively. "Especially given the fact that they've been smuggled into the castle. If Dumbledore thought those'd be helpful, surely he'd be distributing them to us."
"How'd you know they've been smuggled in?" Maribella said, indignated. "I'll have you know my sources are highly renowned," she hmphed.
"And who, may I ask, are your renowned sources?" Hermione asked, a single eyebrow raised.
Maribella gave her a cheeky grin. "Fred and George."
"Mari…"
"Well, if you don't want yours, fine." Maribella grabbed Hermione's from the girl. "I'll give it to Ron. It'll make his eyes pop!" And with that, she turned and ran down to the Common Room, leaving Hermione to shake her head in amused disbelief.
Her friend was nowhere to be seen. She did, however, find something much, much more interesting. On the Gryffindor's notice board, a new piece of parchment had just been pinned up. Seamus and Dean, two of her Gryffindor classmates, were looking at it intently, and beckoned her over.
"They're starting a Dueling Club!" said Seamus. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons, they might come in handy one of these days…."
Maribella was all for it, and she came to find out, so were her three other friends. The first meeting was at eight o'clock the next evening, at the Great Hall.
And so, at eight o'clock the next evening, Maribella found herself in the Great Hall. She also found half of the school there present, all carrying their wands and looking excited. Maribella saw some friendly faces; Seamus, Dean, and Neville, along with Lavender, Pavarti, and the latter's twin sister, Padma. She also located some unfriendly ones: all of the Slytherin house, headed by the residence's favorite platinum-haired brat and his narrow-minded cronies.
The four house table had vanished, replaced by a golden stage. Very soon, the teaching Professors came in. They had been speculating who it'd be: maybe Flitwick, whose duelling abilities were legendary, or McGonagall, who was able to freeze anyone just with a look, or- and this was a particularly thrilling option- Dumbledore himself!
But it was just Lockhart and Snape, the two teachers of the whole staff no one wanted to deal with. Lockhart strutted up the stage, his glinting smile rivaling the gleaming stage, comfortable with all the attention on him. A few of the girls, Hermione included, were suddenly tremendously interested in the art of duelling. Even Maribella was excited to see him in his element.
"Gather around, gather around," Lockhart commanded lightly. "In light of the dark events of recent weeks, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Dueling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves, as I myself have done on countless occasions- for full details, see my published works."
A good speech was, in accordance with Lockhart's example, never complete without a little self-promotion.
"Let me introduce my assistant Professor Snape," he continued, gesturing towards Snape, who sulked behind him, as sleazy as ever. "He has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration. 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!"
"What's the fun in that?" Ron whispered in good humour.
"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Harry said, a little too hopefully.
Maribella smiled at their words as Lockhart and Snape faced each other and bowed. She was mostly paying attention to Lockhart. He flaunted his wand, raised above his head, with his wrist down towards Snape, while the other teacher brandished his wand like a sword. Hmm, now that Lockhart was actually in his element, up on the stage, and, most importantly, with his mouth firmly closed, Maribella had to admit he was very good looking. She could see what the hype was all about, really- you didn't win the Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award five times for nothing. Thankfully, the face off started and the spell was broken. Snape had gotten Lockhart down with an Expelliarmus before the other wizard had even time to finish his extravagant bow.
The students were then split into pairs for practicing the Disarming Charm. Maribella immediately turned to Hermione, who she felt matched her skill level more evenly than Harry or Ron, but Snape reached the foursome before they could pair up.
"Time to split up the dream team, I think," he sneered.
At the end, Ron was the only one with any luck; he ended up with Seamus. Harry went with Malfoy, Hermione with a muscly girl named Millicent Bulstrode, and Maribella was paired with Pansy Parkinson, who was such a loyal follower to Malfoy that she had borrowed half his personality.
"Face your partners!" called Lockhart.
Maribella glared at Parkinson's pig snout and a sudden thought came into her head. She hadn't learned the spell, as she was busy evaluating Lockhart's... assets.
"And bow!"
What was the spell? Expelliarmus, that she remembered. But, that wasn't enough, she needed the wand movement! Did you swish and flick? A sharp jab, a soaring motion or an air-slash?
"One… two… three-"
"Expelliarmus!" Parkinson, who had very clearly paid attention to Snape, cried. The charm wasn't strong enough to knock Maribella off her feet, but the girl definitely had to scramble to keep a hold of her wand.
Parkinson raised her wand to cast yet again, but before she could say anything, Maribella, in desperation, pointed and shouted:
"Flipendo!"
Her jinx was, in fact, tremendously successful, not only blasting Parkinson backwards, but making her lose her wand in the process of falling. Ha. Why learn the Disarming Charm, when a first-year spell gave you an identical effect?
Her triumph was short-lived when she remembered this was only a practice duel, and they weren't meant to knock their peers backwards. Within a minute, Parkinson, still not armed with her wand, was in front of Maribella, grabbing two fist-full of her hair, and immediately Maribella's guilt evaporated. She grabbed the front of Parkinson's robes, trying to shake her off, but her hold on Maribella's hair was too tight. When Maribella pushed Parkinson to the floor, she was dragged along painfully by her hair and fearing going bald.
"I said disarm only!"
Maribella could hear Lockhart's alarmed voice, but by then it was too late, as she and Parkinson were rolling on the floor in a ball of fists and rage.
"Finite Incantatem!" Snape boomed, and the sheer power of that command made the two fighting girls let go of each other. A green smoke filled the room and everything fell silent. Maribella sat still on the floor, out of breath, and had the opportunity to look around at her friends.
Ron's broken wand had caused Seamus to blanch, and Neville and Justin Finch-Fletchley had such an intense "duel" with each other that they both wound up lying on the floor, in a similar position as her. Millicent Bulstrode, however, had Hermione headlocked, and didn't seem to plan on letting go anytime soon. Harry leapt forward and tried pulling Bulstrode off, but she was so heavy, Maribella and Ron joined in to help.
"Dear, dear," said Lockhart, standing flustered in the midst of the hall. "Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the students to block unfriendly spells. "Let's have a volunteer pair- ah, Longbottom and Finch-Fletchey, off you go."
"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," said Snape, gliding over like a large malevolent bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest of spells," Neville's round, pink face, went pinker, and he looked down in humiliation. "How about Malfoy and Potter?" said Snape with a twisted smile.
Maribella gave Harry an encouraging grin as he climbed onto the platform with Malfoy. Lockhart pulled Harry aside, as Snape did the same to Malfoy. Hermione was rubbing her neck and frowning as they waited.
"Bulstrode has got a grip," she muttered.
"You two all right?" asked Ron.
Maribella shrugged. "Fine, I suppose. How's Seamus?"
Ron looked guilty. "Dunno. He'll survive, I suppose, but I doubt he'll be my partner in anything after this."
And then, Lockhart shouted: "Three- two- one- go!"
Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, "Serpensortia!"
Out of the end of his wand, a black jet was morphing into a snake's slithering body, between the two boys. Lockhart offered to get rid of it, but in his incompetence, he only managed to enrage it. The snake rose its body, putting its flattened head down, and staring straight at Harry.
Maribella flung her arms out towards Hermione and Ron. She knew what the snake was doing, having spent her summer in one of the most biodiverse biomes in the world, learning about all kinds of exotic species. That was a snake's typical attacking position. The snake edged toward Justin Finch-Fletchey and raised itself again, poised to strike. At the same time, Harry stepped forward, opening his mouth. But what came out were not words. Instead, Harry hissed, snarled, and made clicking noises, which made everyone's blood run cold.
Harry was speaking Parseltongue, the language of the snakes.
Scary as it sounded, it was effective. The snake wouldn't strike Justin anymore, not that he had realized. His eyes flickered up from the snake to Harry. Maribella saw fear ablaze in them. Justin was scared, she realized. But not of the snake. Of Harry. Maribella wondered why no one was doing anything. Why was Lockhart, who had done so many brave deeds, standing to the side immovable?
Snape finally got his wand out and vanished the snake in a puff of black smoke. Justin was still stunned in fear.
"We've got to go," Maribella whispered urgently. Everyone was starting to mutter and point. Snape was looking at Harry in a sharp and calculated way, an ominous look if Maribella had ever seen one. Ron pushed through the crowd, and tugged Harry away from the center of it. It was easy to get away, because people would dart out of their path, as if Harry was contaminated with some contagious disease. They dragged Harry all the way up to the deserted Gryffindor Common Room, and Ron pushed Harry into an armchair.
"Harry what was that? What did you make the snake do?"
"Don't worry guys," Maribella, ever the animal expert, was quick to assure her friends as she sat. "That was clearly normal snake behaviour, it just felt threatened under the circumstances."
Ron scrunched up his face in confusion.
"Really?"
"No. What the hell were you doing, Harry?"
"What's bad?" Harry said, crossing his arms. "If I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin, he'd be short a head."
"Oh, that's what you said to it?"
"What'd you mean- you were there- you heard me-"
"We heard you speaking Parseltongue, Harry," Hermione said softly, with a sideways glance toward Maribella. "The language of snakes… "
"I spoke a different language?" Harry, to their surprise, sounded like this was news to him, too. "But I didn't realize..." he said urgently.
"Yes, and it sounded like you were egging it on, or something," Hermione said.
"He calmed the snake down," Maribella corrected. "I could see it, at least." She shook her head. "Harry, why didn't you tell us you were a Parselmouth?"
"Do you want to tell me what's so bad with stopping a snake attacking Justin?" He snapped. "Why does it matter how I did it, as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"
"Harry, listen to me," said Hermione, speaking at last in hushed tones. "There's a reason the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent: Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. He could talk to snakes too."
Harry gaped.
"It makes you look very suspicious Harry," Maribella said.
"Now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great- grandson or something-"
"But I'm not," Harry sputtered, panicked. "I can't be," he added, more softly.
Maribella's heart hurt for him, remembering the conversation they had a while back, when Harry expressed his fears.
"We believe you," she affirmed.
But she knew that wasn't enough.
The next morning, snow began to fall and it soon turned into a blizzard so thick that Herbology was canceled. Harry was fretting about explaining the whole ordeal to Finch-Fletchley next to the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, as Hermione and Ron played a game of chess, and Maribella groomed Rubeus, her chicken.
"For heaven's sake, Harry," Hermione said, exasperated, as she lost her last bishop to Ron. "Go and find Justin if it's so important to you."
So Harry got up and left through the portrait hole. Maribella didn't want to stay here alone with Hermione and Ron, as she'd have to pick a side if they fought with one another, and Maribella didn't like being the casting vote. She too, got up, and tried finding somebody else she could bother. She finally spotted Ginny, sitting alone in a secluded corner. She was very pale, and had no books to read, only the notebook Maribella had given her, which she clutched tightly on her lap. Her robes looked slightly disheveled, as if she'd ran up the stairs very fast. Honestly, she looked out of it, her eyes glazed and expressionless.
"Hey, Ginny," Maribella said, sitting opposite to her.
Ginny jumped up, startled by Maribella's presence.
"Maribella!" she said. "Hi."
At that moment, Rubeus strutted up to them and pecked Maribella's leg, annoyed he had been abandoned with her friends. He hummed loudly, until she picked him up.
"Oh, Rubes," she cooed, giving his feathery head a rub. "You don't have to be so dramatic." Then she looked over at her friend. "Oh, Gin, you haven't met him, have you?" she extended her open palm toward the girl. "This is Rubes, my chicken!"
But Ginny had an unexpected reaction.
"Chicken? Where did you find him?" She burst.
"Uh, from Hagrid's," Maribella said. Rubeus gave a screech in confirmation.
"Hagrid's?" Ginny asked, more to herself than anyone else. "But I thought..." she broke off, and frowned at the little chick in Maribella's hand.
Huh. Maribella didn't peg Ginny as a chicken-hater. She suddenly felt very protective of him.
"Well, run along, then, Rubes," she said, putting him on the ground. "Up to the dorm," she called as he ran back the way he had come. "And away from the fire! Can't have him turning into a nugget, can we?" Maribella joked to her friend, but Ginny gave no signs of listening. She had been watching Rubeus intently as he climbed the stairs in the clumsy way of his.
"Hey," Maribella touched Ginny's arm. "Are you ok? Do you want to talk?"
Ginny's eyes widened, and Maribella retreated.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be nosy, I swear," Maribella apologized. "You just seem… ah, a bit off, and I want to let you know I'm here for you, though I'm sure you have a better place to store all your thoughts," she said amicably, pointing towards the black notebook on Ginny's lap. Ginny looked at it, as if she had forgotten it was there.
"Oh," Ginny said, with a far-away look once more. "I- I don't think I want it anymore."
"Oh," Maribella said, hurt. It was, after all, a present she had given to Ginny. "Well, you can give it back if you want," she reached for the notebook.
"No!" Ginny snapped and moved it out of Maribella's reach, color finally seeping back into her face. Maribella furrowed her brows. She had never seen Ginny act like this. "I- sorry," Ginny quavered, "I just… have to get rid of it."
Maribella felt her displeasure ebb away, and worry burn deep inside her. Ginny wasn't okay, that much was clear.
"Okay," Maribella said, gently. "Well, what do you want to do? Chuck it in a toilet?"
"Yes," Ginny affirmed, once again shocking Maribella.
"Well," Maribella said, blinking her surprise away as she stood up and extended a hand to Ginny so she could do the same. "Off we go then. I know just the place." Weirded out or not, it was her job as a friend to be supportive.
Both girls walked side by side. Maribella could feel Ginny was very weak, as she took small steps and dragged herself more than anything. Finally, they arrived at the place Maribella had thought of. The nearby wall still gleamed in red, with the threatening words stamped on it.
Ginny stopped short. "Why are we here?"
"Don't worry, Gin," Maribella said, glancing wearily at the words at the wall. "We're going into the bathroom."
Ginny still looked reluctant, but Maribella grabbed her wrist and pulled her in, figuring she felt uncomfortable by the writing.
As they entered, Maribella could hear Moaning Myrtle wailing somewhere.
"Hey, Myrtle," Maribella called. The ghost stopped crying and came floating towards them, brought by the curiosity of the new arrival. "This is Gin-"
"Oh," Myrtle sniffed, uninterested. "It's you again." She dove into the toilet bowl of the last stall, splashing water everywhere and resumed moaning.
"You two already know each other!" Maribella exclaimed happily, turning to Ginny. Her smile fell off.
Ginny looked more agitated than ever. She let out short puffs of breath, and started sweating, though the weather was getting colder by the minute. Ginny rested a shaking hand over her chest, as if to steady herself.
"I- I shouldn't be here," she said with a whimper, and before Maribella could react, Ginny turned around and ran, forgetting to discard the notebook.
"Wait, Ginny!"
Maribella chased after Ginny, but the girl was fast. They turned a left and found themselves in a crowded hallway. Ginny approached the huddle, Maribella hot on her tail. However, she was distracted. In the deadcenter of the crowd, Maribella found Harry. And he wasn't alone. Frozen, on the ground behind Harry, was Justin Finch-Fletchey. And, floating in the air, turned black and smoky, was Nearly Headless Nick. Two more attacked, and Harry was right there, in the middle.
Maribella looked back at Ginny, but the girl was gone.
A.N.:/ Hi, everyone, welcome back! I've just finished rewatching all the Harry Potter movies with my little brother, who had never seen any of the movies, and it put me in such a nostalgic mood. Expect another chapter soon from me!
This was, overall, a fun chapter to write. Let me know what you think, please, and, as always, thank you to my wonderful beta reader.