Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, only the Archard family and other OCs belong to me. The French words/phrases will be italicized, as well as the spells. Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter 15: Disastrous Duelling Club

Esme POV

It only took me a few days to finish the protective charm for Neville, one that wouldn't rot since it was made of wood and cloth just like the one I made for Alaric last Yule. Neville simply needed to have it on him somewhere - so he could hide it away in his pocket if he wanted to avoid anyone trying to tease him for having it in the first place. Once I finished it I made sure to drop it on his desk during one of the many classes Slytherin shared with Gryffindor.

Only Daphne and Tracey knew about the charm I made for Neville. Daphne even helped me test it to ensure that it worked (I only used the Tickling Charm on her, but still, the protective charm completely blocked the spell). However, Daphne had told Tracey who the charm was for and soon both were giggling together, making me regret in that moment accepting Tracey as a friend. Daphne really didn't need any help teasing me over my friendship with Neville.

As December started getting closer, Professor Snape made his way through the common room and dormitories collecting the names of anyone staying at Hogwarts over winter break. It was a relatively fast process since hardly anyone chose to do so. It sounded like almost everyone went home to celebrate Yule with their families, be they close or distant relatives.

I was really looking forward to Yule this year. Ernie felt more like family now and I knew we'd have much more fun together when he and Uncle Reginald came over again. I was also excited to see the joy on my siblings' faces when they opened the presents I got for them this year - I was feeling particularly proud of a couple of them.

In addition to Yule, there was the Winter Ball to think about. I had a lot of fun last year (despite the few small incidents), and I knew I would have just as much, if not more, fun this year. I was especially hopefully-excited to see if Blaire would bring her boyfriend along - seeing George Weasley in such a formal setting would be an interesting sight. Still, Blaire hadn't admitted or denied yet if she'd asked Papa for permission, so I was left to wait in anticipation for the news.

All thoughts of the approaching break were pushed from my mind when a few days later a new announcement appeared on the notice board in the entrance hall of the castle. To my surprise, Hogwarts was bringing back its Duelling Club, with the first meeting that very night. I knew without a doubt all my siblings would attend, though I was sure Blaire in particular was looking forward to it. She was a skilled dueller (the best of my older siblings) if her exploits at Beauxbatons were anything to go by.

"I would love to attend the meeting tonight," said Daphne during lunch. "My parents haven't really let my tutor teach me much duelling yet."

"I'd like to go too," I agreed. "I don't know much about formal duelling, but my older sister has taught me a few defensive spells. She was one of the top duellers in Beauxbatons' Duelling Club."

Tracey swallowed her juice before asking, "I wonder who will be teaching it?"

"It has to be Professor Flitwick, he's a Master Duellist. He won the World Duelling Championship five years in a row back in the 60s," said Theo.

"I don't know, mate," Blaise interjected before Theo could continue his fan-rant. "A little birdy told me that not too many Ravens will be at the meeting tonight."

"Draco had mentioned to me that the club was previously cancelled because Professor Flitwick didn't have the time to spare since he's so busy being Head of Ravenclaw House. I mean, he is also the Charms professor and even directs the Frog Choir," I added.

"As long as it's not Professor Idiot teaching," commented Theo before taking a drink of his water.

Daphne shivered beside me. "There's no way the other professors would let him teach us duelling, not after what he did to Potter's arm after the Quidditch match."

"It's not like he'll be using magic on us right?" asked Tracey. "I mean, maybe he can still teach us techniques at least?"

"I don't trust anything that nibbering nonce has to say about anything," Theo said with a sneer. "If he is the one teaching then I'm walking straight out."

"That's a bit drastic there, mate. Honestly, I'd want to stay just to enjoy the free entertainment of watching Lockhart bumble about," Blaise replied with a sharp smirk. "The way I see it, we'll either get a competent professor and learn a lot, or get the most incompetent Magical in the country and laugh until our sides ache."

"So we're all going then tonight?" Daphne asked.

"Oui," I answered for all of us.

The rest of the day passed quickly and before we knew it, it was almost eight o'clock. We all quickly made our way back to the great hall. Inside, the long dining tables had been removed, replaced with a golden stage along one wall which reflected the thousands of candles still floating over our heads.

The hall was already quite full of various groups of students milling about, each with their wands already out and excitedly chatting. Though, like Blaise had told us earlier, I noticed that there were few Ravenclaw students in attendance. Looking over the various coloured ties, the majority of the students were actually Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. I did manage to spot Carlisle and Dustin in a large group of Hufflepuff students, but I had yet to see Alaric and Blaire, though I knew they had to be here.

Soon enough the bell tolled, signalling it was eight o'clock. When the last bell rang, the doors of the great hall opened, and walking through dramatically was Lockhart, dressed in eye-catching deep plum robes and wearing a cape, of all things. Theo groaned while Blaise snickered - a learning-less but entertaining experience it was.

I blinked in surprise when I saw Professor Snape enter shortly behind Lockhart, stalking towards the stage in his usual fashion. Seeing him I had some hope that perhaps we would actually learn something, though I was mostly reassured that Professor Snape would at least ensure that Lockhart wouldn't injure any students (again).

Lockhart made it to the center of the golden stage and waved his arm for silence. "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!" He then began to pace a bit up and down the stage as he spoke. "Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little duelling club to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves, as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details see my published works."

I rolled my eyes as Lockhart took off his cape and tossed it into a group of Upper-Year girls (the one catching looked too grossly excited about it); always the bragging egotist.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile at us. "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!"

"Professor Snape's going to wipe the floor with him," whispered Blaise between his snickers. "Look at his face! He looks ready to hex Lockhart's hair off!"

We all quietly laughed in agreement - Professor Snape's upper lip was so curled we could see it from three rows back from the stage. The fact that Lockhart was still smiling without a care just continued to show how much of a brainless idiot he was.

Professor Snape and Lockhart soon stood face to face in the center of the stage. They each raised their wands in front of their faces so the tops were facing straight up to the ceiling. Then at almost the same time they dropped their wand arms to their sides. With an over-the-top twirl of his hands, Lockhart bowed while Professor Snape simply jerked his head down, not even bothering to hide his irritation.

"That was the first step to be taken in a formal duel to both acknowledge and show respect to your opponent," announced Lockhart, a slight ring of displeasure in his voice - seemed he actually noticed Professor Snape's show of 'respect'.

Both wizards then turned on their heels and walked five paces away from each other along the golden stage before turning to face each other once again. Each then assumed a different form from the other. Professor Snape had his wand arm raised over his head while his non-wand arm was pointed straight out, all while he kept his body facing sideways. Opposite of him, Lockhart had his wand arm in front of him while bending at the elbow and had his non-wand arm resting against his hip while he also kept his body facing sideways.

"As you can see, we are holding our wands in accepted combative positions," Lockhart told the silent crowd.

I honestly didn't think Lockhart's was a very good position to take as it looked like he put his wand arm in an awkward position to cast from. It certainly was a showy stance though, which seemed like his style.

"One the count of three," continued Lockhart, "we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill of course."

"Think he just tempted Professor Snape," Theo muttered under his breath. I had to agree, as Professor Snape was practically baring his teeth at Lockhart.

"One…Two…Three!"

Without missing a beat, Professor Snape gracefully stepped forward while twisting his wand as he called out "Expelliarmus!" There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was quickly blasted off his feet. He flew backwards with a yell of surprise as his wand came shooting out his hand.

Thump! Fwomp.

Lockhart had landed hard on his back before sliding further along the stage, nearly falling off the edge. We, along with several other students, laughed and snickered at the pathetic display as Lockhart unsteadily got to his feet.

"An excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape. All according to plan witches and wizards," said Lockhart as he trotted closer to his original position on the stage. "That was the Disarming Charm - as you see, I've lost my wand…" he trailed off as he looked around. "Ah, yes, thank you Miss Brown."

With his wand back in his possession, Lockhart quickly walked back to the center of the stage where Professor Snape stood with a small but pleased smile on his otherwise bored looking face. "Now it was very obvious what Professor Snape was about to do. If I wanted to stop him it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let you all see the spell in action!"

Professor Snape's face hardened. If he'd had the thought to murder Lockhart before, it was more of an urge now with the fury burning hot in his dark eyes.

Perhaps Lockhart also noticed the reaction his words had garnered because he quickly added, "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…"

Both wizards climbed down from the stage and began slowly moving through the crowd matching up partners. Lockhart reached us and the other Slytherins before Professor Snape did. "Alright now, girls, why don't you all partner up."

My eye twitched in annoyance at his remark but still I obeyed as Lockhart quickly listed off who he wanted to be together. Daphne ended up with Tracey, while I was paired with Parkinson. I was looking forward to this, and going by the determined glint in Parkinson's eyes, she was too.

"Mr. Malfoy, come over here," Professor Snape's commanding voice rang out over the murmuring students.

Draco hurried over to where Professor Snape was standing near Potter, Granger, and Weasley. "Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. And you, Miss Granger, you can partner with Miss Bulstrode."

While I wasn't sure the amount of duelling experience Bulstrode had, she certainly would hold nothing back and would likely try to embarrass Granger. Seeing Granger actually attempt to smile at Bulstrode confirmed that she had no idea of the slumbering dragon that was likely about to awaken.

It took a couple more minutes for Lockhart and Professor Snape to divide up the rest of the students, but eventually they were done and Lockhart climbed back up onto the stage. "It's time to begin! Face your partners," he called out. "And bow!"

Across from me, Parkinson's lip curled as she clearly made herself give me a proper bow. Just to anger her further I purposely didn't bow as deep as I probably should've. I smirked in amusement when I saw her clench her teeth.

"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart. Parkinson and I both assumed the position Professor Snape had demonstrated. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents - only to disarm them! We don't want any accidents. One…Two…Three-"

"Protego!" - "Mordeo!"

I was glad I started casting a bit early because Parkinson barely waited for Lockhart to finish saying three before she sent a Stinging Hex right at my face. Thankfully the Shield Charm that Blaire taught me worked wonderfully, stopping the spell from reaching me and thus saving me from extreme pain of taking that particular spell in a very painful location.

Not waiting for Parkinson to try again I quickly flourished my wand in the proper movement. "Petrificus Totalus!" A purple light shot out of my wand and hit Parkinson square in the chest. Her limbs instantly snapped together and she fell to the ground completely paralyzed and unable to move. I hadn't felt confident I could successfully cast the Disarming Charm after only seeing it once, so I went with something I knew would work. It did also help that the Body Freezing Spell caused Parkinson to embarrassingly fall onto the floor instead of simply being frozen in place by the Freezing Charm.

"I said disarm only!" shouted Lockhart. I turned, ready to tell him I wasn't properly taught to use the Disarming Charm, only to see he wasn't actually speaking to me. His eyes were firmly fixed on Potter and Draco.

Draco was on his knees and was gasping for breath before he sent a spell at Potter, who was just standing there. When Potter's legs began to jerk around in frenzied quickstep dance I knew Draco had used the Dancing Feet Charm on him.

"Stop! Stop!" screamed Lockhart, but he was once again ignored as Potter seemed to be attempting to cast another spell.

Professor Snape, however, took charge. "Finite Incantatem!" he shouted, causing a haze of greenish smoke to fill the entire room. As it cleared, I noticed that everyone had stopped duelling, as all spells that had been cast were now broken. Potter's feet stopped dancing, Draco stopped laughing, and Parkinson was getting to her feet as her face was almost purple in her anger and embarrassment.

However, my eyes were soon locked on Granger and Bulstrode because they were the only pair to not to stop, but they weren't even duelling, they were actually fighting. To my shock, both girls' wands laid forgotten on the floor as Bulstrode had Granger in what appeared to be a painful headlock. I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing; a daughter of a Magical Noble House was fighting the Muggle way and was winning. Where in the Magical World had she learned how to do that?

While Potter tried to pull Bulstrode off Granger, he was not having any success - she was bigger than he was (and apparently stronger). Bulstrode only let go when Professor Snape snapped at her from nearby, "Bulstrode! Cease your undignified behavior!"

With that strange event over, I noticed that several students appeared to be injured or roughed up in various ways with only a few like myself looking completely fine. Lockhart was skittering through the crowd, checking over the aftermath of each of the duells. Having everyone just go for it all at once definitely hadn't been a good idea.

My eyes locked on Ernie across the hall who was getting helped to his feet by Lockhart. I worried for my cousin when I saw him wince when he put weight on his one foot. He almost fell over again when Lockhart hurried away to check on another student but I sighed in relief when his friend Finch-Fletchley quickly caught him and helped him stay on his feet.

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Lockhart, standing flustered and appearing overwhelmed in the midst of the great hall.

I scoffed to myself as I moved over to stand with my friends once again - genius idea there, idiot.

Lockhart glanced at Professor Snape, as if to beg for help. But seeing the gleeful glint appear in Professor Snape's eyes, I think Lockhart thought better of it as he quickly looked away (smart too, as Professor Snape likely would've used Lockhart as target practice). "So," he said, his voice slightly strained, but he quickly cleared his throat. "Let's have a volunteer pair…um…Potter! Weasley, how about you?"

"Weasley's wand causes devastation with the simplest of spells as it's nearly broken if you recall," interrupted Professor Snape before either boy could move from their spots. "We'll be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox."

Weasley's wand really should be confiscated from him - he was a walking hazard with it.

"Might I suggest Malfoy and Potter?" Professor Snape suggested with a small smirk.

I raised my brow when Professor Snape once again set Draco and Potter against each other. This could only end badly. With an audience now watching him, Draco wouldn't hold back and would show off, likely casting spells Potter had never heard of thanks to the duelling instructor he had over the summer break.

"Excellent idea!" said Lockhart, gesturing for the two young wizards to climb onto the golden stage.

Both boys quickly climbed up with Lockhart going over to Potter's side when Professor Snape walked to Draco without a word. The rest of us all gathered around the stage once again to watch.

"Potter's doomed," muttered Theo.

"Agreed," said Blaise, while Crabbe and Goyle snickered.

"I'd bet ten galleons Draco defeats Potter with a single spell!" cooed Parkinson.

Deciding to give Potter some benefit of the doubt, I said, "Potter has shown he can take a hit, I think there's going to be some back and forth before Draco wins." And Draco would win, since Lockhart was currently failing to teach Potter anything, dropping his wand after performing a strange wiggling movement.

"You're on!" Parkinson determinedly said as she rounded back to face me.

"Alright girls," said Blaise, looking very amused. "You have to shake on it to make it a real bet."

"Ça m'est égal," I said with a careless tone.

Parkinson's pug-nose scrunched up in confusion. "What?"

"It doesn't matter," I replied and held out my hand - I really didn't care if we made this a real bet or not.

"Fine!" declared Parkinson as we shook hands once before each of us let go as if burnt.

"Let us begin!" announced Lockhart. "First step, face each other."

Draco and Potter walked away from their respective instructors and faced each other in the center of the stage.

"Now, wands at the ready!" commanded Lockhart.

Both boys raised their wands in front of their faces.

"Scared, Potter?" asked Draco.

"You wish," replied Potter.

"And bow!" called out Lockhart, but both Second-Years ignored him as they turned away from each other after dropping their wands to their sides. Tensions were definitely high as everyone waited in bated breath for what was about to happen.

"On the count of three, cast your charms," ordered Lockhart. "But remember, keep things clean."

Both wizards assumed Professor Snape's duelling position and then waited. The entire hall was completely silent.

"Three…Two…One…go!"

Draco flicked his wand and bellowed, "Everte Statum!" The end of his wand exploded with orange light.

Potter attempted to do something with his wand but nothing happened and soon he was hit with Draco's spell and sent twirling backwards.

Thud!

Potter landed in a heap just shy of smacking into where Lockhart was standing at the end of the stage. Gasps and laughter broke the silence. However, Potter wasn't done, and he quickly scrambled to his feet. He barely assumed proper position before shouting, "Locomotor Mortis!"

However, Draco appeared ready for Potter's attempt as he held his wand sideways and successfully blocked the red-coloured spell. It appeared Draco's summer lessons had borne fruit. Draco had a wide smirk on his face as he quickly raised his wand. "Serpensortia!"

The end of his wand exploded. My eyes widened in shock as a long black snake shot out of Draco's wand and landed onto the stage between the duelling Second-Years. Several of the students who were closest to the stage backed away with screams as the snake raised itself up, ready to strike.

"Don't move, Potter," said Professor Snape lazily as he strolled towards the snake. "I'll get rid of it for you."

"Allow me, Professor Snape!" Lockhart suddenly exclaimed. He hurried forward to stand in front of Potter before brandishing his wand at the snake. "Alarte Ascendare!" However, instead of vanishing the snake like I was hoping for, the snake flew ten feet into the air before falling back to the floor.

Smack!

The snake was now clearly enraged as it hissed furiously. It raised itself again, fangs fully exposed this time, poised to strike as it turned its head left and right.

Potter quickly stalked past a hesitating Lockhart and suddenly spoke in a strange language, hissing on all the 's' noises he made. I froze in shock when the snake stood straight up at attention before it started slithering towards a student near the edge of the stage. It was Finch-Fletchley, who stood in front of Ernie being supported by Abbott.

Potter got even closer to the snake as he seemed to try to stare down the snake as he continued to speak in the strange language, which I realized could only be Parseltongue. I didn't dare move, worried even the slightest bit of moment would set off the snake into striking, yet my mind raced over the fact that Potter was somehow a Parselmouth.

The snake hadn't tried to strike at Finch-Fletchley yet, but it was worryingly swaying back and forth in front of him.

"Vipera Evanesca," Professor Snape interjected, striking the snake with orange spell-light which quickly burnt the snake away into nothing but a puff of black smoke.

I felt as if I could breathe again with the deadly looking snake now gone. Looking over at Potter, he finally was looking away from where the snake had been but had a large grin on his face. However, he was the only one who was amused by what just happened.

"What are you playing at?" snapped Finch-Fletchley, his voice riddled with anger and fear. Before Potter could say anything, the Hufflepuff stormed out of the hall with Ernie, Abbott, and several other Hufflepuffs following after him.

Whispers and mutters soon filled the silent hall, everyone mulling over what just happened - things did not look good for Potter. Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth, a well-known fact that even I knew before coming to Hogwarts. For Potter to share this ability was not good for him when students already suspected him of being the heir of Slytherin.

Weasley actually did a smart thing for once and quickly grabbed Potter, dragging him off the stage. Everyone near them cleared away, as if afraid that a single touch would cause Potter to lash out at them. Weasley then easily took Potter out of the great hall, Granger hurrying along after them.

"Did that really just happen?" asked Daphne.

"Oui…" I said as I stared at the backs of the retreating trio.

"But he can't be," commented Tracey. "It's not possible."

"Somehow, it is," said Theo with a look of deep thought. "Blaise?"

"I've got nothing on this one," he replied, shock blatantly showing on his face and in his voice.

"Merde."

Oui = yes

Ça m'est égal = I don't care

Merde = shit

Extra POV

Ernie POV

After the disaster of a duelling club meeting, all anyone could talk about was Potter being a Parselmouth and the Heir of Slytherin. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would've doubted Potter had it in him to goad a deadly snake into attacking anyone, let alone Justin who was one of the kindest boys in our Year. It had been frightening to witness. But what truly made my blood freeze in my veins was when Justin admitted to me back in our dormitory that Potter knew he was a Muggleborn; he'd told Potter himself before Mrs. Norris was attacked.

I was terrified that what happened meant Potter had marked Justin as his next victim, as was Justin. He needed little convincing to stay in the safety of our dormitory on Monday. Sure our common room entrance didn't have a password like the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms, but students surprisingly struggled to tap out the correct rhythm. If you were off by even the slightest bit, then the barrel lid wouldn't open.

I was fully prepared to take extensive notes for Justin for all the classes he'd miss, but thankfully, our double Herbology lesson was cancelled due to bad weather so that Professor Sprout and our Seventh-Year Housemates could bundle up the mandrakes. With no class, Hannah and I decided to head to the library to finish what work we had so Justin could copy it later. We planned to meet up with him afterwards so we could escort him safely to the great hall for lunch.

Hannah had just asked if it was really necessary for Justin to hide away from Potter. She really was too sweet to even give Potter a sliver of support after he almost had a snake attack Justin.

"Of course it's necessary for Justin to hide! You saw what happened too. If Potter's marked him down as his next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Justin actually told Potter he'd been down for Eton. That's not the kind of information you bandy about with Slytherin's heir, is it?"

"You definitely think it is Potter then, Ernie?" she asked anxiously.

"Hannah," I said solemnly, "He's a Parselmouth, just like Salazar 'Serpent-Tongue' Slytherin himself. You know as well as any of us in High Society that Slytherin's descendants were the only British Magicals to be born with the ability to speak Parseltongue. It's a hereditary gift, so Potter's got to be related to Slytherin somehow."

"I understand that, I do, but it is just as possible that Potter perhaps got the ability from someone else in his family tree?" Hannah gently argued. "It may be an uncommon ability, but Slytherin wasn't the only Parselmouth to exist. Some are noted to live in Africa completely unrelated to Slytherin's family line."

"But think back. Remember what was written on the wall?" I pushed, not willing to let Hannah make excuses for Potter. "'Enemies of the Heir, Beware'. Potter had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat is attacked. That First-Year, Creevey, was annoying Potter since the Start of Term Banquet, taking pictures of him and constantly hovering at his heels. Next thing we know, Creevey's been attacked."

"He always seems so nice though," she said with uncertainty. "And well, he's the one who made You-Know-Who disappear. He can't be all bad, can he?"

I lowered my voice, not wanting any of the other students at the other study tables to hear, and Hannah leaned in closer. "I don't know if you remember this, but last year we were spending the afternoon in the courtyard at the same time as Potter and Ronald Weasley. Weasley was ranting about how bad the Slytherins in our Year were, mostly about Heir Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, but he also mentioned my cousin Esme. He didn't have anything nice to say about her. And the entire time Potter just nodded along to Weasley, agreeing with everything he was saying as he polished his broomstick."

I paused, old shame welling up inside my chest. I took a breath as I shoved it back down. "I believed that if the defeater of You-Know-Who agreed that Esme was a two-faced bully who laughs at other people's pain and doesn't have a kind word for anyone, then it had to be true. When Father told me we would be spending Yule with my Archard cousins, I was completely scared of meeting her and being on the receiving end of her ill-treatment during one of my favorite holidays."

"Ernie…"

"For most of the evening, I treated her like she was a literal snake about to strike when she did absolutely nothing to deserve such treatment. Sweet Mother Magic, I even accused her of being two-faced right to her face when we happen to be alone. It wasn't until she pointed out I was being just as rude as my father with hurt tears in her eyes that I realized my mistake. I let my assumptions of what I heard colour my opinion of a family member."

"I'm sorry that happened, I really am, but clearly you two were able to move past it. So what does all that have to do with Potter?"

"It shows that Potter is as prejudiced as he and Weasley accuse all Slytherins of being. And if Potter can blindly hate all Slytherins simply for being sorted into their House, then what's to stop him from blindly hating Muggleborns simply because they're from Muggle households. And besides, no one knows how he survived when You-Know-Who attacked his family. I mean, he was only a baby when it happened. He should have been blasted to smithereens. He's either a really powerful wizard, maybe even a Dark wizard, or something else saved him that night. Still, it makes you wonder if Potter's got any other abilities he's hiding away. I mean, he hid he was a Parselmouth-"

Cough. Cough. Cough.

Hannah and I both whipped around in surprise at the sudden interruption. I felt the blood freeze in my veins when Potter stepped out behind the bookshelves looking furious. I wasn't even sure I was breathing as I could barely think beyond the thought - bloody hell Potter's going to make an exception and murder me with his pet monster right here.

"Hello, I'm looking for Justin Finch-Fletchley," Potter had the gall to say.

All my fears had been confirmed - Potter had marked Justin. The terror that had froze me was quickly melted by protective anger, as I utterly refused to let Potter think I'd help him petrify or murder my best friend. "You have some nerve asking after him."

"Look, I just wanted to tell him what really happened with that snake at the Duelling Club."

I had to bite my lip to remind myself not to completely lose it - if I attacked Potter I could still get in trouble, as clearly Headmaster Dumbledore was still protecting his Golden Boy if Potter could just wander about the castle after what happened. "We were all there. We saw what happened," I replied slowly, my voice quivering as I struggled to hold back my anger.

"Then you noticed that after I spoke to it, the snake backed off?"

He must think I was a complete and utter dunce. There was no way I would let Potter cowl me into agreeing with his sham of a cover story. "All I saw was you speaking Parseltongue and chasing the snake towards Justin."

"I didn't chase it at him!" Potter shouted insistently. "It didn't even touch him!"

"It was a very near miss! Only reason it didn't work was because Professor Snape destroyed your servant before it could hurt Justin." I added hastily, "I might tell you that can trace my family back through at least nine generations of Magicals and my blood's as pure as anyone's so-"

"-I don't care what sort of blood you've got!" interrupted Potter, a fierce look on his face. I felt myself falter, my nerves returning thinking Potter just declared he was coming after me anyways. "Why would I want to attack Muggleborns? Or anyone at all?"

"People do say you hate those Muggles you live with," Hannah interjected swiftly, much to my gratitude. I felt my fear tamper down at the reminder that I wasn't alone against Potter and despite her own doubts, Hannah would come to my defense over Potter's.

"It's not possible to live with the Dursleys and not hate them. I'd like to see you try it," Potter replied, as if that was reason enough to explain away his hatred of Muggles - another example of his prejudice.

Without another word, Potter turned on his heel and stormed away, finally realizing that neither Hannah or I would betray where Justin was hiding nor would we believe any of his excuses. It was a relief when Potter finally left. That whole confrontation left me feeling utterly exhausted, yet my heart was beating faster than Billywig's wings.

"Oh sweet Morgana," Hannah suddenly explained. "Ernie, it's almost one o'clock! We were supposed to meet back up with Justin nearly ten minutes ago!"

"Merlin's beard! He might've left the common room!"

We quickly gathered our things and hurried out of the library. I prayed to Mother Magic that Justin stayed put and didn't try to go looking for us like he normally would. However, we weren't even halfway there when we heard Peeves' loud shouting.

Hannah and I were separated in the stampede of students that came barrelling into the corridor from various classrooms, everyone running in the same direction. I selfishly prayed it was someone else, anyone else, anyone but who I feared it to be.

Sadly, it was not meant to be, and I felt my heart shattered when I saw a terrified looking Justin petrified on the stone corridor floor. I failed him. I promised to protect him and I failed, I couldn't save the one boy who thought the world of me. I truly was just as useless and talentless as Father said I was.

When I saw Potter huddled on the floor near Justin's prone body, I felt myself nearly lose it. This was all his fault! But unlike with Creevey, Potter was caught in the act. Neither the professor nor the headmaster could protect him now!

Big thank you to my Beta-Readers: Anonymous and TheSparkler!