CHAPTER 23: SPOKE TOO SOON

After the Duelling Club fiasco, a lot of rumours began circulating the school about what had really happened. Almost everyone seemed to be under the impression that Harry had ordered the snake to attack Justin, but Canada refused to believe it. Harry would never do something like that, and he hadn't even known what a Parselmouth was until Ron told him. And, unless his memory had suddenly changed, the order of events had been thus; the snake started eyeing Justin, Harry talked to it, the snake backed down. It would make sense to infer that Harry had ordered it to back down. And the correlation between Parseltongue and the Dark Arts was surely just superstition. Canada believed in Harry. Hopefully this whole thing could be cleared up in the last Herbology class of the term.

Mother Nature had other plans, however, and sent a blizzard so thick even Canada had to admit going outside would probably be a bad idea. Herbology was cancelled, and with it Harry's chance to explain what had happened. On the bright side, they all had a free period. Canada had a bit of homework to catch up on, so he decided to do it in the Hufflepuff common room near the fire. He'd just started going through his notes when a loud voice said, "Jones, what are you doing here?! This is the Hufflepuff common room!"

Canada looked up to find Ernie Macmillan glaring at him. "Eh… I am a Hufflepuff, Ernie," he murmured.

Ernie's glare only intensified. "No, you're a Gryffindor! Stop lying!"

And suddenly Canada understood. "I'm Matthew, not Alfred," he sighed. "Everyone always gets it wrong, eh…"

Ernie blinked, and suddenly his angry expression was replaced with a rather sheepish one. "Oh. Right. Er, sorry about that, Matthew, but you do look very alike…" He leaned over to see what Canada was doing. "Are you working on Professor McGonagall's essay?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah. I was going to finish it a few days ago, but it was late and I fell asleep."

Ernie puffed out his chest. "Hmm. Well, I did finish it a few days ago, so if you need any help, feel free to ask."

Canada smiled at him. "Thank you, but I think I'll manage."

"Ernie!" Hannah Abbott ran up to Ernie. "Susan and I are heading to the library to finish up some work. Want to come with us?"

"Well, I've already finished all of mine," said Ernie proudly. "But I suppose I can come along to help you guys out."

Canada coughed. He wasn't trying to get attention, he'd just needed to clear his throat. It managed to get attention, though, because Hannah's eyes fell on him. After a moment of confusion, comprehension dawned in her eyes. "Oh, Matthew! You can come with us, too!"

This was just about the first time the other Hufflepuffs had ever asked Canada to join in on any activities, so he wasn't about to refuse. "Sure. I'll just grab my bag. Wait up for me, eh." He picked up his work and ran up to the dormitory.

As he entered there was a thud, as if someone had suddenly dropped down to the floor. He frowned, scanning the room with his eyes. "Hello?"

Justin Finch-Fletchley poked his head up from behind his bed, obviously looking relieved. "Oh, good it's just… er…" His voice trailed off.

"Matthew," Canada provided. "What are you doing in here, Justin?"

"Oh, er, um, nothing!" said Justin in a stupendously unconvincing way.

"Eh, all right, then." Canada grabbed his bag from his own bedside table and somewhat awkwardly went back to the common room. It seemed that in the short time it had taken him to have that little chat, Ernie and Hannah had managed to wrangle a few more students to join their impromptu study group.

"All right, then, let's go!" announced Ernie, and they all started making their way to the library, chatting about the homework they'd work on.

"I'm really having some trouble with Transfiguration… even at the start of term all I managed to do to my beetle was make it a bit flatter, and that was because I accidentally put my elbow on it…"

"Did you write down any notes in the last History of Magic class? I tried, but I ended up falling asleep a few minutes into Professor Binns' lecture…"

"It's really too bad about Herbology, it's the only class I'm all that good at…"

And so things went as they entered the library and sat down near the back. Canada was amazed by the difference between studying with the Hufflepuffs and studying with his Gryffindor friends and America. Usually with the latter, America and Ron would be finding any way to avoid actually doing the work, Harry would at least try but often get caught up in the other boys' hijinks, and Hermione would be telling them all to get back to work. With the Hufflepuffs, they all seemed to be focused on the work. They talked quite a bit, but it always seemed to be about what they were writing. Ernie seemed to be the closest to a Hermione, giving the others advice and looking over their work. Whenever one of them remembered Canada was there they'd have him fill the same role. He was quite happy to oblige, though he quickly saw why Hufflepuff had a reputation as a house of dunderheads.

Still, through hard work everyone finished off their homework eventually, so they all started chatting about things other than schoolwork. Of course, the conversation quickly turned to the events of the Duelling Club. They all seemed to believe that Harry had indeed been egging the snake on, and that he was the Heir of Slytherin. Canada was so shocked that anyone could think that about Harry that he couldn't quite arrange a convincing argument in his head. At least Hannah seemed a bit reluctant to believe the worst of Harry.

Then, suddenly, just as Ernie began speculating that You-Know-Who had attacked Harry in order to eliminate possible competition for the title of 'most evil wizard of all time', there was a loud clearing of the throat from the nearby Invisibility section. They all looked over to see Harry step out into view. It was almost comical to see the colour drain from Ernie's face as he said, "Hello. I'm looking for Justin Finch-Fletchley."

The other Hufflepuffs turned to Ernie, who seemed to have become their de-facto leader. "What do you want with him?" Ernie asked in a quavering voice.

"I wanted to tell him what really happened with that snake at the Duelling Club," said Harry. Canada wanted to say something here. He really, really did. But the whole conversation was like a train wreck; he just couldn't bring himself to look away or interrupt.

"We were all there. We saw what happened," said Ernie.

"Then you noticed that after I spoke to it, the snake backed off?" said Harry. Canada found his head bouncing from Ernie to Harry like a tennis ball.

"All I saw," said Ernie stubbornly, though he was trembling as he spoke. "Was you speaking Parseltongue and chasing the snake after Justin."

"I didn't chase it at him!" Harry said, his voice shaking with anger. "It didn't even touch him!"

"It was a very near miss," said Ernie. "And in case you're getting ideas, I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and wizards and my blood's as pure as anyone's, so-"

"I don't care what sort of blood you've got!" said Harry fiercely. "Why would I want to attack Muggle-borns?"

"I've heard you hate those Muggles you live with," said Ernie swiftly.

"It's not possible to live with the Dursleys and not hate them," said Harry. "I'd like to see you try it." And then he turned on his heel and stormed out of the library.

Once he was gone, Canada gave Ernie a reproachful stare. "That wasn't very nice, you know," he said.

Ernie jumped a bit in surprise at the sound of his voice, but recovered quickly. "Why should I be nice to him?" His eyes widened. "Oh, your brother's friends with him, right?"

"Yes, and so am I," said Canada. "Harry didn't do it. He didn't do any of it. Do you need me to go through every reason?"

Ernie stared at him, clearly not expecting this sudden show of hostility. "What reasons? What proof do you have?"

Canada closed his eyes and took a deep breath, going through everything Ernie had said in his mind. "Harry didn't even know what a Parselmouth was until after the Duelling Club. He'd only ever talked to a snake once before, and that was before he knew he was a wizard. He probably assumed it was just a normal wizard thing once he found out about magic. As for Mrs. Norris, I was with him that entire evening. I would have noticed if he'd slipped off to send his monster after a cat. And with Collin Creevey, he was in the Hospital Wing for all of that night. Madam Pomfrey would have blown a gasket if he tried to leave. And going back to the whole Parselmouth thing, you seem to have forgotten the order of events. The snake was getting ready to attack Justin before Harry talked to it, and after he did so the snake backed off. Harry doesn't have anything against Muggle-borns. One of his best friends is one, in case you'd forgotten."

Canada rolled up his essay and put it in his bags. "I'm finished with this. See you all later, eh." He stood up and walked out of the library. Once he was sure nobody could see him, he leaned against the wall and started laughing to himself. He'd talked back at someone. Him, Canada, Mr. Overly Polite Nice Guy himself. It was oddly exhilarating. Was this how America felt all the time?

He stood there for a few minutes, laughing at himself. Then he heard Peeves yelling, "ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!" And with that his good mood dissolved as if it had been dipped in super-strong acid.

A/N: I think I'm getting back into the swing of things! HUGS FOR EVERYONE! \(^-^)/ Okay, Q&A! To RussianMochi: I don't think I've had much interaction between America and Percy, but he probably does think of him like that. Yes, the Axis coming to Hogwarts would certainly be an interesting day. All I shall say on it is I have ideas. To Ahdaze: AWW C'MERE! *tackle-hugs* That is all I had to say. To SoulxMakaLover37: It's absolutely fine! You're forgiven. Here, have a hug. \(^-^)/ i) Friday by Rebecca Black. ii) Hmm... I'd have to go with the Belarus plot. If Russia didn't want this kind of thing to happen, he should change his catchphrase to 'All shall became one with Russia except Belarus'. iii) I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to it out loud as WWII. I think World War II is for when you're talking, and WWII is for when you're writing it down? That seems to make sense. iv) I'm not quite sure what to say to that. I think there's nothing wrong with being just friends with someone of the opposite gender. Is that good enough? v) So I'd have the life expectancy of a Grey Warden? Great. I'd probably go with being able to paint like Picasso, because then I could spend my remaining years being filthy rich. I'd probably call an occult magazine to give them an interview and get more money to add to my horde. vi) It's pure coincidence. Write your reviews however long you wish! vii) I've just finished chapter 11. I'm a bit more than halfway through the book. viii) I had to look up what cerulean was. I'd go with that. It looks like a very pretty colour. OMMMMMM to you, too! To Berlin: Wow, your electronic life really isn't conducive to gaming, is it? Ah, well, there are games for iPads, too! Have you tried Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney? It's basically a lawyer simulator, and I've only played the first two cases, but so far it's kind of amazingly silly. The first two cases are free, so you can just download it and play it. Now, for your actual question: Again, I'd probably go with Germany. He's so serious most of the time, it would be fun to see him let loose. Plus Prussia would probably turn up at some point. And yeah, I get it, I should read Hunger Games. I'll do it later. Maybe once I post the final proper chapter of this I'll just do a huge Q&A chapter. NEXT CHAPTER: America and Canada head off for the holidays. See you all next time!