Hey y'all! How's everyone doing? Welcome back to another chapter that I somehow managed to get out sooner than expected cause I guess I caught my second, or fifth wind actually, when writing for this fic. But actually I was able to finish this chapter pretty quick since it's just meant to be a bridge between what happened after the dueling club and winter break as well as setting up some stuff that will happen in this story and future stories. Anyways, I'll let you guys jump right into it and hope y'all enjoy the chapter!

Like always, I enjoy any comments, except for those that are just full of negativity and not constructive at all. Just give me something to work with instead of just "It's bad." I also appreciate any positive constructive criticism since I'm always looking to improve my writing and storytelling capabilities.

Thanks for reading this story! Virtual hugs and cuddles to y'all.

Disclaimer: I still do not own anything except any OC's that may come up, any world building that has not yet been officially stated by the books or movies, and any plot points/structures that have not been used in the books or movies.

Warning: No beta, we die like Stingbulbs.


Chapter 10: Suspicions Abound

XXXXXX

The next morning, the full impact of what occurred at the Dueling Club's first meeting had yet to fully hit due to the blizzard that was currently going strong outside the castle walls. Many students were more concerned with keeping warm during morning classes than whatever gossip that could wait to be shared once the blizzard had somewhat subsided.

Due to said blizzard, herbology lessons for the day were canceled as Professor Sprout wanted to focus on keeping the mandrakes well protected as they were vital ingredients needed for potions that would help cure the petrified Mrs. Norris and Colin. This left the second year Gryffindors with free reign to do whatever until their next class and found the quartet lounging around their warmly kept common room.

Ron and Hermione were playing a game of wizards chess to pass the time while Seth dozed like a cat near the fireplace. However, Harry was the only one not relaxing as he fretted about, anxious to talk to Justin to clear up the misunderstanding from last night.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Harry, stop your fretting. It's distracting," Hermione finally snapped at him in frustration as Ron's bishop wrestled her knight off its horse to drag it off the board.

Harry jumped at the sudden call out and had the decency to look sheepish. "Er, sorry Hermione."

She rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Just go find Justin and talk to him already."

"Er, yeah, I'll, um, I'll do that," he said, bobbing his head up and down like a bobble head.

"If you're nervous, I can join you," Seth chimed in with a yawn.

"Could you?" Harry asked, pleading with wide puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, gimme a minute," Seth said, stretching out like a cat with a jaw cracking yawn before standing, "Alright, I'm good. Let's go."

The pair then left the common room and decided to start looking for Justin at the library since there was a good chance he might be there to catch up on some work. When they arrived, they spotted a group of Hufflepuffs - Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, Ernie Macmillan, and Zacharias Smith - huddled together at the back but they clearly didn't seem to be getting any work done. Their heads were close together and they were engrossed in conversation. Justin didn't seem to be among them.

"What now?" Harry asked.

"We can go and ask if they know where he is instead of running around the school like clueless idiots until Transfiguration," Seth suggested.

Harry nodded and the two walked over to the group until they could hear whatever it was they were saying which made Harry stop and grab Seth so they could hide behind the nearby bookshelf to eavesdrop. Seth looked at Harry in confusion and went to speak but Harry raised a finger to his mouth in the universal sign to be quiet. Seth did so with a roll of his eyes and a silent sigh of exasperation.

"So anyways, I told Justin to hide up in our dorms," Ernie quietly said, "If Potter's marked him down as his next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while."

Zacharias scoffed. "That's the least of his worries. Honestly, what was Justin thinking letting Potter know he's a muggleborn? That's not the sort of thing you can talk about with Slytherin's heir on the loose."

"Do you two really think the heir is Harry?" Hannah anxiously asked.

"Hannah," Ernie said with the utmost seriousness, "He's a parselmouth and everyone knows that's the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a good wizard who could talk to snakes?"

Susan leveled an unimpressed look at him. "Actually Ernie, there are only a handful of recorded parselmouths in history since Salazar Slytherin. For all we know, there could be plenty of parselmouths who are good and simply chose not to reveal themselves because of the stigma attached to such an ability."

Zacharias scowled. "Don't be such a know it all, Susan. It's not like we're making this up for fun."

Ernie nodded. "Yeah. Remember what was written on the wall?"

"How can we forget as it's only on the wall of one of the most highly walked through corridors of the school?" Susan sarcastically remarked.

"Enemies of the heir beware," Ernie said, ignoring her sarcasm, "Potter had some sort of run in with Filch, next thing we know Filch's cat's attacked."

"Everyone has a bone to pick with that cat, Ernie. Harry isn't special," Susan flatly countered.

"But that first year, Creevy, was annoying Potter all the time and even took pictures of him at the Quidditch match while he was lying in the mud. Next thing we know, Creevy's been attacked!" Ernie rebuked.

Susan sighed, clearly done with these boys. "That's still a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

"I don't know either," Hannah said, looking quite unsure since Susan was bringing up good counter points, "Harry's always been rather nice and he's the one who made You Know Who disappear so he can't be all bad, can he?"

"Sure but no one knows how he survived that attack," Ernie said, "I mean, he was only a baby when it happened. He should've been blasted to smithereens! Only a powerful dark wizard could have survived a curse like that."

Susan frowned and crossed her arms. "There could've been other magic at play. After all, we still don't know everything about it and it's always doing things that surprise people even centuries later."

"Oh just stop it, Susan. Not everything is as straight forward as you think it is," Zacharias rudely chided, "I always knew Potter was bad news. I bet you the real reason why You Know Who wanted to kill him in the first place was because he didn't want another dark lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers Potter's been hiding from us."

By that point, Harry couldn't take the slander anymore and cleared his throat loudly and pointedly as he stepped out from behind the bookshelves. If he wasn't so angry, he would've found the sight that greeted him hilarious. Seth did at least. Ernie and Hannah paled at the sight of him, Zacharias had the worst brave face on as he trembled in his seat, and Susan looked at Ernie and Zacharias as if to say 'look what you did now, you idiots.'

"Hello, I was looking for Justin," Harry said flatly.

"W-What do you want with him?" Ernie asked in a quavering voice.

"I wanted to talk to him about what happened with the snake at the dueling club," Harry responded.

"D-Don't bother, Potter," Zacharias said, tone hostile but voice trembling, "We were all there. We saw what happened."

"Then you noticed that after I spoke to it, the snake backed off," Harry said, growing annoyed.

Susan nodded and Hannah bit her lip with a conflicted expression on her face but Ernie and Zacharias weren't so convinced.

"All we saw was you speaking parseltongue and chasing the snake towards Justin," Zacharias said, stubborn but still trembling.

"I didn't chase it! It didn't even touch him!" Harry protested, shaking with anger.

"It was a near miss!" Ernie exclaimed, "And in case you're getting ideas, 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 care what sort of blood you've got!" Harry exploded fiercely, "Why would I even want to attack muggleborns?"

"I heard you hate those muggles you live with," Ernie countered.

"It's not possible to live with the Dursleys and not hate them. I'd like to see you try," Harry said hotly. Then he turned on his heel and stormed out of the library, leaving Seth behind and earning him a reproving glare from madam Pince.

Seth whistled lowly as he stepped out from behind the bookshelf. "Well damn. Puberty isn't going to be pretty for him if he's already got a temper like that."

"Hello Seth," Susan greeted politely, "Did you need something?"

He nodded. "Yeah, just wanted to know where Justin was, is all."

"Why? So you can go tell Potter where he is?" Ernie fearfully accused.

Seth rolled his eyes. "Come on Ernie. I'm not gonna do him dirty like that. Besides, I wanna talk to him myself to clear this whole misunderstanding up cause lord knows Harry's not gonna keep his temper in check enough to do so."

"What's there to misunderstand? Potter clearly tried to attack Justin with that snake," Zacharias retorted.

"Which he didn't summon by the way," Seth pointed out as he grinned sharply at him, "Don't think I didn't see you, Zacharias. What was that spell you used again? Serpensortia or something like that?"

Zacharias paled while the other Hufflepuffs looked at him in question. Susan's gaze was particularly scrutinizing.

"That still doesn't change the fact that Potter is a parselmouth and for all we know, he could really be the heir of Slytherin," Zacharias argued back.

Seth sighed, disappointed as he shook his head. "Come on, man. Do you hear the shit coming out of your mouth right now? How can Harry be the heir of Slytherin? He's in Gryffindor and a halfblood remember? His mom was a muggleborn."

"That is true," Hannah said, wincing when Ernie and Zacharias glared at her.

"Also the Dursleys give muggles in the know a pretty bad rep," Seth continued as he lectured the other boys, "If you could look past your fear tinted glasses, you'll see that Harry's pretty underdeveloped for a kid his age because of all the shit his relatives put him through. Plus he's friends with me and Hermione and we're both muggleborns. Would the heir of Slytherin dare to associate themselves with people who aren't purebloods?"

Hannah and Ernie look as if they're beginning to feel bad about believing Harry to be the heir of Slytherin, though more Hannah than Ernie. Susan was nodding like she knew Harry could never be the heir to begin with but Zacharias still looked as if he was willing to fight and die on this hill.

"And what's that supposed to prove?" He asked hotly, "Those relatives of his could've been the ones to make him snap and you and Granger could be kissing up to him to get a free pass from being attacked for all we know."

Ernie seemed to gain confidence in his stance with Zacharias' counter. "Yeah, Zacharias' right. How do we know this isn't all a ploy?"

Susan scowled at him, her glare practically screaming 'idiot boys.'

Seth merely shrugged though, unfazed by the accusation. "Fair enough. You don't know. And I know you're just protecting Justin cause you're scared but you shouldn't start spreading rumors around if you aren't even sure if they're true. Stuff like that harms more than it helps."

"That's-" Ernie began but stopped. He shared a look with the others. Hannah nodded vigorously, Susan glared at him pointedly, and Zacharias looked away with a scowl. Ernie sighed and came to a decision. "Alright, fine. As long as you swear not to tell Potter, I'll tell you where Justin is."

"Cross my heart and hope to die," Seth solemnly said before grinning in victory. "Alright, lay it on me."

Ernie grimaced. "You'll probably catch him on the way to History of Magic from our common room round this time."

Seth beamed. "Awesome! Thanks for the info, Ernie and I swear I won't tell Harry a thing."

Ernie nodded reluctantly. "See that you do. Now can you leave us alone? Thanks."

Seth waved at them cheerfully in farewell with only Hannah and Susan daring to wave back. Then he left with none of the Hufflepuffs ever noticing the strange glint in his eyes during the entire conversation.

XXXXXX

Harry blundered through the outside corridor, barely noticing where he was going as he was too blind with fury. Eventually, his mindless rage stomping came to a halt when he ran into something very large and solid and got knocked backward onto the floor.

"Alright there, Harry?"

Harry looked up and saw Hagrid looking down at him in concern. The half giant looked as if he'd just gone hiking in the Himalayas with all the snow coating his moleskin overcoat. "Oh, hello Hagrid."

Hagrid held his hand out to help Harry up to his feet. "Why aren't yeh in class, Harry?"

"Canceled due to snow," Harry answered, "What're you doing here?"

Hagrid held up a pair of dead roosters with his other hand. The roosters looked as if they'd been through the wringer with feathers messily plucked from their bodies and a horrific looking wound going straight through them. What struck Harry the most though, were the wide eyes that reminded him too much of the look on Colin's petrified face. He forced himself to look away and focus on Hagrid.

"Third one killed this term. It's either foxes or a blood sucking bugbear, an I don't got many left so I need the headmaster's permission ter put a charm round the coop." Then he peered more closely at Harry and frowned. "Yeh sure yeh're alright? Yeh came running down like yeh wanted ta break somethin'."

Harry was immediately reminded of what led him to storming through the halls and the anger returned with a vengeance. But he couldn't bring himself to repeat what Ernie and Zacharias had said about him. He shook his head. "It's nothing you need to worry about. I'd better get going now. It's transfiguration next and I've got to pick up my books."

"If yeh say so Harry," Hagrid easily accepted with a nod, "Don't forget. Door's always open fer yeh."

Harry smiled appreciatively at the thought but the anger still simmering within him made it come out a bit like a grimace. "Thanks Hagrid."

And with that, Harry walked away with his mind still full of all the bull Ernie and Zach had said about him. He stomped up the stairs at the end of the corridor and entered another in what he could only assume was the west side of the castle but he couldn't tell due to how dark it was. All the torches had been extinguished and there was a strong chill in the air despite there being no draft coming through.

He was halfway down the corridor when he tripped over something lying on the floor. He turned to squint at what he'd fallen over, pulling out his wand to cast lumos for extra illumination.

His stomach dropped at what he saw.

Justin Finch Fletchley lay on the floor, rigid and cold, with a look of shock on his face with his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling above. Next to him was the strangest and by far creepiest sight Harry had ever seen.

Nearly Headless Nick floated beside Justin but he wasn't the pearly white and transparent form of a ghost. No, he was black and smoky, floating immobile with his head half off and a similar expression of shock on his face.

Harry scrambled away backwards on his hands and feet, breathing quick and shallow as his heart pounded wildly in his chest. He looked frantically around the corridor and saw a line of spiders scuttling as fast as they could away from the scene. The muffled voices of professors coming from nearby rooms made him realize he was actually in the east side of the castle.

For a moment, he just sat there staring as his thoughts ran wildly in his head. He could run and no one would know he was there. Let someone else discover what happened. But he couldn't just leave Justin and Nick there for who knew how long. He had to get help and hope nobody believed he had anything to do with it if he was the one doing the shouting.

"Help! Somebody! Help!" He shouted at the top of his lungs in a panic.

The response was immediate. Doors flew open and professors rushed out followed by a flood of curious students. It was chaos as students tried to see what all the commotion was about while professors struggled to keep them under control.

It wasn't until Professor McGonagall came running over that order was restored when she used her wand to set off a loud bang. The students calmed and stepped back to allow the professors to investigate only for several to gasp at the scene Harry had stumbled upon.

"Caught in the act!" Ernie screeched in accusation from where he and the other Hufflepuffs had pushed through the crowd. He was pale as a sheet of paper as he pointed his finger dramatically at Harry.

"That will do Mister Macmillan," McGonagall sharply said.

Students were ushered back to their classrooms, murmuring amongst themselves as they glanced back at Harry with fear and suspicion. Flitwick levitated Justin off to the hospital wing and Sinistra used her wand to call forth small bursts of wind to guide Nick after them.

On the opposite end of the corridor and removed from the crowd, Seth watched the proceedings silently. He stood in the shadows around the corner and hidden from view, the glint in his eyes from before still present.

Eventually, Harry and McGonagall were the only ones left.

"This way Mister Potter," McGonagall ordered tersely.

"But professor," Harry protested, "I swear I didn't-"

"This is out of my hands, Mister Potter," McGonagall interrupted, "Now come along."

Harry had no choice but to follow, marching along dutifully like a man being sent to the gallows to hang for crimes he knew he didn't commit. Only once Harry and McGonagall had turned the corner did Seth step back and melt away into the shadows with a displeased frown.

XXXXXX

Harry stepped off the stone staircase at the top as McGonagall rapped on the mahogany door with a bronze knocker shaped like a griffin. After a moment, the door opened and McGonagall gestured for him to enter. She then told him to wait and left him alone as she left to presumably go find Dumbledore.

Harry looked around the office. It was a large and circular room full of beautiful decorations and curious little instruments that made funny little noises. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses who were either snoozing gently in their frames or eyeing Harry curiously. There was an enormous claw foot desk set on the opposite end of the room.

He would've been fascinated by the large and eccentric interior if he hadn't been scared out of his wits about whether he was going to be expelled from school for a crime he didn't commit. His attention was then caught by the sorting hat that sat on a shelf behind the desk.

He hesitated, casting a wary eye at the portraits that were either still snoozing or minding their own business now. He bit his lip and walked over to the hat, thinking it couldn't hurt to be sure he'd been put in the right house. He pulled the hat down and tried it on again. The hat slipped down over his eyes just like last time.

"Hello?" He tentatively asked.

"Hello again, Harry Potter," the hat greeted him, "My oh my, is it quite the surprise to speak with you again."

"Er, sorry, there was something I wanted to ask."

"Ah yes, I can already tell. You've been wondering whether I put you in the right house, yes?"

Harry swallowed thickly as his heart leapt in his chest. "That's right."

"Well, I still stand by what I said, you will do well in Gryffindor house" the hat said, giving Harry a momentary sense of relief that was soon shattered, "But you also would have done just as well in Slytherin."

Harry's stomach plummeted and he yanked the hat off of him in a blind panic. It hung limply in his hand and he placed it back on the shelf, now feeling sick.

"You're wrong. I'm a Gryffindor and will only be a Gryffindor," he said as if to convince himself more than the hat.

But the hat didn't answer, sitting silently as Harry struggled with the emotions warring in him. A strange gagging noise made him whirl around to see a decrepit looking bird that resembled a half plucked hawk standing on a golden perch nearby.

Harry stared at it as the bird looked back pitifully with dull eyes, making the gagging noise again. He frowned, thinking that this was really all he needed right now, for Dumbledore's bird to die while he was alone in the office with it when the bird suddenly burst into flames.

He yelled in shock and scrambled away from the desk. He looked around fervently for any source of water but he couldn't find one. When he looked back at the bird, it had now become a fireball. It gave one last shriek before becoming a smoldering pile of ash on the floor.

A door by the desk opened and Dumbledore came in looking very somber.

"Professor!" Harry gasped, "Your bird! I couldn't do anything. He just caught on fire!"

To his utter bewilderment, Dumbledore simply smiled.

"About time too," Dumbledore said as if he were discussing the weather and not a bird going up in flames, "He's been looking more dreadful as the months passed. I've been telling him to get a move on ever since he first started dropping feathers last year."

Harry looked at him, still stunned as Dumbledore chuckled.

"Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry," he explained, "They burst into flames when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes. Watch him."

Harry looked down at the pile of ashes again, blinking when he saw it tremble until a tiny wrinkled newborn bird poked its head out.

"It's a shame you had to see him on a burning day," Dumbledore said as he went to sit at his desk, "He's very handsome most of the time, wonderful red and gold plumage. Fascinating creatures phoenixes are. They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing abilities, and they make highly faithful companions."

He then fixed Harry with a look that immediately reminded him of why he was in Dumbledore's office to begin with.

"Now then, I've been informed of the attack on Mister Finch Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick."

Harry swallowed thickly in fearful anticipation.

"And I would like to assure you that I do not believe you did it."

Whatever Harry was expecting him to say, it certainly wasn't that. "You don't?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "No Harry. That sort of magic is dark and powerful. Something even I would never be able to achieve, let alone a young boy still in the second year of his schooling."

Harry breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, professor."

"Do not thank me, Harry. However, I still wish to speak with you."

Harry waited nervously, wondering what it was Dumbledore wanted to speak of.

"I must ask you Harry, whether there is anything you'd like to tell me," Dumbledore gently said, "Whether it be small or large, normal or strange, anything at all. I will gladly listen."

Harry didn't know what to say. He thought about the polyjuice potion that was brewing in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He thought about the voices he'd heard in the walls twice already only to remember what Ron said about how hearing voices no one else could wasn't a good sign even in the wizarding world. He thought about what Ernie and Zacharias were saying about him and his growing fear that maybe they were right and he was connected to Salazar Slytherin. But he couldn't bring himself to tell Dumbledore any of those things for fear that would change the Headmaster's opinion of him.

"No professor. I don't have anything to say at all," he eventually answered.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrow in question. "Truly? Then I suppose there is no reason to keep you here any further. However, I would like to caution you, Harry."

"About what, professor?"

"Something dark has entered Hogwarts' halls and it could very well target your friends as an attack on you," Dumbledore grimly said, "In fact, if the attacks continue and the culprit cannot be found, for the safety of the students, we may need to close our doors, forever."

"What? But you can't, professor," Harry pleaded, shocked and with an edge of desperation.

"I may not have a choice, Harry," Dumbledore said with a sigh, "However, rest assured that the staff are doing all they can to solve this matter."

Harry nodded reluctantly. "Of course, professor."

Dumbledore eyed him knowingly. "But I suppose even that won't stop you from going off on your investigation will it?" He raised a hand before Harry could object. "It's alright, Harry. I too was once a young lad like you. And while I could order you to stop or interfere where I can, I know that would not deter you from finding a way to continue on. All I will do for now is urge you to exercise caution. The moment you feel something is dangerous, do not confront it like you did last year. Go to a professor instead. And please keep a close eye on your friends."

"Of course, professor, I would never let anything happen to my friends," Harry said, affronted by the idea that he would do otherwise.

Dumbledore hummed. "That is all I ask. Oh! And before I forget, do tell Mister Sorenson to stop by should he ever have the time to share tales of the preserves. Yeshe is always so cautious with details that it makes the inquisitive child within me weep sometimes."

Harry frowned, looking at him in confusion but nodded nonetheless. "Of course, professor. I'll let him know."

"Excellent! Now off you trot."

Harry nodded and said his farewell to Dumbledore before taking his leave. As soon as the door closed behind him, Dumbledore got up from his chair and walked over to the pile of ashes. He gathered baby Fawkes in his hands as the bird chirped squeakily in delight.

"Hopefully it's not too late for things to turn around for the better. But if push comes to shove, know that I will send you to help the one who I hope will be your new companion for that next great adventure."

XXXXXX

The double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick completely shifted the atmosphere surrounding the school. What once was just some fear and paranoia turned into outright panic. Interestingly, it was Nearly Headless Nick's fate that seemed to worry everyone the most. After all, what terrible power could've been used to do that to someone who was already dead?

There was almost a stampede to the head of houses' offices as students scrambled to get their names on the list of those going home for the holidays. At the rate they were going, it was clear only Harry, Hermione, and Ron would be left with a small handful of students, most notably, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle.

"What a joyful holiday it's going to be," Ron glumly remarked.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Oh stop complaining Ron. Don't forget that we're staying behind to investigate so we can stop any further attacks."

Ron sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

"And don't forget the investigation's supposed to help clear Harry's name too," Seth reminded them.

Ron and Hermione nodded and frowned, looking at Harry who became glum at the reminder.

In addition to all the panic, the school collectively decided that Harry must be the heir of Slytherin. Harry chose not to disclose what he'd spoken about with Dumbledore, even to his friends, and it wasn't as if Dumbledore announcing that he didn't believe Harry was the culprit would do anything to help. Not with a variety of reasons proving otherwise to the students.

The main being that he was a parselmouth and the minor being how Colin and Justin annoyed him which was why he attacked them, completely forgetting that Seth was the one who ended up snapping at Colin and Justin annoyed everyone who wasn't a Hufflepuff or Lockhart fan what with his obsessive hero worship for the incompetent professor.

It was not only Harry who ended up suffering from the aftermath of the double attack though. The Slytherins did as well. The house was ostracized again to an almost unacceptable degree with students of the other houses avoiding the Slytherins like the plague and treating them like bombs about to go off with the push of one wrong button. They were afraid that if they did anything that could potentially draw the ire of a Slytherin, they would run off to get Harry to attack them.

"It's stupid is what it is," Seth grumbled petulantly.

"You can't blame people for being scared, Seth, especially with all the prejudice against parselmouths," Hermione remarked.

Seth sighed. "Well if anyone had a single brain cell left in their head, they'd know that the Slytherins who aren't pureblood supremacists, which I'm pretty sure is a good majority of them, are just as upset and panicky about the whole thing as they are and that Harry isn't the heir of Slytherin. It's just common sense!"

"I don't think common sense is as common as you think it is," Ron said.

Seth groaned. "This is just like that time when everyone got mad at us for losing all those points last year but there were enough people who were smart enough not to join the mob mentality and defend us."

"Except this time, people are actually getting hurt instead of losing a large amount of house points," Hermione reminded him.

He sighed and shook his head. "You're right. People think and do all kinds of stupid shit when fear's involved."

"I just want this whole thing to be over with so people stop looking at me like I'm about to sprout fangs or spit poison," Harry grumbled pitifully, having been silent the whole time, "I'm getting tired of all the muttering and pointing and glaring wherever I go."

Thankfully there was a small silver lining for Harry as there were still some students who did indeed retain their brain cells and have common sense.

Fred and George were the most prominent among them as they found the whole thing to be hilarious, going out of their way to march ahead of Harry down corridors, shouting for students to "Make way for the heir of Slytherin! Seriously, evil 12 year old wizard coming through!"

Percy was very vocal of his disapproval of this behavior.

"It is not a laughing matter!"

Fred scoffed. "Oh get out of the way, Percy. Harry's in a hurry."

"Yeah, he's off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with his little snakes," George said, chortling.

Ginny was another who found the whole thing rather amusing, jokingly volunteering whenever Fred loudly asked Harry who he was going to attack next and giving George large cloves of smelly garlic to help him pretend to ward Harry off whenever they met.

When asked, she only said, "Anyone who believes someone like Harry, who's only a second year and is one of the nicest boys in the school, would have the ability to attack muggleborns just because they annoyed him needs to go to St. Mungo's to get their head checked."

Harry smiled gratefully at her when she said that. "Thanks Ginny. It's nice to know I've got someone like you in my corner."

She blushed and looked away shyly. "Oh, it's nothing Harry."

Ron looked flabbergasted by her reaction while Seth whispered something about a crush to Hermione who giggled in amusement.

However, even those small reprieves weren't enough to stop the negative thoughts and anxious fears from overwhelming Harry.

One day, when the muttering and pointing and glaring just got too much for him, he stormed away to the far off room where the Mirror of Erised had once been stored. Hermione, Ron, and Seth followed after him, not wanting to leave him alone to drown in his thoughts.

"So what if most of the school thinks you go off to the Chamber of Secrets each night? Who cares?" Ron said, trying to be comforting.

"But what if they're right?" Harry asked.

"Oh come on, Harry, they're all wrong," Hermione said.

"But how can you be sure? I didn't know I could speak parseltongue. What else don't I know about myself?" Harry said, visibly distressed, "I was only a baby when my parents died and I never knew about the wizarding world until I finally got my letter."

"Don't do that to yourself, Harry," Seth cut in before he could spiral further, "Don't keep thinking about the what if's. It's only going to make it worse."

"But what if, Seth? What if?" Harry desperately asked. He took a deep breath to try and calm down. "What if you could do something, even something horrible, and not even know you did it?"

For some reason, what Harry said seemed to strike a chord in Seth and he felt a feeling of unease settle within him.

"Harry," Hermione gently said, "I know you don't believe that. I know you don't."

Harry looked like he wanted to believe her but instead just crumbled to the ground. The others rushed to support him in the form of a group hug. "I just want this all to be over."

"And it will be soon," Hermione said, eyes burning with determination, "The polyjuice potion's nearly ready and we'll be able to get the truth any day now."

XXXXXX

Later that night, Seth sat in his bed as the words Harry said continued to repeat in his mind.

He glanced over to the diary, reaching a hand out to grab it so he could spill his concerns onto the page and be comforted of his insecurities in return by the ever reliable Tom. But just as he'd picked up the diary and opened it, something in him made him pause.

He turned to look at where he'd tucked Kendra's letter away in one of his textbooks and the uneasy feeling from before grew stronger. It was then he decided that he would wait before he wrote to Tom again, at least until he returned home and had his talk with Kendra.

With an affirming nod, he put the notebook down and tucked it under his pillow, making a mental note to pack it in his bag to take home so at least, if things went south with Kendra again, he'd be able to seek comfort immediately instead of later.

He then settled into bed, unknowing that the soul that rested within the diary twitched restlessly, almost angrily, at being ignored once again. It couldn't help but use the magic that connected itself to Seth to take control again, prompting Seth to silently rise from bed and use the shadows to melt away from the room and appear before the coop by Hagrid's sizable garden.

The dark soul felt smug satisfaction as it manipulated Seth into killing the few remaining roosters in the coop. The pitiful wards were of no match to the shadow charmer and oh how glorious it felt to wield such abilities. The dark arts paled in comparison to the power of true darkness, only being poor imitations and foolish attempts to replicate the real thing.

The dark soul was gleeful as it removed one of the few obstacles that stood in the way of its precious pet. Entirely ignorant of the fact that its greed was what led it to take the first step to its downfall.

XXXXXX

The morning of the departure for the holidays had Seth waking up in visible confusion when he found a bunch of feathers scattered about his blankets and sticking to his pajamas. However, one look at one of his pillows cleared it up when he saw it torn to shreds by his own hands and made him assume he had a rough enough night to make him turn his entire bed into a chicken coop.

He sighed to himself as he cleaned everything up. Luckily he'd been mostly packed already, just needing to toss a few more things into his bag and trunk. By the time he was ready to head down to breakfast, there was only a little over an hour left before the last call for travel down to the Hogwarts Express.

On his way out of the dorms, barely stepping out of the shared room, he was almost run over by Ginny.

"Whoa! Where's the fire?"

"Sorry Seth," Ginny said, smiling apologetically, "I made a bet with the twins that involves pranking Ron and I gotta get to his bed before he's done with breakfast."

He chuckled and waved her to go ahead. "By all means. Tell me how it goes after break, yeah?"

She beamed. "Absolutely! Happy holidays, Seth!"

"Happy holidays, Ginny!"

Then he left the dorm, heading down to the common room. Only once Ginny heard the portrait door swing open and close did she release her held breath and rush into the room, making a beeline for Seth's bed.

As for Seth, he managed to make it to the Great Hall in a few minutes and spent breakfast chatting with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Ron was digging into this third plate while Harry and Hermione spoke with Seth about how to get the most out of their investigation with the time limit of the polyjuice potion.

Eventually, Seth had to finish packing before last call and they bid each other farewell and happy holidays. On his way out, he ran into Luna who brightened upon seeing him.

"You're looking much better, Seth. The number of wrackspurts around you has diminished again."

"Huh," he said, blinking in surprise as he registered his current state of health, "Guess that's why I've been feeling a little better these days."

"I hope that your holidays will be relaxing and help rid the rest of the wrackspurts that plague you," she earnestly said.

He smiled. "Thanks Luna. Hope you have a happy holiday too!"

She nodded and he made his way back to the dormitory. He was now in a rush to finish packing and just swept everything still laid out on his bed into his trunk and bag haphazardly without a second thought. By the time he made it out of the school, he just barely made the last call for the carriage down to the express.

Meanwhile, Ginny walked up to where Luna was standing by the entrance of Hogwarts and watching the last carriage disappear into the distance.

"Hello Ginny. Did you manage to find it?" Luna said without even looking at her.

"It was a piece of cake, especially with his trunk unlocked, though I suppose growing up with six brothers helped as well," Ginny responded, "I was going to put it under his pillow to make it look like he just forgot it since he was in such a rush to catch the train."

Luna smiled. "Excellent. Thank you, Ginny."

"No problem. But I am curious, why did you want me to steal and hide Seth's diary?"

"Have you looked inside it?"

Ginny shook her head. "No. He's not my brother so I'm not going to invade his privacy like that."

Luna nodded. "Good. You should hide it as soon as you can Ginny, that diary…"

"What about it?" Ginny asked, curious.

"Let's just say that it will be a good thing if Seth didn't have it with him during the holidays," Luna airily said.

Ginny just nodded, accepting the answer and not pushing it further. She may have only known Luna for half a year but she already knew the Ravenclaw worked in mysterious ways that were better left unquestioned. All she could hope for was that Luna was right and that Seth would return to Hogwarts in much better health than before.


And scene! How do you like them apples? The apples of course being the changes that I made to canon in just this one chapter. I really wanted to give the girls at Hogwarts more of a chance to shine because they're so under utilized if they're not Hermione. Plus I wanted to get a head start on establishing the relationship between Ginny and Harry by having Ginny be less of a girl with a crippling crush and insecurity issues about being the youngest and only girl in the Weasley family and more like the baby of the family who's smart enough to learn from her brothers' mistakes with said brothers trying to get her to be like them only for them all to be horrified when they realize she's becoming like the twins. And Luna gets a bigger role because Luna is the best and deserves it.

Also, I had Harry be the one to call attention to the attack cause I don't really like Peeves and didn't want him in the series as a whole. Plus, I made Dumbledore less cryptic and just outright warn Harry because unlike last year where Dumbledore could kind of still be able to manipulate what was going to happen, the danger level this year is completely out of his control and in the red zone. Also, I wanted the two to begin establishing a bond of trust that goes beyond Harry trusts Dumbledore just because he's the headmaster and a powerful wizard and you can't do that if one person's cryptic as hell and waits until your almost of age before sending you off to the wolves with a barely defined task and no solid clues for how to go about it.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. The next one's gonna take some time to come out because it's focusing on what's going to happen during the winter break and boy oh boy do I have plans for all the characters involved. Until then!