Clara POV

I was waiting for Renee the next morning outside the hospital wing.

"Why are you here?"

"Oh. Sandra. I didn't, um, see you there."

"Lay off her, Sandra. She's just here to see Renee. As we are!" Gill retorted

"Well, I'm going in. I want to see Colin."

"They won't let you, Sandra. You know that."

"Not if I can help it."

"What happened?" I asked.

"You didn't hear, loser?"

"Sandra, I said stop. Honestly, sometimes I think you hang out with Kaylee."

"Ew."

"Exactly. Clara, Colin was petrified like that cat. It happened late last night."

I let out a small "oh." Colin was a nice kid, and I hoped they could revive him.

A head of sleek brown hair appeared. "Renee! You're awake!"

She ran into my arms. "You didn't forget!"

"Obviously!" We laughed, thinking maybe that could become another catchphrase for us. "Why would I?"

"I thought you'd be with Kat and Rebecca or something. And when Harry left, his friends didn't come to see him."

I shrugged. "Renee, I'm a Hufflepuff, and thank the gods for that. Being one means I can never abandon my friends."

Renee looked behind me at Sandra and Gill. "And you guys came, too!"

They were still bickering about Colin, but Gill turned his head to her. "Actually, I did. She wanted to see Colin."

"Well, there's nothing to see, really. It's just a body with a feeding tube."

"Ew, those are gross."

"Well, would you rather he die?"

"I guess not, but-"

"Good. Then that settles the matter." Ignoring Sandra, she put one arm around me and the other around Gill. "I don't need her," she whispered. I laughed because it was good to have the old Renee back. "Let's get lunch."

If I were an Aphrodite daughter, I would have been sure that something was happening between Gill and Renee. I knew Renee would deny it, though..

On the way to the Great Hall, we passed a crowded bulletin board. Kat and Rebecca called me over. "Hey, Clara, come look at this! It's really important, don't you think?"

I read the sign. "Dueling Club. First meeting tonight. I think we should go."

"What can we learn that we don't already know, though?"

"Shut up. You know nothing about dueling, remember?" I whispered. For someone so cautious, Renee was going to be the one who did us in, not me.

"Okay, fine. Let's go, then."

I nodded. "That's the ticket. Besides, wands are different too."

She agreed.


That night, we went down to the Great Hall. We were definitely not the only ones who had decided to come, and in fact it looked almost as full as at feasts. But there was a collective groan when we saw who the teacher was.

"Oh, not him! Please." Renee groaned.

"Lay off him, Ren-ren. He's gorgeous!"

"Sandra, we've had this conversation before!"

"I'm with Renee, honestly. He's a joke."

"Thanks, Gill."

"He's a nice enough fellow, to be honest. He's just ridiculous, though. And since when do you call her Ren-ren, Sandra?" I added to the conversation.

"Oh, what are you talking about, Clara? You really ought to read Gadding with Ghouls, it's SO informational."

"Kat, I've read it, it was on our supply list!"

Kat blushed. "Well, still."

"Oh, give it up," said Renee as the Slytherins sat down in their section, and Sandra, Kat, and Rebecca nodded to show that they would. Gods, I loved her charmspeak at times like that. We sat down a few feet away from them, along with some of the other Hufflepuffs.

"I do hope this will be good," Ernie said happily. "I mean, with all the stuff from his books, it almost has to be, honestly.

I was going to retort, but Lockhart started talking at that moment. "Gather around, gather around! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me?"

I hadn't noticed Renee move toward me until she said, "I wish I couldn't," in my ear. I laughed.

"Now," he continued, "Professor Dumbledore granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you in case you ever have to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions-for full details, see my published works."

I heard a snort and saw Ginny's brother Ron laughing with Harry. Hermione was shushing them loudly. I imagined that they probably had to have the same arguments with her as we had with Kat and Sandra, and I giggled.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape. 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 you youngsters to worry; you'll still have your potions master back when I'm done with him."

"Wouldn't it be great if they finished each other off?" Ron whispered loudly. Renee cracked up.

"Shush, do you want to get us kicked out?"

"Who invited you, Sandra?"

"Oh, so I have to be invited?"

"Yeah. You do. Because you get on my nerves."

I had to laugh at that. I was so happy that Renee was remembering how to stand up for herself. She wasn't going to let the Slytherins hurt her.

Lockhart was blathering on, and Snape was looking angry. I wondered why Lockhart was still smiling and gave a small giggle.

They showed us the accepted combative position-"Yeah, right," Renee muttered to me, and I snorted-and reminded us that neither one was aiming to kill. "I wouldn't be so sure of that," she whispered, looking at Snape.

"Renee, I love you, but could you shut up a sec?"

"Sorry. It's just funny."

"It is, but….stop, okay?"

Renee nodded. "Sorry."

To be honest, though, I would rather be stuck with her making jokes than here alone. I loved Renee so much, and I just hoped she knew that. I slipped my arm around her.

Snape blasted Lockhart's wand from his hand with a simple "Expelliarmus!" Lockhart was babbling on about how it was "completely obvious," that he was going to do that. Snape was giving him a murderous look, and Lockhart then decided it was time for us to practice.

Lockhart was pairing up Angelina Johnson with Lee Jordan, but Snape reached us first. "Hmm, let's see. What about Sanderson with Miss Ballias." I moved closer to Kat and Rebecca, but the Slytherin head had other ideas. "No, I don't think so, Bradley. Let's put you with Miss Parkinson over there." He laughed evilly, pairing Kat and Rebecca with Ariana and Morgana. Nobody looked happy about this arrangement, but I was downright terrified. I didn't know that many spells yet, not having come from a wizarding family, and I thought Kaylee would likely clobber me.

She used her wand to tie her hair back, and I used a regular ponytail holder because I was definitely not that advanced. I wondered who had taught her that one.

"Now, listen up. I want you all to try the spell that we just learned. Point your wand at your opponent and say, 'Expelliarmus!' Remember, you are trying to disarm only!"

Kaylee was looking at me like death, and I was glad I hadn't gone to the underworld with Percy to see if it was really like that. Kaylee's glare was enough. Now, Clarissa, what would Clarisse say? Annabeth? Percy? Jade? I heard Clarisse in my head. Throw your wand away and use your arrows, idiot. Annabeth was arguing with her in my head. No, stupid! She has to learn to defend herself in the wizard world! Then Percy. Does it really matter? Kaylee Parkinson is bad news!

I laughed. My friends from camp were with me, even when they weren't, and I loved that. I hoped Renee didn't need them as much as I did. But she and Sandra were better than Kaylee and me as partners, so she'd be fine. I really needed to decide what to do. Lockhart blew his whistle. I couldn't even get half of the spell out before Kaylee yelled, "Anteoculatia!" And antlers sprouted from my hair. I was starting to think that the in-my-head Clarisse was right after all. I started to call my arrows, which were up in my dorm, but something pulled me back. Annabeth was right too, and as much as I hated to say it, so was Lockhart. At least in that we weren't trying to kill. But I could hardly do anything with my head like this.

I saw an "Engorgio!" forming on Kaylee's lips, and I raised my wand to deflect it. "Expelliarmus!"

Her wand came flying toward me, and I heard Lockhart clapping. "Miss Bradley's got it!" Then he noticed my antlers and the spells exchanged between Harry and Malfoy. Not to mention whatever Ron's wand was doing to Seamus Finnigan.

"I said disarm only!"

With a lazy flick of his wand, Snape suspended all the action and made the random objects, hexes, and lights disappear. I took a deep breath, my head feeling much lighter.

"We need a demonstration pair, I think," said Lockhart cheerfully. "Or what about two, we can do Harry and Draco on this side and Kaylee and Clarissa on that side, so you can all see."

Harry and I issued a groan. "Professor, can we switch partners? I think Potter's a better match for me, and Parkinson and Malfoy are probably better together as well."

Lockhart was about to say something, but Snape cut him off. "No you may not, Miss Bradley, and five points from Hufflepuff for your cheek!"

"But….but…." someone stammered. "Professor, she just asked a question."

"Five points from Slytherin for your talking out of line, Mister Bellis. The next person to speak out of line will have detention for a week!"

I needed to remember to thank Gill for that later. He was really a nice kid.

We had barely started when my brother yelled, "Serpensortia!" and a snake came shooting from his wand. Harry and I screamed, while Malfoy and Kaylee laughed insanely. I aimed a kick at her, but Harry flashed me a warning look. I saw the snake slithering toward the Hufflepuff section. Some of my friends screamed, and in the next second, Harry had run to the snake and was telling him to slow down, to back off Justin. But I wasn't sure if he was speaking in English or some other language. Renee was nodding like she understood, but everyone else just looked confused.

Snape, who appeared to be having fun, noticed that he may have been the only one. He quickly made the snake disappear, but I saw a small smirk.

Justin looked angrily at Harry. "What do you think you're playing at, Potter?" He yelled. "And you, Clara! You just stood by and….and let him attack?"

"Justin, no! Wait!"

But he and Ernie had run from the room, closely followed by the other Hufflepuffs. The Great Hall emptied out until there were only five people left: Renee, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and me.

The three second-years seemed not to notice us. They were discussing what had just happened.

"You're a parselmouth, Harry, why didn't you tell us?"

"I'm a….what?"

"You can talk to snakes," Hermione explained.

"Well, yeah. I mean, that's only the second time I've done it. I set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once. It told me it had never seen Brazil."

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil? I mean, I guess that makes sense but….what in Hades?"

The three older students looked around. "Oh, I didn't realize you two were still here," said Harry sheepishly. "You're Clara Bradley, right? And of course, Renee Black."

"Stop. My last name's Sanderson. Dobby messed up, okay?"

"But I mean, why is this such a big deal? I bet loads of people here can do it," I said, trying to steer us back on topic.

"That's what I was going to say! I mean, really. What's up?"

"No, Harry, Clara, they can't. This is bad."

"Why? If he hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin, my house could've lost a valuable member because of Malfoy." I shuddered at the thought.

"Oh, is that what you were saying, Harry?" said Ron.

"Well yeah, I mean, you heard it. You were all there."

"I did, Harry. So did Clara. I know what you said. You said, 'stop, don't attack, stay back, leave him alone.'"

"Where did you learn to do voice impressions like that, Renee? I mean, yeah, I did, but wow. That's impressive."

I looked at her quizzically. That definitely wasn't a special Aphrodite talent. She shrugged. "Practice, I guess. But yeah, Ron, what's so bad about him pulling the snake back? It shouldn't matter how he did it; he saved a life!"

"Well, Harry, we heard you speaking Parseltongue, snake language," Ron said. Hermione nodded worriedly.

"Clara's right, what does it matter how I did it?"

Hermione spoke up. "It matters because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol for Slytherin is a snake. I mean, it makes sense that Renee can, with her being a Slytherin and all, but you two….this is bad."

Ron nodded. "And now the school's going to think you're his great-great-great grandchildren or something."

"But I'm not!" exclaimed Harry. "I can't be!"

For us, though, that wasn't necessarily the case. I knew that it was time for the truth to come out, and that these were the type of people who could keep secrets. I looked at Renee, and she nodded, resigned to the fact that we would have to tell eventually.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, we need to tell you something. Have you ever heard of Greek mythology?"


The three of them had taken it relatively well. "We won't tell, I swear," Hermione had said. Harry and Ron had agreed.

When I got to the Hufflepuff doors, they were locked. Someone was standing guard.

"Clara, get out!"

The sentry was a boy I didn't know well, Zacharias Smith

"Don't bother. We know you're with that Slytherin scum, Renee Sanderson. I bet you thought it was a good laugh, huh?"

I lifted my wand. "Do not," I growled, "insult Renee Sanderson in front of me! I'll tell Cedric!"

"He's asleep. I suggest you go back to the snake pit, snake! And quickly, before you get caught down here!"

"Fine! But when you need help, don't expect me to come running to your aid!"

"I don't need the help of a Slytherpuff, Bradley. Slytherpuff!"

I could feel the tears streaming down my face. I turned on my heel and ran. I would go to the Slytherin common room, and I would wait for Renee to come out in the morning. After all, I fit in better there anyway.


"Clara! Clara, get up! Have you been out here all night?"

I blinked, trying to remember where I was. "Oh. Hi, Gill," I said as it all came back to me.

"I'll go wake Renee. You look….bad." I nodded.

"Thanks. And thanks for standing up for me yesterday."

"No problem. Honest."

I waited as he reentered the portrait of Merlin. A few minutes later, he came back with Renee. She took one look at me and shook her head. "Clara! What happened?"

"They kicked me out for the night. It has to do with Justin, I think. They think I'm in cahoots with you and Harry for some evil plan."

"That's ridiculous! I thought you were supposed to be the nice ones!"

I shook my head. I hadn't noticed Gill leave, but he came back with two rolls and two cups of hot chocolate. "Here. Take these. Clara, can you change in a bathroom? We need to get to Transfiguration." He checked his watch and gulped. "We need to be there in ten minutes!"


Renee and Gill were the only people to talk to me all morning. Rebecca and Kat were ignoring me, and Sandra even went as far as to laugh at me.

"Don't pay them any attention, Clara." Easier said than done, though, I thought.

We had just settled in when Tomasz turned Franklin into a badger. The whole class was laughing, and McGonagall was yelling at Tomasz to do the countercurse.

"Tomasz! Would you like it if someone turned you into a snake? And where did you get to be so good at transfiguring things? That is not first year level!"

I knew that Franklin and Tomasz were cousins, so even though the house rivalry was apparent, the Hufflepuff wouldn't really mind. Tomasz did a bad job with the countercurse, and Franklin slapped him when he became human again. Everyone was still laughing, except for some of the Slytherins.

"I wish Tomasz had really hurt him," Kaylee whispered, loudly enough for me to hear.

Sandra elbowed her and they went back to laughing at me. I felt Renee's sad eyes on me and realized that it was the second time she was losing a friend to the enemy side. I hugged her. If once was enough for me, it was probably already too much for Renee's sensitive, loving soul.

She was crying in my arms, and McGonagall noticed. I suspected that Dumbledore or Sprout told her about us, and that was confirmed when she looked at me and whispered, "Miss Bradley, will you please take Miss Sanderson out into the hall?"

I nodded, glad for the chance to escape the snake pit and the taunts. Not to mention the smell of wet badger. Tomasz really was an idiot.

We walked right into someone. "Oh, sorry. Clara, Renee, you can't be here! You'll get blamed too!"

"Wha-ohh." My heart lept at the sight. It was Justin, and he had been petrified. But in front of him was-

"Is that a ghost?"

"It's Nick, our house ghost. If something can do that to a spirit…." Harry's voice fell as Peeves zoomed out of an empty classroom.

"Oh-oh, what are we up to? Not in class, are we ditching-what is that?" He took a look at Nick and Justin.

"ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAAACK!"

There were bangs as doors were flung open and spells were casted. Professor McGonagall and the rest of our class came running from one end of the corridor, while Ernie and the other second-year Hufflepuffs came from the library. I figured they and Harry must've had a free period, and it was probably Herbology, considering all that snow.

"Ha!" Ernie yelled triumphantly. "All three of them, caught in the act!"

"That will do, Macmillan!"

Peeves had made up a stupid song.

"Oh Potter, you rotter and Bradley, Sanderson

You're killing off students, you think it's good fun-"

"That's enough, Peeves!" McGonagall yelled. Everyone, back to your classes!" She scanned the scene and asked a couple of older boys to carry Justin to the hospital wing, which they wasted no time in doing.

Now, it was just the three of us with her and Ernie. She conjured a fan with her wand. "Macmillan, please waft Nick up to the hospital wing. You three, come with me."

We all launched into explanations and reasons why we didn't do it, why we couldn't have done.

"This is out of my hands, Potter, Sanderson, Bradley. Come with me."

Harry grabbed Renee's hand and pulled her up from the defiant spot she had taken on the floor. "Come on, Renee. You can't stay here. Come on."

Renee wouldn't budge, and Harry looked at me helplessly. I walked over and grabbed her arm. "Come on. You're not in trouble, Renee, I promise. You won't be."

She nodded and took my hand. "There you go again with your ability to destroy my charmspeak, Clara. How do you do that?"

I laughed and we followed McGonagall and Harry.


A/N: So, now Clara and/or Renee have been witnesses for two of the three incidents, and the Hufflepuffs are turned against her. Will they realize they were wrong? I mean, that's not a very Hufflepuff behavior, now, is it? Still not completely sure the final role Clara and Renee will have for canon COS, but I do hope you like how it's playing out. I'm thinking that like one of my favorite writers, chocolate-writing-perfection, I will probably end up making this a trilogy. First three years until Voldemort is back will be the first book. Not sure.

Anyway, I hope you all have a good Christmas. Next up: Christmas and the Polyjuice Potion.

Please review, as always. Thank you all.

~Hufflepufferfish