On the last Thursday in November they found a small crowd of people gathered at the noticeboard in the entrance hall after breakfast.
Millie, who was slightly taller than Theo, pushed up on her tiptoes to read what people were looking at. "A Dueling Club. It starts tonight at eight o'clock."
"Does it say who is running it?" Hermione asked.
Millie looked again. "No, just the club name and date and time."
"Maybe it's Professor Flitwick. He used to be a dueling champion when he was younger," Theo said.
"Maybe," Neville said. "As long as it's not Lockhart."
Rachel nodded in agreement. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for Lockhart to drag her up in front of people again.
"Do we want to go?" Luna asked.
"It might be worth going and seeing what's being taught. We can always leave if we need to," Hermione reasoned.
"I agree," Theo said. "At the very least we can find out what spells are being taught and we can look them up on our own later."
"Do you want to go?" Rachel asked Ginny, who was near the back of their group.
Ginny hesitated and then nodded. "At least for the first one. We don't have to go back if we don't like it."
Rachel nodded. "That's true."
"Alright, we should go before we're late for Herbology, you both have Transfiguration, right?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," Luna said, her gaze turning towards the staircase. "I like Professor McGonagall. The Muahorns say she walks the castle at night as a cat. I bet she gets to smell a lot of different things."
Hermione nodded. "It makes sense that your senses would be changed based on your animagus form."
Ginny and Luna started up the staircase and the rest of their group went outside to go to the greenhouses, the snow crunching beneath their feet as they walked.
That evening they gathered in the Great Hall with most of the rest of the students. The four main tables were gone and instead there was a long stage stretching down one wall.
"No sign of who is teaching," Theo said as he looked around.
"It's almost eight, I'm sure we'll know soon enough," Hermione said.
Sure enough, Professor Lockhart stepped onto the stage dressed in bright plum colored robes, followed by Professor Snape.
"At least Professor Snape is here. He should stop this from becoming too much of a farce," Theo muttered.
"Attention! Can you all see and hear me? Good!" Lockhart called as students became quiet. "I managed to convince the Headmaster to let me train you all in the delicate yet powerful art of dueling. You never know when it may come in handy, as I have found many times in my life. For full details, please see my books. Now Professor Snape here has agreed to be my assistant as he has a little bit of experience dueling himself. Fear not, you will have your potions professor intact when I'm done with him."
"It's not him I'd be worried about," Neville said quietly.
Rachel could tell that Professor Snape was not particularly pleased to be there and wondered why he agreed in the first place.
"Now first we stand ten paces apart, like so," Lockhart said. Both he and Professor Snape moved into position. "And then we bow."
Professor Snape inclined his head and shoulders every so slightly while Lockhart gave a fancy bow. Then they held their wands, held like sheathed swords.
"This is the accepted combative position. On the count of three, we will begin. One. Two. Three!" Lockhart cried out.
Professor Snape immediately swung his wand up and then brought it down so it was pointing at Lockhart. "Expelliarmus!"
With a bright flash of scarlet light, Lockhart flew backward and landed flat on his back on the stage. His wand also went flying and Professor Snape neatly caught it.
"Do you think he's alright?" Hermione asked, trying to peer over the crowd of students.
"Well, Professor Snape probably didn't kill him in front of witnesses," Millie said as she looked. "He's moving. He's getting up."
"And there we go," Lockhart said as he smoothed his hair back down. "The Disarming charm, which I of course could have blocked, but it was far more instructional for you to see the effect of the charm. My wand, if you don't mind."
"Right," Theo said shortly.
"Alright, let's practice. Disarming charms only and Professor Snape and I will come put you into pairs," Lockhart said and promptly got off the stage.
They milled about together while they waited to be paired.
"Miss Granger with Mr. Longbottom. Miss Snow with Miss Bulstrode. Miss Lovegood with Miss Weasley. And Mr. Nott," Professor Snape paused as he looked around. "With Mr. Malfoy."
Theo nodded but his hand tightened on his wand.
"Are you going to be okay?" Hermione asked quietly.
"I can handle Draco," Theo said.
Rachel couldn't help but wonder if Theo really thought that, because the look he was giving Draco was stiff and wary.
"Face your partners and bow," Lockhart called from the stage.
They all managed to arrange themselves so no one would get caught in the crossfire.
Rachel bowed to Millie, feeling a little bit silly, and Millie bowed as well.
"Wands at the ready. Remember, use the Disarming charm only. On three. One. Two. Three!" Lockhart called.
"Expelliarmus!" Rachel said, moving her arm and wand in the same pattern Professor Snape had used.
Millie stumbled and her wand came flying from her hand.
Rachel caught it and went to see if Millie needed help.
"Good job," Millie said, taking her wand back.
Hermione was returning Neville's wand, Ginny was returning Luna's, but Theo and Draco were still dueling.
"Disarm only!" Lockhart shouted.
"Tarantallegra!" Draco shouted.
Theo's feet started dancing in some sort of quickstep and Theo quickly pointed his wand. "Finite incantatem. Petrificus totalus!"
Draco went entirely stiff and fell to the floor.
Theo walked over to Draco and pointed his wand at him. "Finite incantatem."
Draco quickly pushed himself to his feet looking livid.
"Good duel," Theo said quickly, holding out his hand.
Draco scowled but accepted Theo's hand for a brief shake.
"Finite incantatem!" Professor Snape shouted.
There was a thin green smoke in the air and a fourth or fifth year Ravenclaw girl near them was holding a bloody nose and a second year Hufflepuff - Ernie Macmillan, Rachel thought - was picking himself up off the floor.
"Okay then, you're all alright. I think we should teach you to block unfriendly spells," Lockhart said.
"Maybe you should have done that first before letting us duel," Theo said. Draco snorted.
"Let's have a volunteer then. Miss Snow and Mr. Weasley," Lockhart called.
Rachel froze. She had known Lockhart was going to use this as a chance to drag her up in front of people again.
"I think not," Professor Snape said, taking a few steps toward Lockhart with his wand still drawn. "Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Weasley."
Draco smiled and made his way toward the stage and from a few meters away Ron Weasley started working his way through the crowd.
Rachel exhaled with relief. All at once she was glad again that Professor Snape was the one who had adopted her. He had done a lot to keep Lockhart away from her these past few months and she didn't want to imagine what it would be like if no one had cared enough to stop him.
On the stage Professor Snape was conferring quietly with Draco and Lockhart was talking with Ron Weasley. Draco looked much happier about this arrangement than Ron did.
"On three!" Lockhart called as he stepped away.
Professor Snape took a step back and folded his arms.
"One. Two. Three!"
"Serpensortia!" Draco shouted. A long black snake shot out of his wand and landed on the stage between them.
There were a lot of screams as people near the stage backed away and Rachel moved in front of Theo and Millie to keep from getting stepped on by the crowd.
"Stay still, Mr. Weasley. I will deal with it," Professor Snape said, pointing his wand at the snake.
"Let me!" Lockhart jumped forward and pointed his wand at the snake. The snake flew into the air, hissing madly, and landed in the clear spot by the stage.
The snake coiled, its fangs bared, clearly ready to strike at the group of Hufflepuff second years near the stage.
"Stop!" Rachel said loudly, half panicked. What if the snake was venomous?
The snake, amazingly enough, stopped and its head turned to where Rachel was standing. It flickered its tongue at her.
Rachel took a hesitant step forward, all too aware that people were now looking at her. "Just stay where you are," she told the snake.
"What the hell!" one of the Hufflepuff boys shouted at her, looking very upset. He pushed his way through the crowd and Rachel quickly lost sight of him.
"Evanesco," Professor Snape said, pointing his wand at the snake. The snake disappeared. "We're done here for today. Return to your dorms."
Students broke out in loud chatter as they dispersed.
"What was that?" Hermione said quietly as she looked back at the crowd who was looking at them.
"Did you know you were a Parselmouth?" Theo asked, equally quietly.
Rachel shook her head. "I don't know what that means."
"It means you can talk to snakes," Theo said.
Rachel frowned and turned to look at Theo. "But I was speaking English. Anyone could do it."
Luna shook her head. "You were hissing like a snake. It was quite nice, actually."
"There's another problem," Theo said. "Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth and it's said he passed it on to his descendents."
Rachel's eyes grew wide as she got his meaning. "I can't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin."
"If I may have a moment with Miss Snow. Alone please," Professor Snape said as he approached.
"Yes, sir," Theo said quickly. "Should we wait to walk Rachel back to the common room?"
"No, I will bring her to the common room myself. Five points to Slytherin for showing appropriate concern for a Housemate," Professor Snape said, nodding briefly at Theo.
Rachel's friends left and before long she was alone in the Great Hall with Professor Snape.
"Have you ever talked to snakes before?" he asked.
"In the garden, when I was living with my relatives. I always thought I had just imagined the snakes talking to me. Did you have to make the snake disappear? Couldn't we have put it outside?" Rachel asked.
"It was a conjured snake, it wouldn't have lasted long. And it would be inadvisable to put a snake outside in the winter. They are cold-blooded and need to hibernate to survive," Professor Snape explained.
Rachel nodded, immediately glad that she hadn't accidentally killed the snake. "This doesn't mean that I'm Slytherin's Heir, does it?" Rumors of Slytherin's Heir had been going through the castle as Mr. Filch was still unable to remove the writing on the wall near Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
Professor Snape frowned. "It is unlikely that you are Slytherin's Heir. However, being a Parselmouth is an inherited ability. Are you alright?"
Rachel nodded again. "I didn't Petrify Mrs. Norris," she insisted.
"I know you didn't," Professor Snape said immediately. "Though I do not doubt that there will be some rumors spreading about you. Ideally this would have been a gift that you kept a secret, as being a Parselmouth is associated with the Dark Arts, but we will manage the situation as it happens. Come to me immediately if anyone starts bothering you."
"Okay," Rachel said quietly. She was not looking forward to everyone talking about her again.
"Let's get you back to your dorm room. It's almost curfew," Professor Snape said, very briefly setting his hand on Rachel's shoulder.
Rachel followed him out of the Great Hall and tried to brace herself to be stared at once again when she reached the common room.
Professor Snape had been right about the rumors. Even the other Slytherins were looking at her and saying that she was the Heir of Slytherin, though most of the Slytherins seemed to view this as a point of pride. She'd had multiple older Slytherin students approach her and ask how she found the Chamber of Secrets. When Rachel insisted that she hadn't, they simply nodded and told her she was wise to keep it to herself, but if she wanted help she could ask them. Rachel kept note of their names so she could tell Professor Snape who wanted to open the Chamber of Secrets - it wasn't likely they were the ones doing it, but it still seemed like something he should know.
It didn't help that the Hufflepuff boy that the snake had nearly attacked was going around saying that Rachel had sicced the snake on him and had been encouraging it to bite him because he was muggleborn. Rachel soon learned that his name was Justin Finch-Fetchley and he had only glared at her when she had tried to explain that she'd been telling the snake to stop. Hannah Abott had told Rachel to stay away from Justin and Rachel had left the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall and went back to sit with Millie and Theo.
She was relieved when they reached their study room on Saturday morning. At least here people wouldn't be staring at her. "This is stupid. I can't be the Heir of Slytherin," she said as she dropped into her chair.
"Salazar Slytherin lived over a thousand years ago," Neville pointed out.
"But I'm not a dark witch. I don't even know any of the Dark Arts," Rachel said plaintively. "And I'm definitely not opening the Chamber of Secrets. I'm a half-blood."
"Genetics doesn't determine whether or not you use the Dark Arts," Hermione said.
"And we'd be hard pressed to make any of the Dark Arts work for us at this point in our education," Theo said. "Come on, let's go."
"Where?" Rachel asked, getting to her feet.
"The library. Let's go to the genealogy section and see if we can show definitively that you aren't the Heir of Slytherin," Theo said.
"I'll go with you," Hermione said.
They walked to the library and went to a section in the far back.
"Okay, so let's take a two-pronged approach to this. Rachel, why don't you start with the books that will trace your family back from your father. Hermione and I will start with the books that trace the earliest lineage and work our way forward," Theo said.
It took a few tries but Rachel finally found a book that had the Snow family listed.
"This one too, it has the main wizarding families in the 1500s and 1600s," Theo said, handing Rachel another book.
"How do you know about researching genealogy?" Hermione asked, holding three thick books.
"Pure-blood tradition, in the families that place an importance on the purity of blood at least. When you are old enough to attend Hogwarts you research your family tree and trace your lineage as far back as you can. Then you compare your research to the rest of your family's research to see if you've discovered new relatives. I doubt Ginny or Luna had to do this, but I imagine Neville would have had to," Theo explained.
Hermione nodded. "I'm afraid I don't know much about my lineage at all. Both my parents were only children, and my grandparents on my father's side died before I was born."
"Well, since you're magical, there was undoubtedly a witch or a wizard in your family tree somewhere. You might want to ask your parents if they have your genealogy and see if you can match any of the names to witches and wizards," Theo suggested.
"What about my mom?" Rachel asked. "What if Salazar Slytherin was one of her distant relatives?"
"That's definitely a problem in proving that you're not the Heir of Slytherin. I don't suppose you have anyone you could ask about your mom's side of the family?" Theo asked.
Rachel shook her head. She doubted Professor Snape would know her mom's genealogy, even though they were friends. She certainly couldn't ask her aunt.
"There are genealogy spells that can reveal your family tree for a few generations. We could look one up and see if we can get it to work," Theo said.
"Yes, let's. That would be helpful for me too," Hermione said.
They looked through the books for a while more before they found a book called Family Trees: Finding Your Branch and Leaf that had the spell. They checked out the books and went back to their study room.
"Did you find enough books?" Millie asked, the side of her mouth quirking up in a sly smile.
"Hopefully," Hermione said, keeping her expression straight for a moment before grinning. "Let's start with the spell. The incantation is hereditatem revelare. The instructions say to hold your wand on the end of a quill on a sheet of parchment. While saying the incantation, twist your wand and then release the quill. The quill will then write out your family tree for the past six generations."
Everyone pulled out a sheet of parchment and a quill.
"Hereditatem revelare," Hermione said, twisting her wand and releasing the quill. The quill quickly began to write.
"I wish Gran had let me do this when I had to research my lineage," Neville said, watching Hermione's quill at work.
"Me too, but my father said that the only way he'd allow it was if I could cast the spell myself, which I couldn't at that point. I'd just gotten my wand the day before," Theo said. "Hereditatem revelare."
Rachel placed her quill on her parchment and took a steadying breath. "Hereditatem revelare." Her quill began to write and she watched it closely. In tiny writing, it first wrote out her own name, then the names of her parents. Aunt Petunia's name appeared next to her mom's name, and then her grandparent's names appeared.
"Hereditatem revelare," Luna said for the second time. Her quill started to move.
"Good job, Luna. Did you get it, Ginny?" Hermione asked.
Ginny cast the spell and her quill started to write.
"I can't believe I have so many cousins," Millie said as she peered at her parchment. "I'm going to have to show my parents this over Christmas break. I bet they didn't know we're related to the Burkes."
"Look, Ginny," Rachel said. "There's a Weasley on my list!"
Ginny stood up and peered at Rachel's parchment. "We're incredibly distant cousins."
"Not that distant, this charm only goes six generations back," Theo said. "That's only about two hundred years ago."
"There's a Lovegood on mine too, Luna," Ginny said.
"And on mine!" Millie said, pushing her finished parchment over to Luna.
"We're a family," Luna said with a smile.
"If we go a little further back we're all probably related," Theo said.
Rachel's quill finished writing and fell to the table. She picked up and traced her line back to her furthest back set of grandparents. "Edward Snow and Mary Makehay."
"Start there and work your way back," Theo suggested. "I'd suggest getting another piece of parchment so you can keep drawing your tree back through time. I'm going to get started with Salazar Slytherin."
Rachel got to work and before long had four pieces of parchment spread out as her tree grew broader and broader. After about two hours she put her quill down. "I'm stuck in the 1400s."
"That's not surprising. Record keeping grows very spotty anytime before the 1500s," Theo said.
"I'm stuck too," Hermione said. "There just isn't enough information to trace his descendants."
"Same," Theo said. "Rachel, I honestly don't think it matters whether or not you're the Heir of Slytherin. Anyone with a lick of common sense knows you're not opening the Chamber of Secrets. No one else's opinions matter."
"But what if the voice I heard was because I'm the Heir of Slytherin?" Rachel asked.
"It did lead you to the writing and Mrs. Norris," Luna said.
"So, for a moment, let's say the Chamber of Secrets and Slytherin's monster exist, and let's assume Rachel is the Heir of Slytherin," Hermione posited. "That would mean there's another Heir of Slytherin opening the Chamber."
"That seems unlikely," Neville said. "But if we assume all of that is true, then Slytherin's monster would have Petrified Mrs. Norris, not a student using a spell."
"If it's true, whoever it is must be glad that people think it's Rachel because that takes the suspicion off of them," Millie said.
"Well, let's keep an open mind for now until we have more information," Theo said. "Have you heard the voice again, Rachel?"
Rachel shook her head. She hoped she never heard it again.
"Did you know I'm distantly related to the Weasleys?" Rachel asked before taking a bite of her stew.
Severus set down his fork. "I didn't, but that doesn't surprise me. Most of the pure-blood families are interrelated somewhere in their lines."
"That's what Theo said. Do you think I'm related to Theo and Millie too?" she asked.
"Probably quite far back," he said.
"Further than six generations ago at least," Rachel said, taking a bite of her roll.
"You've used the lineage spell?" he asked, already knowing the answer. He had used it himself when he was a little older than Rachel, trying to prove his worth to the pure-blooded students. He had thought that if he'd had a pure-blood ancestor of note that it would help. Needless to say, it hadn't.
"Yes. I wanted to prove that I wasn't the Heir of Slytherin, but I couldn't trace my lineage back that far. I made it back to Clement Snow, who was born in the late 1400s. I couldn't find a magical ancestor on my mom's side though," she explained.
Severus nodded. "It's possible they were a squib. The lineage spell does not include squibs."
"Why not?"
"Bartholomew Black, who created the spell, didn't think they were worthy of noting. The spell was designed to help pure-blood families prove their lineage," Severus explained. "Regardless, I think it is unlikely that you are the Heir of Slytherin. Albus has a theory as to how you are a Parselmouth without either of your parents having been one."
"How?" Rachel asked quickly.
Severus stifled a sigh. He hadn't wanted to get into this, not while Rachel was so young, but hopefully it would set the Heir of Slytherin nonsense to rest for her. "This information is not for consumption outside of this room, even with your friends. Understand?"
Rachel nodded, her expression serious.
"Albus believes that some of the Dark Lord's powers transferred to you on the night the Killing Curse rebounded onto him. This would explain why you can occlude without any training, as well as why you are able to speak Parseltongue," he explained.
Rachel reached up and touched the lightning bolt scar on her forehead. "If I got rid of my scar, would that make it so I can't speak Parseltongue anymore?"
"Promise me you will not try to get rid of your scar," Severus said immediately.
"Why not?" Rachel asked.
"For one, it's a curse scar. Nothing will make it go away. For another, every year we have students who try to use charms or potions to fix their acne or change the size of their nose or forehead and they inevitably wind up in the hospital wing while Poppy tries to put their face back in order. I do not want you to try spells or potions on yourself that you haven't checked with me or another professor first," he said, thinking of the last girl who had cursed herself blind in an attempt to fix her eyesight so she wouldn't have to wear glasses. They'd had to take the girl to St. Mungo's to have her sight restored.
"Okay, I wouldn't want to do that," she agreed. "But are the powers in the scar?"
"No, I wouldn't think so. They're a part of you now and you get to choose how you use them," he said. "Many people associate Parselmouths with the Dark Arts, but simply having the power does not make it Dark. Thus far you've used it to chat with snakes in the garden and to prevent a snake from attacking someone. There's nothing Dark about that."
"What makes magic Dark?"
"The Dark Arts is simply magic that is mainly used to harm, kill, or exert control over a victim," Severus explained. "There are varying degrees of Dark magic and some magic that is considered Dark can be used for a good purpose. For example, potions that use human blood are considered Dark, even though some potions only require a drop or two from the person who is brewing the potion."
Rachel frowned. "That doesn't sound nearly as scary as people make it out to be."
"In many cases it isn't, but the Dark Arts can do some truly horrible things and have long lasting consequences." Severus felt he knew this to be true better than most people.
Rachel nodded and then dug into her pocket and pulled out a sheet of folded parchment. "This is a list of the students who have offered to help me with opening the Chamber of Secrets," she said, holding it out to him.
Severus blinked and then sighed. The students really were taking this Heir of Slytherin thing too far. He took the list and looked it over. It was mostly students he was already watching, but there were a few surprises on there that he'd have to watch a little bit closer. "Thank you for taking note of this. Have any of them given you any trouble?"
She shook her head. "I tried to tell them I'm not opening the Chamber of Secrets, but they sort of acted like I was saying that because I really was but I didn't want to admit that I was."
"Well, if it goes further than that, please tell me. And if anyone else offers to help you, take note of their names as well," Severus said. He clearly had more work to do with his students if so many of them thought that opening the Chamber of Secrets was a good idea.
"Okay," Rachel readily agreed, going back to eating her dinner.
Severus continued his own meal and hoped that the whole Heir of Slytherin thing died down soon, both for Rachel's sake and his own.
The first Sunday in December was Hagrid's birthday. After lunch they bundled up in their cloaks, boots, and scarves and went down to the kitchens to get the big tray of treacle fudge Theo had requested from the House Elves along with some butterbeer.
Rachel was carrying Hagrid's present, which they'd ordered and requested for it to be wrapped. Theo carried the tray of treacle fudge, and Millie was carrying her school bag filled with bottles of butterbeer. They met the rest of their study group in the entrance hall and braced themselves for going out in the snow storm.
"I bet Hagrid will be surprised to see us today," Neville said, wrapping his scarf up so it covered his mouth.
"I don't think he even knows that we know it's his birthday," Millie said.
They carefully made their way across the grounds, Neville grabbing onto Rachel to keep her upright when she started slipping on a particularly slick patch on the hill.
"Thanks," Rachel called. It was hard to balance herself when she had her arms full.
Luna knocked on Hagrid's front door and they could hear Fang barking in response.
The door opened and they chorused "Happy Birthday!"
Hagrid looked stunned for a moment. "Get in here before you freeze," he said, standing back as he held onto Fang's collar with one hand. "How did you even know it was my birthday?"
"I asked Professor Snape," Rachel said, stamping her feet to get the snow off her boots before she went inside.
"You lot didn't have to do this," Hagrid said.
"We wanted to," Millie said. "Look, we have treacle fudge and we have butterbeer for everyone."
"And we brought you a present, because that's what friends do on birthdays," Luna explained.
"Help me pass out butterbeers?" Millie asked Ginny.
Before long they were all gathered around Hagrid's table, each with a butterbeer and a plate of treacle fudge. Fang had settled next to Rachel and had his head resting on her lap.
"Do you want to open your present?" Theo asked.
"Of course," Hagrid said, leaning forward to take the large present off the table. He unwrapped it and smiled brightly.
"It's another quilt for your bed," Hermione explained. "We hated the thought that you might get cold out here during the winter."
"It's lovely," Hagrid said as he stood up and opened it. It was a fairly simple block pattern in greens, and tans, and browns, and the fabric had scenes from nature on some of the blocks. "How did you get one my size?"
"Special order," Rachel said. Ginny had been the one to suggest Madam Falcon's Fabrics and Tapestries and Rachel had written to them and asked for the biggest quilt they could possibly make. "Is it big enough?"
"Sure is," Hagrid said. He walked over to his bed and laid it out. "Fits just perfect."
"And you like the fudge?" Theo asked.
"I do. Treacle is one of my favorites. Elf made, this is?" Hagrid asked.
"Yes, we requested it from the kitchens," Theo said.
"The House Elves, they've been using Helga Hufflepuff's recipes for a thousand years now," Hagrid said. "Some of the best food out there."
Rachel nodded in agreement. She liked the food at Hogwarts, especially because she was allowed to eat like everyone else.
Hagrid touched a handkerchief to one of his eyes. "You're good kids, you lot. Your parents must be proud of you. Rachel, I know yours would be. Yours too, Neville."
Rachel saw Theo look away and immediately felt a pang of regret that no one seemed able to do anything about his father. It was sad that Theo knew his father would disapprove of something as simple as a birthday party for a friend.
"How are things going for all of you? Classes going okay?" Hagrid asked.
"Classes are fine for us, except for Defense, which is ridiculous as usual," Millie said. "I'm glad we're studying from last year's book. And we're having Ginny and Luna study from the book we used last year too."
"That's good. There's something off about that bloke Lockhart, always has been," Hagrid said, shaking his head.
"Were you here when he went to school at Hogwarts?" Neville asked.
"Sure was," Hagrid said. "He started at Hogwarts a few years behind your parents, Rachel and Neville. There was one time he carved his name into the Quidditch pitch in huge writing, got detention with me for that. And he caused a scene in the Great Hall one Valentine's day by sending himself a great number of valentines."
Millie started laughing. "He sent himself valentines?"
Hagrid grinned. "He sure did, something like eight hundred of them."
"That sounds like something he would do," Ginny said, and the rest of the group started laughing too.
"Is the curse on the Defense position real?" Rachel asked. She'd heard some of the upper year Slytherin students talking about it and saying that Lockhart would be gone by the end of the year because of the curse.
"Oh, that's a hard question," Hagrid said. "Dumbledore says it's not, and he would know, but sure enough we haven't been able to keep a Defense professor for more than a year in over thirty years now."
"At least that means we'll only have Lockhart until the end of the year," Theo said.
Rachel hoped that was true, but she also hoped Lockhart didn't die like Quirrell had.