"It was this crazy house elf," Harry said in a hushed voice. "He was the one who set the bludger on me. He tried to keep me from getting on the train to Hogwarts, and he dropped a cake on the head of my uncle's boss's wife."

"He must be really mad about something," Steven said quietly.

Harry shook his head. They were waiting for the dueling club to start, but whoever was running it hadn't shown up yet. "He said he's trying to protect me."

"If that's how he protects you, I'd hate to see what he'd do if he's mad at you," Ron said. Unlike the others, his voice was louder, and some of the other students in the room turned to look at them.

Hermione hissed and nudged Ron in the arm. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"He's trying to get me to leave Hogwarts," Harry said. "He says there's some kind of plot against me and it's too dangerous."

"He's never been to this school, has he?" Ron said. "It's dangerous just being in potions class, much less when there are Cerberuses and Trolls wandering the halls."

Truthfully, any normal parent would probably pull their child from the school the moment they learned about the things that were going on there.

Harry's aunt and uncle probably wouldn't care if the school killed him, and Steven's guardians had apparently taken him out monster hunting all the time. Ron's parents were purebloods and presumably didn't know any better.

Hermione... Harry could only suppose that the Grangers weren't getting the full story from their daughter. From what he'd heard about them, they seemed like sensible people and they'd want to protect Hermione.

"The school would be much safer if dunderheads like you didn't act like fools in my class," Snape said unexpectedly, coming up from behind them.

"You're running this?" Harry asked.

While Snape would undoubtedly be biased, he at least knew what he was talking about. It was possible they might actually learn something.

Snape scowled. "I'm assisting today."

He stepped toward the center of the room without saying anything else.

"Maybe it's..." Harry began. His heart sank as he saw the other professor who stepped into the center of the room.

Lockhart smiled broadly. He gestured for everyone to gather around him, and then he said, "Welcome friends! The headmaster graciously allowed me to start this dueling club so that I could teach you to protect yourself as I have so often had to do so myself."

Harry groaned, and looked at Ron.

They both wondered if there was a way to sneak out of the room without being noticed. Harry hadn't wished for his invisibility cloak so much since the day Dobby had dropped cake on his uncle's bosses wife's head.

Hermione still looked a little star struck, and Steven seemed politely interested.

Lockhart droned on, undoubtedly more self serving bragging. Harry had trouble paying attention when the man spoke, as everything he said was an exaggeration or a lie.

His attention was caught as Lockhart and Snape faced each other. He glanced at Ron and grinned. This ought to be good.

The sight of Lockhart flying off the stage almost made up for having to listen to him. For a moment Harry could almost see what Steven saw in Snape.

Lockhart rose and began making excuses.

Harry grabbed Ron's sleeve and glanced at the door. For once Ron was on the same wavelength and they began edging their way back through the crowd.

"Mr. Potter," Snape's voice rang out across the room. Harry tensed and his momentary appreciation for the man evaporated. "I'd like you to pair with Mr. Malfoy."

Harry grimaced; there was no getting out of it now. Draco would accuse him of cowardice for the rest of their time at Hogwarts if he backed out now.

The two teachers assigned students to face off against each other. Steven, he was interested to note was paired with Gregory Goyle.

"Face your partners," Lockhart said. "Remember, we are not actually attempting to hurt anyone. When I count to three, use your charms to disarm your opponent."

"One, two..."

Draco's spell hit Harry in the stomach. He'd jumped the count. Harry felt as though the breath had been forced from his body, and the pain was sharp but bearable. His wand arm still worked, though, and that was all he needed.

His spell hit Draco in the face.

Lockhart said something, but Harry ignored him, completely focused now on Draco in front of him.

Draco was angry and humiliated. He lashed out with a spell, but Harry managed to dodge. Harry was vaguely aware that the people around him were no longer casting spells.

He lashed out again, catching Draco in the foot.

Draco moved his wand, and a moment later something long and black came slithering out of it.

Everyone froze as the large black snake came slithering toward Harry. There were screams from all around him as the crowd backed away.

"I'll take care of it, Mr. Potter," Snape said lazily.

"No need," Lockhart said. He cast a spell and the snake went flying through the air.

A moment later it landed in front of Justin Finch-Fletchly. It hissed and looked enraged.

Harry opened his mouth to command the snake not to move, prejudice against parceltongues or not, but he saw Steven moving through the crowd quickly.

A moment later he was next to Justin, and he said, "No..."

A small pink globe surrounded the snake. It hissed and tried to lash through the orb, but nothing it did made a difference.

"Calm down," Steven said slowly. "It'll be all right."

He gestured, and a moment later the orb and the snake inside it vanished. Steven stared at the place where it had been with a thoughtful expression.

The hufflepuffs surrounded Steven, and Ron tugged on his sleeve.

He was right; it was time to leave.

It surprised Harry to see Hermione right behind them.

"I thought for a minute you were gonna give it away in front of the whole school," Ron said.

Hermione nodded grimly. "You know what everybody would think."

"What was it Steven did?" Harry asked, anxious to change the subject. He already had enough trouble without the whole school thinking he was some kind of monster.

Hermione shrugged. "It wasn't one of his normal shields. I don't know what that was."

"He shouldn't have been able to Apparate within Hogwarts," Harry said. "Unless he's like the house elves and doesn't follow the same rules."

"It was lucky he was there," Ron said soberly. "He really saved your bacon."

"I doubt he was even thinking about that," Hermione said. "I think he was just trying to save Justin."

For a moment Harry felt ashamed that he'd even hesitated. He should have been willing to sacrifice his reputation to help someone else. He'd just been relieved that he didn't have to.

Hermione's face was pale and horrified. "They just found Justin Finch-Fletchly and Nearly Headless Nick petrified."

"How do you petrify a ghost?" Ron asked, looking befuddled.

Harry felt as confused as Ron.

"Knowing Harry was a parseltongue helped my research," Hermione said. "Slytherin's monster has to be some variety of snake, one that can either kill or petrify creatures. That narrows it down a lot."

They were in the library huddled around one of the tables.

"There's only one kind of monster that it could be," Hermione continued. "A basilisk. It's a giant snake that can kill with a look. People that see its reflection are petrified instead."

"How do you kill it?" Ron asked.

Steven looked horrified.

"Easiest way is to let it hear the sound of a rooster crowing," Hermione said.

"Hagrid says someone's killing all the chickens," Steven said glumly. "He asked Amethyst if she was eating them whole. She swears she hasn't been."

"It's probably the heir killing them off," Harry said. "Whoever that might be."

Hermione had opened the book to show the picture inside of the basilisk and Harry winced.

"How does something like that get through the school without being noticed," Ron asked. According to this, the thing ought to be huge."

Steven was silent for a moment. "Do the bathrooms in Hogwarts use magic to flush, or are they normal plumbing?"

"It's normal plumbing," Hermione said. "You don't want to leave large scale waste disposal to magic."

"Peridot...she's another gem...she once tried to flush herself down the toilet. It didn't work, but if she was some kind of snake..."

"The pipes are in the walls," Harry said slowly. "And they go all over Hogwarts."

They stared at each other for a long moment, unsure of what to do. They were in a school with a killer monster in the walls, one that could show up at anytime, especially in the bathrooms.

There were times that going to public school sounded attractive.