The Duelling Club

Arthur had woken up on Sunday morning to see that the hospital wing was blazing with winter sunlight and that his arm was now fully reboned but very stiff.

He sat up quickly to see that Colin's bed was blocked from view by the high curtains that he changed behind yesterday.

After seeing he was awake, Madam Pomfrey bustled over with a breakfast tray and bent and stretched his arm and fingers to ensure they function.

"All in order." She said as he fed himself some porridge, glad he was left handed when using a spoon. "When you've finished eating, you may leave."

Arthur dressed up as fast as he could and hurried to Gryffindor Tower, needing to tell David and Chrys about both Colin and Dobby only to find that they weren't there.

Thinking of the most likely places they'd be right now, he first went to the library, where he met Sam Merlon, who was about to leave.

"Oh, hello, Arthur. That was some flying yesterday. Gryffindor has taken the lead for the House Cup, thanks to you. We now have fifty more points!"

"Thanks… by the way, have you seen David and Chrys?"

"Not really, though I saw them rush off together earlier."

The only other place he could think of for where they'd be is Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The only reason they'd be there is for privacy reasons.

So he rushed through the castle to the bathroom, making sure he didn't run into Filch or any of the Prefects.

Once he reached there, he opened the door and saw Chrys sitting on the ground with her back facing the sinks. She had a cauldron and some ingredients with her, no doubt starting to make the Polyjuice Potion. He walked further in to see David leaning against a cubicle.

"Guys!" He called out to them, making them jump in fright until they saw it was him.

"Merlin's beard, you gave us a fright." Chrys said.

"We originally thought to come and meet you but we decided it was best to start on the Polyjuice Potion and to do it here as it's the safest place." Davind explained as Arthur sat on the floor up against a pillar, facing David.

"Did you hear about Colin?" He asked the two.

"Yeah, we heard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick this morning. It's why we decided to get started." Chrys replied.

"Therefore, the sooner we can get Draco to confess. He was probably in such a bad temper from being beaten that he took it out on Colin." David snarled, clenching his fists.

"There's more." Arthur said as Chrys tore bundles of knotgrass and threw them into the potion. "Dobby visited me last night."

Both David and Chrys were shocked to hear that and listened to Arthur as he explained about what Dobby said and what he was refusing to say.

"So this isn't the first time this happened?" Chrys questioned in shock and horror.

"Then if Draco is indeed a descendant of Slytherin, then Lucius must've opened the Chamber up when he was at school here and has now taught Draco how to do it. If only Dobby said what this monster was. It could help in figuring out why no one's noticed it sneaking around." David said.

"Perhaps it can make itself invisible?" Chrys suggested as she prodded leeches to the bottom of the cauldron. "Or maybe it could disguise itself?"

"I don't know… I have a feeling that whatever it is, it is going through the castle in other ways." Arthur said his opinion as David poured dead lacewings on top of the leeches.

"So Dobby was indeed the one to stop us from getting on the train and tampering that Bludger…." David shook his head. "It all sounds more like he's trying to hurt, if not, kill you."

The knowledge of Colin Creevey having been attacked and lying as though he's dead in the hospital wing spread throughout the school by Monday morning. There was so much rumour and suspicion that you can feel it in the air. First years now moved around the castle in tight knit groups, scared of being attacked if they were all ventured on their own.

Mary Merlon, who actually sat next to Colin in Charms class, was distraught. In fact, she seemed out of character ever since she arrived at Hogwarts now that Arthur thought about it. She wasn't her fun and bubbly self, even her brothers noticed this and tried to cheer her up but to no avail.

Hidden from the teachers, there was a roaring trade in talismans, amulets and other protective devices sweeping throughout the school. Neville ended up getting a large, evil smelling green onion, a pointed purple crystal and a rotting newt tail before he was told by other Gryffindor boys that he's a pure-blood and therefore won't get attacked.

"They went for Filch first and everyone knows I'm almost a Squib." Neville replied fearfully.

By the second week of December, McGonagall came around, as usual, collecting various names of those who'd stay at Hogwarts during the Christmas holidays. The trio all signed her list after they heard Draco was staying, which was odd. And the holidays would be the perfect time to use the Polyjuice Potion and get a confession out of him.

However, the potion's half finished, with only the Bicorn horn and Boomslang skin left, which are only found in Snape's private stores. Arthur wasn't thrilled about this as he'd rather face Slytherin's monster over enduring Snape's fury.

"We'll need a diversion." Chrys explained briskly since Thursday afternoon's double Potions loomed nearer and nearer. "Then one of us will sneak into Snape's office and get what we need."

"In that case, you'll have to do it since you have a clean record." David suggested as he knew that if he or Arthur were caught, they'd get expelled for sure.

"Okay. Now all you two need to do is cause enough mayhem to keep Snape busy for roughly five minutes." Chrys nodded. Of course, causing mayhem in Snape's class would be the equivalent of poking a sleeping dragon in the eye in Arthur's opinion.

Potions lessons take place in one of the largest dungeons. The lesson on Thursday afternoon had proceeded in the usual manner. Twenty cauldrons stood steaming between the various wooden desks on which were brass scales and jars full of ingredients.

Snape would prowl through the fumes, making various remarks about the Gryffindors' work as the Slytherins sniggerd appreciatively. Draco, who had to be Snape's favourite student, kept flicking puffer fish eyes at both Arthur and David, who didn't bother doing anything as they'd get into detention before they could say anything against Snape as he's the most biassed and unfair teacher at Hogwarts.

Arthur's Swelling Solution was exactly as it should be as he actually enjoyed making Potions, excluding the fact that Snape's the teacher, but he was also focused on more important things.

He was just waiting for Chrys' signal, not even paying attention to how Snape growled at the fact that he was still doing good as he always does in Potions. Once Snape turned and walked off to bully Neville, a usual activity for him, Chrys caught Arthur's eyes and nodded.

Arthur ducked quickly down behind his cauldron, pulled out a Filibuster Firework that Jack gave him from his pocket and gave it a quick prod with his wand. It then began to fizz and sputter. Aware that he only had seconds left, he straightened up, took aim and lobbed it in the air, watching it land right on target in Goyle's cauldron.

His potion exploded, showering the entire class. Everyone shrieked as splashes of the Swelling Solution hit them. Draco ended up getting a faceful and his nose started swelling up like a balloon; Goyle had blundered around with hands the size of dinner plates over his eyes.

Snape, of course, tried to maintain calm and figure out what happened.

Through the chaos and confusion, Arthur saw Chrys slip out through the door, quietly.

"Silence! SILENCE!" Snape roared at the top of his lungs. "Anyone who has been splashed, come over here for a Deflating Draught. When I find out who did this…."

Arthur was trying his hardest to not laugh, watching Draco hurry forward with his head dropping because of his nose now being the size of a melon.

As around half of the class lumbered up to Snape's desk, with some being weighed down with arms like clubs, some unable to talk through their huge puffed up lips. Arthur had noticed Chrys sliding back into the dungeon and the front of her robes were bulging, meaning she's got the ingredients.

After everyone took a swig of the antidote and all of the various swellings had subsided, Snape swept to Goyle's cauldron and scooped up the twisted black remains of the firework. There was now a sudden hush.

"If I ever find out who threw this, I shall make sure that person is expelled." He whispered.

Naturally, Arthur was trying to look as though this was all news to him as Snape was looking at him and Arthur just hoped that the bell would ring ten minutes earlier than it normally does.

"I could swear he knew that it was me." He told David and Chrys as they all hurried off to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

Once they got there, Chrys threw the new ingredients into the cauldron and started stirring feverishly.

"This thing will be ready in a fortnight." She said eagerly.

"Come on, there's no way he could prove it was you." David said reassuringly to Arthur as the potion started frothing and bubbling.

A whole week had passed and the trio were walking across the Entrance Hall when they noticed a group of people gathered around the noticeboard, reading a piece of parchment pinned up. Both Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas had them come over, looking pretty excited.

"They're starting a Duelling Club!" Seamus told them. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind duelling lessons, they might come in hand one of these days…."

"Do you really think that Slytherin's monster can duel?" David questioned as he read the sign.

"I'm pretty sure I have a good idea who will be teaching us at this club and I don't think we'll learn anything." Arthur whispered to him, seeing that this will have quite the audience and there's one person at the school that craves such a thing.

At eight o'clock that evening, everyone hurried into the Great Hall where the long dining tables were gone and instead was a large golden stage, being lit by the thousands of candles overhead. The ceiling was velvety black again and most of the school looked to have been packed underneath it, all of whom carried their wands, looking excited.

"If only Flitwick was teaching us. I've heard that he was a duelling champion when he was younger." Chrys whispered.

"He'd be much better than-" Arthur began, only to cut himself off with a groan upon seeing Gilderoy Lockhart walking onto stage wearing what looked like duelling clothes with gloves and a dark cloak that had a gold interior and was accompanied by none other than Snape, in his usual black.

Lockhart then waved his arm for silence and called "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!"

"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Duelling 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." Lockhart continued on, earning eye rolls from the trio as he took his cloak off and threw it into the crowd at a group of girls in Ravenclaw.

"Let me introduce my assistant Professor Snape." Lockhart then said, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. 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!"

"It would be so satisfying if they both finished each other off." David whispered in Arthur's ear.

Arthur looked at Snape, whose upper lip was curling. He was thinking that Lockhart shouldn't smile if he was sane because if Snape looked at him like that, he'd run and hide somewhere he couldn't find him.

Both Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and had their wands in front of their faces before bowing, though Snape looked like he was about to kill while Lockhart was oblivious. They then raised their wands like swords in front of them.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the combative position." Lockhart explained to the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither one of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"I don't know about that." Arthur muttered, watching Snape bare his teeth.

"One… two… three…."

Both teachers swung their wands up and over their shoulders.

"Expelliarmus!" Snape cried out, releasing a dazzling flash of scarlet light from his wand and Lockhart got blasted off of his feet. He then flew backwards off the stage, smashed into the wall and slid down to sprawl on the floor.

Draco and other Slytherins cheered at seeing their Head of house take down Lockhart. The trio found themselves enjoying the sight of Lockhart finally taken down a peg or two, adding proof for them that he just might be nothing but a fraud.

Lockhart had gotten to his feet, though unsteadily, and his hair was standing on end.

"Well, there you have it!" He said, tottering back onto the platform. "That was the Disarming Charm, as you see, I've lost my wand. Ah, thank you, Miss Brown. Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was pretty obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…."

Arthur's jaw dropped seeing that Lockhart was just trying to talk around the fact that he properly got beaten and made out to be like an idiot.

And there was Snape, who looked truly murderous. Lockhart had to have noticed because he said "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me…."

The two moved through the crowd, matching up different partners. Lockhart had teamed Neville with Justin Finch-Fletchley yet Snape reached Arthur and David, clearly intent to split them up.

"Time to split up the dream team, I think." He sneered, confirming their thoughts. "Merlon, you can partner Finnigan. Mr Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Pendergast."

Snape had a cold smile, making Arthur glare at him in hatred as Draco strutted over with a smirk. Arthur watched Snape paired Chrys up with a girl named Millicent Bulstrode, a Slytherin girl that reminded Arthur of a picture in Holidays with Hags as she was large and square with her heavy jaw jutting aggressively. Chrys glared at her.

"Face your partners!" Lockhart called out from the back of the platform. "And bow!"

Arthur and Draco, though, barely inclined their heads, not wanting to take their eyes off each other.

"Wands at the ready!" Lockhart shouted. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent, only to disarm them. We don't want any accidents. One… two… three…."

Arthur instantly swung his wand over his shoulder as fast he could, but Draco, the slimy cheater, already started on 'two'. His spell hit Arthur so hard that the pain can be described as being hit over the head with a saucepan. This made him stumble, though everything else was working.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Arthur pointed his wand right at Draco, shouting "Rictusempra!"

A jet of silver light hit Draco at his neck and he started to double over, wheezing in laughter.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted in alarm over the heads of the chaotic and battling crowd as Draco now sank to his knees because Arthur hit him with a Tickling Charm, barely able to move for more laughing.

Arthur decided to cast another spell, knowing that Draco would attempt to get back at him. He shouted "Tarantallegra!" and Draco's legs started jerking around out of his control as he now screeched in laughter.

"Stop! Stop!" Lockhart now screamed, though Snape took charge.

"Finite Incantatem!" He shouted and Draco's feet stopped dancing and he stopped laughing as well.

Arthur looked up and saw a haze of greenish smoke hovering over the whole scene. Neville and Justin were both lying on the floor, panting. David held up an ashen faced Seamus, apologising non stop for what his broken wand had done. Arthur noticed Mike was paired with Goyle and found himself amused seeing that the young McGonagall had cast the Stinging Jinx on Goyle.

But with Chrys, she and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving as the brutish Slytherin girl had Chrys in a headlock and Chrys was repeatedly punching and pinching her arms. Also their wands were on the floor.

Arthur ended up jabbing Millicent at her sides really hard, which made her finally let go of Chrys.

"Dear, dear." Lockhart said, going through the crowd, looking at the aftermath of the various duels. "Up you get, Macmillan… careful there, Miss Fawcett… pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second, Boot…." Arthur shook his head, thinking that this was another example of his ineptitude as he didn't even bother teaching how to block spells.

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells." He'd then say, standing flustered in the midst of the hall.

"About time, idiot." Arthur muttered as Lockhart glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted and then he looked away quickly.

"Let's have a volunteer pair. Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you?"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart." Snape said as he glided over like a large and malevolent bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox."

Neville's round pink face grew darker, making Arthur snarl quietly at Snape for bullying Neville for the umpteenth time.

"How about Malfoy and Potter?" Snape then suggested with a twisted smile.

"Excellent idea!" Lockhart replied, gesturing the two boys into the middle of the Hall with the crowd backing away to give them room.

"Now, Arthur, when Draco points his wand at you, you do this." Lockhart said, raising his own wand, attempting a complicated wiggling action before dropping it. Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying "Whoops. My wand is a little over excited."

Snape then moved closer to Draco, bending down and whispering into his ear. Draco then smirked as well. Arthur was getting a bit nervous but he didn't show it.

"Scared, Pendergast?" Draco said.

"In your dreams, you hack." Arthur shot back at him, referencing their Quidditch match.

"Just do what I did, Arthur!" Lockhart said merrily from behind him.

"I am not gonna drop my wand!" Arthur snapped at him, though Lockhart didn't listen.

"Three… two… one… go!"

Draco quickly raised his wand and bellowed "Serpensortia!"

The end of his wand exploded and Arthur watched in confusion as a long black snake shot out, falling heavily on the floor between them before raising itself, looking ready to strike.

Screams filled the Great Hall from the crowd as they all backed away swiftly.

"Don't move, Pendergast." Snape said with laziness, enjoying the sight of Arthur standing there, eye to eye with a snake. "I'll get rid of it…."

"Allow me!" Lockhart shouted, brandishing his wand at the snake and then there was a loud bang and the snake didn't vanish, instead it was now thrown ten feet into the air and fell back on the floor with a loud smack.

Arthur questioned why Lockhart would do that as it didn't even vanish.

The snake now grew furious and enraged, hissing and slithering right to Justin Finch-Fletchley. It raised itself again and was poised to strike with its fangs now exposed.

Arthur didn't even know what made him do it and he wasn't even aware of deciding to do it but all he knew was that his legs carried him on their own and shouted stupidly at the snake "Leave him!" And it seemed that the snake did as it was told, now slumped to the floor and docile as a thick garden hose, eyes now on Arthur.

Arthur felt any and all fear dissipate as he somehow knew that the snake wouldn't attack anymore now. He couldn't explain it.

He then looked to Justin, thinking he'd have a look of puzzlement or gratefulness but instead he saw nothing but anger and fear.

"What do you think you're playing at?" He shouted right before he turned and stormed out of the Hall, not even giving Arthur a chance to explain.

Snape then stepped forward, waving his wand, which made the snake disappear in a pull of black smoke. He, too, looked at Arthur in an unexpected way: it was a shrewd and calculating look, which Arthur didn't like.

He then became aware of the fact that there was muttering around the walls. Feeling like he was being looked down upon, he stormed off to be on his own, hearing footsteps following behind him, clearly David and Chrys.

The three left the Great Hall, people on either side drawing away, clearly frightened of catching something.

When he and the other two reached the empty common room, David grabbed Arthur and pushed him into an armchair. Arthur finally noticed the stunned looks on his and Chrys' faces.

"Why didn't you tell us you were a Parselmouth?" He demanded an explanation.

"A what?" Arthur questioned, remembering the word in his Fantastic Beasts book but it never explained what a Parselmouth is.

"A Parselmouth! Meaning you can talk to snakes!" Arthur's eyes widened at this.

"Well, I knew I can talk to snakes. Before I even knew I was a wizard, I accidentally set a boa constrictor on a bully of mine at the zoo once. It told me it had never seen Brazil and I unknowingly set it free." He explained.

"It told you it never saw Brazil?" David questioned with a narrowed eye.

"It only nodded its head and pointed with its tail. Besides, it was just the one time. Don't other people here talk to snakes?" Arthur then asked, not seeing the big deal so far.

"No, they can't. It isn't a common ability. This is bad." David then stressed.

"How is it bad?" Arthur now started getting angry, getting to his feet. "I was just telling the snake to not attack Justin -"

"So that's what you said to it?"

"What are you talking about? You heard me clear as day!"

"Arthur, you were speaking in Parseltongue, snake language! So to all of us, you could've said anything. It's not surprising that Justin panicked because it seemed like you were egging the snake on. It was so creepy."

Arthur was shocked to his core upon realising what this meant for him personally.

"I… I spoke another language? But - But how can I speak another language without knowing that I can?" He then questioned, stammering slightly.

Both David and Chrys didn't answer as they looked as though someone died, making him be on edge.

"What the hell is wrong with stopping a snake from biting Justin's head off? Why should it matter how I did it as long as Justin doesn't have a mother crying over her son's death?"

"The reason it matters…" Chrys said, finally saying something, though sounding concerned. "...is because Salazar Slytherin was known for being a Parselmouth. It's why the symbol for Slytherin house is a serpent."

Now Arthur's mouth opened the farthest it could go as he fell back onto the armchair. He felt himself panicking so much that he was frozen still, staring blankly in between David and Chrys.

"So the whole school will now think you're his descendant and therefore, the heir of Slytherin." David said, sounding guilty for saying it. Arthur was now panting heavily, shaking his head.

"No… I can't be… there's no way…."

"That'll be hard to prove, Arthur. He lived a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be." Chrys said. This made Arthur now have a spike of anger rise within him and shoot to his feet.

"NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT! I'M NOT THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN!" He bellowed before going up to the dormitory, leaving the two stunned by his display of anger.

He lay awake for hours that night. He watched snow drifting past the tower through a gap in the hangings around his four poster bed.

So many thoughts were going through his head.

He couldn't be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. He was nothing like that scum. He is accepting of Muggle-Borns, he's not even a pure-blood, something that would be important to Slytherin and his descendants. He also knew that his parents were in Gryffindor, just like him. Plus, he lived with Muggle relatives during the summer, who he loved.

He tried to speak Parseltongue quietly but it seemed that he had to be face to face with a snake to do so.

Arthur then remembered what he saw in the Mirror of Erised with those two mediaeval ancestors of his. Neither of them looked like Slytherin, having seen illustrations and artwork of the four Hogwarts founders not long after that History of Magic lesson with Binns. He was so sure that he isn't Slytherin's descendant, despite what the Sorting Hat suggested, considering placing him in that house.

Regardless, he turned over knowing he'll go to see Justin in Herbology tomorrow and explain that he was just trying to call the snake off, which was obvious if you paid attention to what happened. But then he remembered that Justin was a bit of an idiot.

But then the next morning came and the snow that started the previous night was now a blizzard that was so thick that the last Herbology lesson of the term got cancelled. Sprout wanted to fit socks and scarves on the Mandrakes, which was a tricky operation that she only trusted herself with as it was important to have the Mandrakes grow quickly and revive both Mrs Norris and Colin Creevey.

Arthur was fretting about this on the couch in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room as both David and Chrys were reading some books.

"Arthur, just go and find Justin." Chrys said without looking away from her book.

With a sigh, he got up and left through the portrait hole, walking through the castle to find Justin.

With the thick and swirling grey snow at every window, the castle was darker than normal during the day, giving it a creepy atmosphere.

Arthur walked past several classrooms, shivering slightly, catching glimpses of what's going on in them. He saw McGonagall shouting at someone, who seemed to have turned their friend into a badger.

He resisted his natural urge to look as he continued on to find Justin, thinking that he'd be in the library to catch up on some work to use up his free lesson.

When he got there, he saw a group of Hufflepuffs that would've been in Herbology sitting at the back of the library, yet they didn't seem to be working. Between the lines of the high bookshelves, he could see that their heads were all close together and seemed to be having an absorbing conversation.

He walked over towards them, not seeing Justin among them and by the time he could fully hear what they're all saying, he stopped and hid in the Invisibility section.

"So anyway…" A stout boy Arthur knew to be Ernie Macmillan said. "...I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Pendergast's marked him down as his next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Pendergast he was Muggle-Born. Justin actually told him he'd been down for Eton. That's not the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin's heir on the loose, is it?"

"You definitely think it is Potter, then, Ernie?" A girl with blonde pigtails asked anxiously. It was Hannah Abbot.

"Hannah…" Ernie said solemnly. "...he's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."

This left a heavy murmuring among them before Ernie went on. "Remember what was written on the wall? Enemies of the Heir Beware. Pendergast had some sort of run in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat's attacked. That first year, Creevey, was annoying Pendergast at the Quidditch match, taking pictures of him while he was lying in the sand. Next thing we know, Creevey's been attacked."

Alright, Arthur had admitted that from an outsider's perspective, this makes sense, but the flaw in the logic was that he was nowhere near the victims when the attacks happened and he never recollected ordering a snake to attack them.

"He always seems so nice, though…" Hannah replied with uncertainty. "...and, well, he's the one who made You Know Who disappear. He can't be all bad, can he?"

Ernie then lowered his voice mysteriously, making the Hufflepuffs lean in closer and Arthur edged closer so that he could keep hearing.

"No one knows how he survived that by You Know Who. I mean to say, he was only a baby when it happened. He should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful dark wizard could have survived a curse like that." He then dropped his voice until it was barely more than a whisper before continuing. "That's probably why You Know Who wanted to kill him in the first place. Didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers Pendergast's been hiding?"

Arthur's anger now reached a boiling point that his clenched fists were now shaking. The fact that he and others believed that ridiculous theory that he, when he was a one year old baby, defeated Voldemort because he was a dark wizard. No wonder people thought Hufflepuff was full of duffers.

Deciding to finally make his presence known, he cleared his throat loudly as he stepped out from behind the bookshelves. All of the Hufflepuffs looked as though they were Petrified and Ernie's face was drained of colour.

"Hello… I'm looking for Justin." He told them, which made them all think their worst fears had come true. All of them looked fearfully at Ernie.

"What do you want with him?" He asked in a quavering voice.

"To tell him what really happened with the snake." Arthur told him.

Ernie then bit his white lips and took a deep breath before saying "We were all there. We saw what happened."

"Yeah, well I told the snake to not attack Justin. Didn't you see it back off from him?" Arthur spat, seeing that he wasn't listening to reason and logic.

"All I saw…" Ernie said with stubbornness, though trembling as he spoke. "...was you speaking Parseltongue and chasing the snake towards Justin."

"I didn't chase it at him!" Arthur snarled quietly, not wanting Madam Pince to come over. "I told it to not attack him. It didn't even touch him!"

"It was a very near miss. And in case you're getting 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 don't give a damn what your blood status is!" Arthur cut him off with such fierceness that he felt a lion snarling at a weakling. "And in case you forgot, one of my best friends is a Muggle-Born. And I live with Muggle relatives during the summer, who I love with every fibre of my body! And the fact that you believe that I'm a dark wizard when I was just a one year old baby is ridiculous. It's because of people like you that Hufflepuff gets the reputation of being idiots." He then spat, leaving Ernie and the other Hufflepuffs speechless in offence, shock and fear before he stormed out of the library.

He just continued on, not even noticing where he was going as he was just blind in fury. Because of this, he walked into something large and solid, knocking him backwards onto the floor.

"Hi, Hagrid." He said when he looked up.

Hagrid's face was fully hidden by a snow covered woolly balaclava and he of course filled most of the corridor with his moleskin overcoat. Arthur then noticed a dead rooster hanging from one of his huge, gloved hands, which was odd.

"Alrigh', Arthur?" He said, pulling up his balaclava to speak. "Why aren't yeh in class?"

"It was cancelled . Why are you here?" Arthur said as he got up. Hagrid then held up the limp rooster.

"Second one killed this term." He explained. "It's either foxes or a Blood Suckin' Bugbear, an' I need the Headmaster's permission ter put a charm round the hen-coop."

Arthur frowned in thought about this. Could these roosters have been killed in time with the attacks? And if so, why?

"Yeh sure yeh're alrigh'? Yeh look all hot an' bothered." Hagrid then said, peering closely at Arthur under his thick snow flecked eyebrows.

Arthur didn't want to go over what Ernie and the other Hufflepuffs had said about him.

"It's nothing. I gotta get going, anyway. Transfiguration's next and I have to pick my books up."

He then walked off, his mind still going over what Ernie said about him.

"Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Pendergast he was Muggle-Born…."

He marched down the stairs and went down a particularly dark corridor with the torches having been extinguished from a strong and icy draught that blew through a loose window pane.

When he was halfway down, he ended up tripping headlong over something on the floor.

"What the -" He said, turning to squint at what he fell over, only cut off when he thought his insides disappeared and released shaky breaths.

Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, rigid and cold with a look of shock permanently frozen on his face. But then he saw a figure next to him and Arthur thought that it was a strange sight.

The other figure was Nearly Headless Nick, who was no longer white and transparent. He was now black and smoky, floating on the spot and horizontally, six inches off the floor. His head was also half off and had a look of shock a lot like the one on Justin's face.

Arthur crawled backwards, wanting to get as far from them as possible before he got to his feet, feeling his heart beating so fast that he couldn't count. Looking up and down the corridor, he saw a line of spiders, all crawling as fast as possible away from the bodies.

And then he heard the muffled sounds of teachers from classes on either side.

He knew he couldn't run because once people realise he ran from here, he'd look more guilty and there's the fact that no one would believe him regardless of what he did right now.

As he panicked, a door that was right next to him opened up with a bang and Peeves came shooting out.

"Why, it's wee Pendergast!" He cackled, bouncing past him. "What's Pendergast up to? Why's Pendergast lurking -" He stopped halfway through a mid air somersault, spotting both Justin and Nick upside down.

He then flipped the right way up, filled his lungs and screamed before Arthur could stop him. "ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATAAAACK!"

Every single door along the corridor opened and people flooded out. There was nothing but confusion for several minutes, leading to Justin being in danger of being squashed and people kept standing in Nearly Headless Nick.

Arthur pinned himself against the wall as all the teachers shouted for quiet. McGonagall came running, followed by her class, one of which had black and white striped hair. She used her wand to set off a loud bang, restoring all silence before ordering everyone to go back to their classes.

As the scene cleared to some degree, Ernie Macmillan had arrived, panting.

"Caught in the act!" He yelled, white faced and pointing dramatically at Arthur, who grew furious again at the stupid Hufflepuff.

"That will do, Macmillan!" McGonagall sharply told him off.

Peeves then bobbed overhead, grinning with wickedness. He just loved chaos and as the teachers bent over Justin and Nick, examining them, Peeves broke into a song:

"Oh Pendergast, oh what have you done? You're killing off students, you think it's good fun -"

"That's enough, Peeves." McGonagall snapped at the poltergeist, who zoomed away backwards with his tongue out at Arthur.

Justin was then carried up to the hospital wing by both Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department. No one seemed to know what to do with Nick, but then McGonagall conjured up a large fan from thin air and gave it to Ernie to waft Nick up the stairs with it.

As he did as he was told, this left Arthur and McGonagall alone in the corridor.

"This way, Pendergast." She said.

"Professor, I didn't do it -"

"This is out of my hands, Pendergast." She said curtly.

The two marched on in silence around a corner before she stopped in front of a large metal gryphon.

"Sherbet lemon!" She said, which had to be a password as the gryphon sprung to life and started spinning on the spot, going higher and higher as a spiral staircase appeared, moving upwards like an escalator. When Arthur and McGonagall stepped on it, they ended up rising upwards in circles until at last Arthur saw a gleaming oak door ahead of him that had a brass knocker in the shape of a gryphon.

Arthur felt his heart sink as he realised he was taken to Dumbledore's office.

Look, I love Hufflepuff, it's my second favourite house, but even those who are Hufflepuffs have to admit that some like Ernie Macmillan and later in the series, Zacharias Smith, are examples of why people look down upon Hufflepuff to some degree.