Dudley was in a bad mood that a number of the students were still accusing him of being Slytherins's heir. "It's stupid—I'm a muggle born," he protested loudly to Ron and Dean. Dean had his own thoughts on the matter. "I think they're doing it as a way of paying you back, Dud. Macmillan and Finch-Fletchley don't like you, so they're spreading these nasty rumors as payback."
Ron nodded in agreement. Dudley hadn't considered this, but it made sense. "Right, I'm going to go and pound Macmillan," he decided, standing up from the chair.
"Dud, it's not worth it," Ron said, but it was useless. Dudley's mind was made up. Ron and Dean looked at each and followed Dudley out of the common room.
The castle was darker than it usually was in daytime because of the thick, swirling gray snow at every window. Shivering, Dudley walked past classrooms where lessons were taking place, catching snatches of what was happening within. Professor McGonagall was shouting at someone who, by the sound of it, had turned his friend into a badger. Resisting the urge to take a look, Dudley walked on by, thinking that Justin might be using his free time to catch up on some work, and deciding to check the library first.
A group of the Hufliepuffs who should have been in Herbology were indeed sitting at the back of the library, but they didn't seem to be working. Between the long lines of high bookshelves, Dudley could see that their heads were close together and they were having what looked like an absorbing conversation. He couldn't see whether Justin was among them. He was walking toward them when something of what they were saying met his ears, and he paused to listen, hidden in the Invisibility section.
"So anyway," Ernie Macmillan was saying, "I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Dursley's marked him down as his next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while."
"You definitely think it is Dursley, then, Ernie?" said Hannah Abbott anxiously.
"Hannah," said the stout boy solemnly, "You saw what he was like last year. He's a bully, a thug and a brute. Walking around hexing people at will … beating them up all the time. He's a dark wizard in the making. He attacked Neville—and we all saw how he bullied him last year."
There was some heavy murmuring at this, and Ernie went on, "Remember what was written on the wall? Enemies of the Heir, Beware. Dursley had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Flich's cat's attacked. And like I said, he's never liked Neville."
"But, didn't he stop Quirrell last year? And if the rumors are true, Quirrell was working for You-Know-Who," Hannah argued.
Ernie lowered his voice. "It must take a serious dark wizard to get through Dumbledore's enchantments. And we don't know why Dursley went after him. For all we know, he could have been trying to steal the stone for himself."
Dudley couldn't take anymore. Clearing his throat loudly, he stepped out from behind the bookshelves. If he hadn't been feeling so angry, he would have found the sight that greeted him funny: Every one of the Hufflepuffs looked as though they had been petrified by the sight of him, and the color was draining out of Ernie's face.
"Having a nice chat?" Dudley asked, sarcastically. Ron stepped out to back him up while Dean slinked off to keep Madame Pince distracted.
"What do you want?" Ernie demanded.
"I want to know why you've been spreading rumours," Dudley said. "And to tell you to knock it off, or I'll knock you out."
Ernie's face grew red. "Look, Dursley. You may be bigger than me. But I'm not scared of you."
"We all saw you at the dueling club," Susan Bones said. "You attacked Justin with that snake."
"Malfoy summoned the snake, not me," snarled Dudley. "I was trying to help him."
Ernie snorted disbelievingly. "A likely story. You hate Justin. And in case you get any ideas. "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, so-"
"I'm a muggleborn you stupid idiot!" Dudley snarled. "You really think I'm Slytherin's heir? Are you thick?"
Having heard enough, Dudley punched Ernie as hard as he could. The blow caught Ernie on the side of his head and lifted him off his seat. The girls cried out in alarm.
"Keep talking about me, and you'll get this every day, you stupid idiot!" Dudley snarled.
"Fighting in the library! How dare you! How absolutely dare you! Get out! Go on! Out! And 20 points from Gryffindor!" Madam Pince looked livid—Dean had clearly failed in his distraction duties.
"I'm going," Dudley snarled, storming off.
"Great right hook, Big D," Ron laughed. "He deserved it—the pompous prat. Saying such awful things about you."
Dudley didn't reply. He was still in a bad mood. Punching Macmillan hadn't helped. He was wondering if he would be able to find Malfoy—he still owed him for what had happened.
He collided hard with something solid. It was Hagrid. "Ow," Dudley said, rubbing his chest—Hagrid was pure muscle.
"What are you doing in here?" Dudley asked, eying the dead rooster that the giant was holding. "Is that for dinner?"
Hagrid snorted. "Dinner? Nah, somethin's bin killin' em. 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 looked closely at Dudley. "Dursley, isn't it? Yeh allrigh'?"
"I'm fine," he said, walking past Hagrid. He wasn't about to discuss his problems with someone he didn't even know.
Dudley stamped up the stairs and turned along another corridor, which was particularly dark; the torches had been extinguished by a strong, icy draft that was blowing through a loose windowpane. He was halfway down the passage when he tripped headlong over something lying on the floor.
He turned to squint at what he'd fallen over and felt as though his stomach had dissolved.
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. And that wasn't all. Next to him was another figure, the strangest sight Dudley had ever seen.
It was Nearly Headless Nick, no longer 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.
"No way!" Ron gasped.
"Crumbs," said Dean. "Look at Nick!"
Dudley got quickly to his feet and 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 only sounds were the muffled voices of teachers from the classes on either side.
"Come on, Dud, run," Ron urged. "Trust me, we don't want to be seen here."
"You're right," Dudley said and the trio ran down the corridor as fast as they could. They were just in time, a door banged open and then, a few seconds later they heard Peeves shout "ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!"
Crash - crash - crash - door after door flew open along the corridor and people flooded out. For several long minutes, there was a scene of such confusion that Justin was in danger of being squashed and people kept standing in Nearly Headless Nick.
"Back to the common room" Ron said and together, they all fled back to Gryffindor Tower.
