Another Herbology lesson. And people keep looking for the heir of Slytherin.

HANNAH II

This Herbology lesson seemed to have gone better that the one from last week. Ernie and Ronald had nearly come to duel back then, prompting Professor Sprout to intervene. Hannah was glad she did. She didn't want to see Ernie end up in the hospital wing like Sally-Anne.

Today, they were ensuring the good state of the Mandrakes, carving their leaves in an operation that looked a little like hairdressing. Hannah did so while shooting glances towards Susan, who worked with Hermione Granger. And as usual, Harry and Ronald were not far from her. Ernie was also eyeing the group, but for very different reasons.

"Can you tell me why Susan keeps working with those folks? Come on, she's right next to Potter," he hissed between his teeth, which strangely reminded Hannah of the sounds Harry made at the Duelling Club.

"Ernie, please," Hannah begged him. "Stop talking like that. They could hear you. Susan is working with Hermione all the time. And our friend is not Muggle-born. She risks nothing."

"Nearly Headless Nick wasn't Muggle-born. That didn't stop Potter from attacking him."

"If he wanted to do any harm to Susan, he would have done it a long time ago, I think," she said, though she was uncertain. "Look, Susan found Justin. If it's Harry who did this, why didn't he Petrify her as well?"

"Because Peeves showed up before he could act and screamed loud enough for the whole school to run to the crime scene."

She supposed that made sense. "Then why is Susan saying that Harry looked as surprised as she was?"

"Because he was surprised to find her there," Ernie continued. "Or perhaps she's afraid that he might go after her if she doesn't give him some sort of alibi. You know, I don't blame her if that's the case. I would be afraid me too if Potter saw me right after he Petrified one of his victims. But when I asked Susan if this was the case, she just kept repeating that she found Justin and Potter arrived latter, looking horrified. She didn't look afraid. I guess Potter is a very good actor, or she's imagining things."

Hannah didn't get that impression. In Hufflepuff, Susan was probably the most brilliant of their year, the one with the best notes. And she never changed her mind or her story about what happened that morning before Christmas. Furthermore, she was almost standing next to Harry right now. Hannah had to admit that she was somewhat afraid for her friend. There was still a chance that Ernie was right, and Harry was the heir of Slytherin. Still, Susan didn't give the impression that she was afraid or coerced into saying the right thing.

Hannah wished they definitely knew who the heir of Slytherin was. She had wondered herself on multiple occasions who it was. Before the Duelling Club, the main theories turned around Slytherins, mostly, especially those who seemed to enjoy the situation like Draco Malfoy. Hannah had heard that Harry broke his nose because he called Hermione a Mudblood. At the time, she found Malfoy's behavior horrifying, while she found Harry's almost chivalrous, even romantic. Perhaps it was Malfoy, the true heir of Slytherin. He was the one who conjured that snake at the Duelling Club, and she heard what he said when they found Mrs Norris, that soon it would be the turn of Mudbloods. When she crossed his path in the corridors, she definitely felt he made a much more convincing heir of Slytherin than Harry. The only thing that made people think it was Harry was because he was a Parselmouth. Seeing him calmly cutting a leaf, Hannah couldn't bring herself to think he was a dark wizard. Of course, her view might have been different if he had been talking to a snake right now.

"Be careful, Hannah!" Ernie seized her hand and moved it away from the plant. "You were about cut your finger."

Hannah gasped in surprise. She might have been too distracted by her own thoughts. "Sorry. Thank you, Ernie."

"Be careful. I know Herbology is hard, but it's not worth going to the infirmary on every class."

"I just went there to escort Sally last time," she pointed out. Then something came back to her mind, something she witnessed while accompanying Sally-Anne. "And by the way you'll never know who I got to see there. Cedric Diggory."

"So?"

That was all he had to say? So? "Well, it's Cedric Diggory. Come on, Ernie, our new Seeker, the handsome one." Hannah thought about how he looked flying on a broomstick. She herself went to watch a few practices of the Hufflepuff team just to see him. He was really good at flying. Susan may have all her eyes on Gilderoy Lockhart, for Hannah he was far below Cedric's level.

"Handsome, perhaps. But as for being a Seeker, we could have done better. He was defeated by a girl who was about half his size," Ernie complained, talking about the defeat of Hufflepuff in their first game of the season against Ravenclaw.

"You have a problem with the fact that she was a girl?" Hannah asked, looking suspiciously at Ernie.

All of a sudden, he stammered. "Eh... No, no. That's not the problem, of course. I mean, there's no problem with the fact that he was beaten by a girl. I mean... Okay, girls are usually..."

"Weaker? Slower? Less determined?" Hannah asked.

"No, it's not that. It's just that..."

"It was a girl." She watched with satisfaction Ernie sinking even lower. She smiled wickedly. "As for me, I found Cedric very chivalrous. He even shook her hand at the end of the game."

"What I mean is that... We lost against the team we had the most chances to win against. After that, it's Gryffindor, then Slytherin, and we have no chance to beat either of them. Slytherin got Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones brand new for all their players. And for Gryffindor..."

"Can we talk about something else than Quidditch?" Sometimes, Hannah was bored when boys got into this matter. Once the word Quidditch was spoken, there was no way to make them stop.

"You started."

Hannah cut a clean leaf of Mandrake. She managed to deflect the conversation towards more mundane subjects, like their next class or what they would eat for dinner. It wasn't as interesting as gossips, but Ernie had little interest for that.

The day went pretty well. It was an ordinary day of class at Hogwarts. Ernie spilled some sauce on his robes during dinner, and Wayne toppled his cup of juice. At the Ravenclaw table, Roger Davis, the handsome captain of the team, was discussing Quidditch with the other players, except Cho Chang who sat away with a group of friends. Hannah was almost jealous of her popularity. As for the Gryffindors, the Weasley twins remained the main point of attention at their table. Hannah always found Gryffindors a little selfish and arrogant, despite their good side. Slytherins were an entirely different matter, the house whose members were despised by the rest of the school.

In the evening, Hannah remained in their common house in order to do her homework. While working on Herbology, she saw Susan heading towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" she asked her friend.

"To the library. I've got some work to do," Susan replied.

Hannah nodded. "Don't come back too late, Susan." It had happened once that Susan came back after the permitted hours and points were removed from Hufflepuff because of that. She avoided detention because she was one of the best students of their year and it was the first time it happened. She just didn't see the time was advancing.

Hannah managed to complete her homework for Professor Sprout fairly quickly, especially considering the chatting she made with Megan, Wayne and Sally-Anne at the same time. However, when they reached the homework for Potions, they quickly hit a wall. Professor Snape was hard with them, as always. No, he was worse than hard. He was inhuman. Hannah and the others did their best. After a long moment, she rubbed her eyes. She had not advanced even nearly enough in this work. She would never manage to finish it. She thought about Susan who was in the library. She was good with potions. Perhaps she could help her.

"I'm going to the library," she said, stretching her back as she stood up.

"We're near past the hours when we can travel in the school," Wayne said. "You won't have time to work there."

"Well, I'll get to stretch my legs at least."

She gathered her stuff and left. There were indeed not many people in the corridors. They were cold during winter, and there was not much interesting to do outside in the park. Hannah quickly arrived at the library. There weren't many people still in the place either. She found Susan sitting at an isolated table with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Hannah was relieved that Ernie wasn't with her, or else he would have made quite a scene.

"So you don't remember seeing anyone else? Nothing unusual, not even in the slightest way?" It was Hermione who talked.

"No," Susan replied. She seemed bothered. "Really, Hermione, I wish I had seen something, but the truth is I saw nothing of value. Just one or two students. It was dark on this day, and I was running after Justin. I didn't really pay attention to my surroundings. I'm sorry. I wish I could be of more help."

"What are you doing, Susan?" Hannah asked the question without thinking. The three others all looked at her immediately. She felt an irrational fear when Harry looked at her.

"Hermione is wondering if I may have seen the person who attacked Justin in December," she explained. "I wish I did, but I didn't."

If Ernie was there, he may have told Susan what she was doing was dangerous. Yes, that's what he would have told her. If she was only talking to Hermione, maybe not, but with Harry present... Hannah tried to beat some sense into her mind. She had to stop thinking Harry might the heir of Slytherin.

"One tall boy, maybe from Slytherin, probably in his final years. A girl with red hair. And another boy who was probably in his first year," Hermione summarized. "That's what Susan saw right before she found Justin."

"That's not going to help us much," Harry said.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but I cannot create memories out of thin air." Susan sounded a little displeased.

"Sorry, Susan. I know you're doing your best. I guess I'm just fed up of being compared to Voldemort."

Hannah cringed at the mention of this name. He shouldn't say it. "What about you, Harry? Did you see anything on that day?" Hannah asked him.

"Before I found Justin with Susan? Well, after our happy discussion at the library..." Hannah had no difficulty guessing which discussion he was talking about, and it was everything but happy. "... I bumped into Hagrid on my way. He was heading for Dumbledore's office."

"That's why the gamekeeper burst into Dumbledore's office, saying that you had discussed just before you found Justin?" Susan asked.

"Yes. Aside from him, I saw no one else. But Hagrid is hard to miss. I may have crossed other people but I didn't notice them."

Harry really seemed discouraged. Hannah pitied him in this instant.

"What about Colin Creevey's attack?" Susan asked. "Harry, you were the one to find him. Did you see anybody on your way before you found him Petrified?"

"I don't think so." Harry seemed to be trying very hard to think. He had his hand in a fist on his forehead. "It's been long ago. I don't know. It was after training for Quidditch. It was late, dark, I was covered with mud, soaked, and tired, and all I could think about was to take a shower and go to bed. I didn't look around. Just like you, Susan."

"Wait, Harry," Hermione then interfered. "You said before that Colin was at the practice as well."

"Yes, taking photos, like always."

"Was there anyone else there? Someone near him on the benches?"

"There were maybe half a dozen people. Considering the weather of the time, it was a miracle so many had wanted to come. Ron was among them, but he left early. It was too cold and too dark. Oh, yes, there was Ginny too. She was sitting close to Colin. But the others... I couldn't tell."

"Ginny? Ginny Weasley? Ronald's sister?" Susan asked.

"Yes." Harry really seemed very tired.

"Strange."

Susan's comment seemed to bring everyone's attention. "Why is it strange, Susan?" Hermione asked.

"Well... You know that girl with red hair that I saw nearby, before I found Justin? At first... I thought it was Ginny Weasley. But it was dark, I saw her from afar, only for an instant, and I didn't see her face, only her back. When I asked her if she had seen something that morning, she said she was in her Transfiguration class."

"Transfiguration for first-years is during Monday morning," Hermione confirmed.

"I know. I just find it... strange. I thought I saw her nearby when Justin was Petrified, and she was also there close to Colin before he was Petrified as well."

"Maybe she saw something," Harry suggested. "We could ask her for the day of the practice. She might have seen someone accompanying or following Colin when he left the pitch."

"Right. Did you see someone follow him, Harry?" Hermione asked him.

"No. I think he was still taking photos when I walked into the changing rooms. I think I could still hear the clicking sound of his camera. But he wasn't around when I left the pitch, that I'm sure of. I could ask Oliver and the other players. Perhaps they saw something."

"Good idea."

Harry also asked Susan, Hannah and Hermione if they noticed anyone behaving strangely the night Mrs Norris was found, or anyone who arrived at the scene before everyone else, but none of them could tell. There were too many students gathered around the cat when they arrived on the scene. Hermione had been writing all the time they discussed, something akin to a list. When the four of them left the library, they took separate ways, Harry and Hermione heading to their tower while Susan and Hannah took the other way to their own common room. Once they were far enough, Hannah asked Susan.

"You're sure it is safe that you spend time with them?"

Susan sighed. "Hannah, I'm not going to explain myself again."

"Sorry, Susan. It's just... I think people like Ernie will not like it. They're going to worry about you."

"Let them worry then. Anyway, I'm not Muggle-born, and Hermione was there. Even if somehow Harry was the heir of Slytherin, I don't see why he would Petrify me."

"I know." Hannah wasn't totally convinced. "But... I'm still afraid. And we are late in the evening. What if the monster attacked us?"

Hannah came to the realization that it was quite possible just as she voiced the idea. She and Susan accelerated their pace and arrived more quickly at their common room. Later that night, when they were alone in their dormitories, the other girls still being down in the common room, Hannah resumed their conversation.

"I thought you were going to the library to work," she told Susan.

"I did. Hermione approached me and she explained that they were trying to find out who committed the attacks. I accepted to help them. I'm not sure though that it will be much helpful. I don't even know who I saw."

"Except the Weasley girl."

"Ginny. But it wasn't her. She was in Transfiguration. Anyway, what? You believe that Ginny Weasley would or could Petrify people?"

Hannah thought about it for a very brief instant, barely a fraction of a second. Ginny Weasley, the very shy girl dressed in second-hand clothes, the little sister of the Weasley siblings, who stammered every time Harry Potter was around.

"No. No, I couldn't believe that," Hannah said without an ounce of a doubt.

And no one suspects the real culprit.

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Next chapter: Ginny