Second Year (Autumn)

"If the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd've got the train straight back home..."

1 September 1992

Harry and I almost got kicked out of Hogwarts tonight before term even started. Not even Fred and George can say that.

It was pretty cool, actually. We couldn't get through the barrier at the train station, but Dad's flying car was just outside, so we thought, "Why not?" and flew it all the way to Hogwarts. The car barely made it and crashed us into this crazy, man-eating tree, but it wasn't anything Harry and I couldn't handle.

Some Muggles saw us flying, so Snape tried to get us kicked out of school — of course — but McGonagall let us off with just detentions. She didn't even take points from Gryffindor. And when we got to the Common Room, we were heroes (except to Hermione, but when does she approve?).

Not a bad way to start the year, eh?

2 September 1992

What a disaster. Dad's facing an inquiry at work because of that stupid car, and it's all my fault. And my wand is now complete rubbish. It broke when that ruddy tree attacked us last night, and I couldn't do a single spell right today. I can't ask for another one, though — there's no way Dad and Mum can afford that, especially if Dad gets fired because of me. What am I going to do?

3 September 1992

Lockhart, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, is a complete idiot. In his very first class today, we got to take a quiz all about him (#4: My Greatest Ambition: To find my rear end with both hands.) and then rescue him from a bunch of pixies he set loose. He's completely useless. And you know what? Hermione fancies him! She thinks he's brilliant, just because he writes books or something.

It's like Ginny and Harry. She's had a crush on him all year, but she doesn't even really know him. Seriously, she's so nervous around Harry that's she's never actually talked to him. I think she just fancies him because he's "the Boy Who Lived." Now that I think about it, there are a lot of girls at Hogwarts who get funny when Harry's around.

Girls go for famous blokes, eh? I guess that's one advantage to being a Weasley, then: you don't have to put up with anybody making doe eyes at you and dropping stuff when you walk by.

6 September 1992

Malfoy called Hermione a Mudblood yesterday! In front of everybody! I couldn't believe it.

We went down to the pitch to watch Quidditch practice (or as I put it to Hermione, " to read in the fresh air"), but the Slytherins were already there to train their new seeker, sodding Draco Malfoy — who only got on the team because his dad bought them all new Nimbus 2001s.

Because I was within earshot, Malfoy made a snotty comment about how rich he is. Hermione answered right back with something brilliant, and Malfoy called her a "filthy little Mudblood"!

All the Gryffindors went after him, of course, but my stupid wand backfired, and I got my own slug curse right in the gut — started getting sick right there in front of everybody. The Slytherins just about died laughing. Good show, Ron.

Where does that slimy git get off thinking he's better than Hermione? Anyone with half a brain can see she's one of the best witches at Hogwarts. Way smarter than him, for sure.

Besides, doesn't Malfoy know people died because of rubbish like that? It's disgusting, that's what it is. Does he really think Muggle-borns like Hermione and Dean should get kicked out of Hogwarts and — what? Killed like Harry's mum? Locked up in Azkaban? Made to work like house elves?

If anybody's trash, it's worthless rats like Draco Malfoy. I'm pretty sure Dad thinks his dad was a Death Eater.

12 October 1992

Ginny has got to make some friends. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she's my friend, but she needs some first-year friends too. She sits with us at almost every meal. And because she's within six feet of Harry, she never talks and spends the whole time looking twitchy.

Mum would be really worried if she knew, so there's no way I'm going to tell her. She'd just find some way to fuss over Ginny and embarrass her, and that's not going to help. I'm sure she'll work it out. It hasn't even been two months, right?

24 October 1992

Slytherin pounded Ravenclaw in Quidditch today — those Nimbus 2001s are amazingly fast. I have got to practice Quidditch more this summer. I can't join Percy as the only Weasley not to take the field for Gryffindor. 'Course, if I got on the team, I'd need a new broom. My Shooting Star's a joke.

Speaking of things I can't afford, I set my desk on fire in Transfiguration today thanks to my stupid wand. What if I'm stuck with this thing until I graduate? There's no way Harry can cover for me for the next six years.

31 October 1992

Something really weird is going on. We were walking to the Great Hall tonight when Harry heard a voice talking about killing someone, and ran after it. Hermione and I didn't hear a thing, but we followed, and on the wall in a second-floor hallway someone had written "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware." And Filch's stupid cat was right next to it, completely stiff like it was frozen or something.

Suddenly the hallway was full of people, and Malfoy shouted, "You'll be next, Mudbloods!" But before Harry and I could cram the words down his lousy throat, all the professors showed up. Dumbledore said the cat had been "petrified," but he doesn't know how it happened.

Harry says that the voice he heard tonight was the same one he heard in Lockheart's office during his detention, and that Lockhart couldn't hear it either. What sort of thing has a voice only one person can hear?

4 November 1992

Guess who opened the Chamber of Secrets? That rotter Draco Mafoy. In class today, Binns said that Slytherin himself built the thing because he hated Muggle-born wizards, and he put some sort of monster in it, so that when his "heir"showed up, they could use the monster to kill everyone "unworthy" to be at Hogwarts. What a sweetheart, eh?

And that evil, slimy, rotten Malfoy is Slytherin's heir — at least, that's what Harry and I think. Hermione isn't sure (she never believes us), but she's got a crazy plan to make Polyjuice potion and find out if we're right. If Hermione's willing to drink the stuff, it can't be that dangerous, right?

5 November 1992

Hermione got the Polyjuice instructions today, and she says we'll have to steal a bunch of the ingredients from Snape. Harry asked (rather reasonably, I thought) if this was still a good idea, and Hermione freaked out at him.

You know, I didn't think about her being scared by this Chamber stuff. Hermione's always so calm and collected. But that's stupid — of course she's scared. She's everything that guys like Slytherin hate.

It's going to take six weeks to make the Polyjuice. Then we'll collar Malfoy, give the monster to Hagrid as a Christmas present, and she can get back to re-reading 'Hogwarts: A History.'

7 November 1992

Draco Malfoy — with his stacks of galleons and "pure-blood" ancestors — is still no match for Harry Potter. Today Malfoy somehow enchanted a Bludger to chase only Harry during the match. The stupid thing broke his arm. Didn't matter, though, Harry got the Snitch anyway — grabbed it from right next to Malfoy's fat head!

But is he in the common room celebrating with us? Of course not, because that idiot Lockhart tried to fix his arm and accidentally REMOVED ALL THE BONES. How does he fool Hermione? She sees right through my best homework excuses, but everything he does is "so clever."

Anyway, instead of celebrating with the rest of the Gryffindors, Harry's in the hospital wing growing his bones back. You know, I think it's about time Malfoy spent a night or two in there.

8 November 1992

Turns out it wasn't Malfoy who enchanted the Bludger; it was that crazy house elf, Dobby, the one who showed up at Harry's house back in July and told him to stay away from Hogwarts because someone was out to get him. Here's a list of Dobby's good deeds so far:

- Stealing Harry's mail all summer so he'd think Hermione and I didn't miss him.

- Doing magic at the Dursleys' house so the Ministry would think Harry did it and expel him.

- Closing the barrier at Platform 9 ¾ so Harry and I couldn't get on the train.

- Making a Bludger attack him so he'd get hurt enough to be sent home (but not enough to die, of course, because that would defeat the purpose).

Truely, Harry never had a better friend.

Of course, this doesn't mean Malfoy isn't an evil toad. He and his monster petrified somebody else last night, a little first-year Gryffindor named Colin Creevy who carries a Muggle camera around with him everywhere. Harry saw Colin in the hospital wing, said he had his camera up to his face like he was trying to take a picture of the monster. That's a Gryffindor for you.

17 December 1992

Dad always says you can't make assumptions about people; you have to judge them by what they do (like Perkins from his office had a sister who was a Death Eater, but Perkins is still a really nice guy). And George likes to say that life is funny.

Which is important to remember right now because Harry Potter, my best mate, can talk to snakes. Hilarious, eh?

It came out at Lockhart's Dueling Club tonight. Harry was facing Malfoy, who sent a snake at him. It started heading for this smarmy Hufflepuff named Justin, and Harry chased after it, making all these weird noises. He says he was telling the snake to stop, and I believe him, but that's sure not what it looked like.

Tomorrow's going to be a nightmare. Harry may be completely and obviously non-evil — he may be so non-evil that random house-elves want to save his life and dark wizards burst into flame when they touch him. But he's a Parselmouth, and like Dad says, when people get scared, they stop thinking. Which means everyone will assume Harry is Slytherin's heir — Harry Potter, the bloke who beat You-Know-Who (twice) and hangs out with Muggle-born Hermione Granger and all of the Muggle-loving Weasleys. It's so stupid.

18 December 1992

Alright, the heir has got to be Malfoy, because now he's trying to frame Harry. This morning, Harry tried to find Justin and explain what really happened with the snake. Instead, he finds Justin already petrified, along with Nearly-Headless Nick. No one else is around, naturally, and Peeves sees him and makes a huge racket, so everyone rushes over and finds Harry there with Justin, looking guilty as sin.

Dumbledore believes he's innocent, but I don't think anyone else does. What a set-up.

21 December 1992

I'm proud to say that all the Weasleys are on Harry's side. Fred and George are even making a big joke out of it. They're all staying over for Christmas too, so it won't be just the three of us and a few lousy Slytherins.