A/N: Sorry this is later! Life has been really busy! I'll update when I can! Thanks everyone for reading! Hope you're enjoying the story! :)


For a few days, all anyone in Gryffindor could talk about was Hazel's outburst at Snape.

The Weasley twins had given her a standing ovation when she went back to the Common Room that evening, only to be told off by Percy for condoning such disrespectful behaviour. The twins had given him a round of applause for being a "Such a first-class Plonker".

"I think you might be the only person to speak to Snape like that and live to tell the story," Ron whistled.

"If that had been me, I'd be back in Privet Drive already," said Harry.

She found the attention a little uncomfortable. It was better than people whispering and hissing about being the heir of Slytherin, but the Gryffindors were acting like she'd completed some amazing feat when all she'd really done was get cross.

"You shouldn't really have lost your temper," Hermione seemed the only one who thought the same thing she did.

"Tallow's a bully," Ron said, "She deserved everything she got."
"Yeah," said Harry. He was distracted and only half paying attention to the conversation.

"The snake?" she asked. It had been on his mind ever since the Duelling Club.

He nodded, "What if we really are related to Slytherin?"

"We would have found out before now."

"How? The Dursleys' aren't going to pull out the family albums any time soon."

That was true. Uncle Vernon would rather have eaten a wasp's nest than talk about their mum and dad. But there had to be some reason they weren't related to Slytherin, it just couldn't be true.

"If you were his heir, would the Sorting Hat not have put you into Slytherin house?"
"It tried to, remember?" Harry said miserably, "I would do well in Slytherin."

"No, you wouldn't!" she said fiercely, "You know you wouldn't!"

Harry was quiet the rest of the night. He was still thinking about it but there was nothing she could think to say to help him. The Sorting Hat hadn't even tried to put her in Slytherin, but shouldn't it have done?

Her dreams that night were filled with slithering snakes and dark corridors. Shapes were moving all around her, just out of sight. Colin was in front of her, looking frantically around. She tried to warn him but instead of words she hissed. There was a flash and Colin lay on the ground, wide-eyed and pale, frozen in terror. Wait, there was something behind her.

She turned. It was Harry, dressed in black robes. His eyes were narrow and snake like. He lunged at her.

She woke with a gasp.

It took a long time for her breathing to calm down. She lay and listened to Romilda's loud and deep snores over the blizzard that rattled at the windows. What time was it? Way too early for breakfast, but there was no way she was going back to sleep.

She held her wand tightly in both hands. It felt warm and comforting. It was like holding her hand..

"Hey mum," She whispered, "Could we really be related to him? I bet you'd know. You'd know just what to do…"

The dormitory door creaked open.

Who was that?

Her breathing quickened again. The image of Harry with snake's eyes wouldn't leave her head.

Footsteps. Someone was sneaking across the room. Her hairs were standing on end.

"Atia?" She didn't dare open the curtains.

The footsteps stopped. She held her wand a little tighter.

"It's me."
"Ginny?" Hazel pulled the curtains back. Ginny was wrapped up in a thick cloak and covered and snow, "You were out in that?"
"Yeah."
"Are you mental?"

"I just needed a walk."
"After what happened to Colin?"

"I'm fine, Hazel," Ginny snapped as she climbed into her bed and closed the curtains, "Talk to you tomorrow."

She had pushed too much. Ginny was already in a bad mood because she wasn't sleeping. How many nights had she listened to her thrashing around? No matter how many times she asked though, Ginny always said she was okay.

She had to keep asking though, because it felt like Ginny was going to fall apart.

They had Astronomy Theory that afternoon with the Ravenclaws. It was much better than the practical classes, because it didn't place in the middle of the night on top of a freezing tower.

The Ravenclaws came in after the Gryffindors had sat down. They were normally very friendly but today they went around Hazel's desk like there was something revolting sitting on top of it. Everyone except Luna Lovegood that is, the blonde girl from the train who came in by herself and floated past her without even noticing. It made a nice change from the sideways looks she was getting from everyone else.

Professor Sinistra walked up and down between the desks then as Hazel concentrated on her star chart. They had been plotting the moons of Saturn for weeks now. Why did it need so many? Wasn't the Earth fine with one?

She looked up quite randomly and caught the eyes of Felix Bastian and Gavin McNory who quickly looked away. They had been whispering to one another while staring at her. Her heart sank as she looked down at her own work.

There was only one thing they were talking about.

"Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. Larger than the moon, it takes 15 days to orbit and is tied to the maturation of Greenroot…"

A quick glance up. They were looking again. Felix was even pointing at her. Gavin was frowning. It felt like she was being examined for a particularly horrible illness by two doctors.

"They're wondering if you can control the monster too, or it's just Harry," Hazel jumped at the soft voice from the desk behind her. It was Luna Lovegood.

"They were talking about it all morning in our common room," she went on as if she was discussing the weather, "They say you must hate muggles because of your aunt and uncle. And you must want to get revenge on them all."

"Thanks," On second thoughts, it was much better not knowing.

"Thanks for clearing that up," said Ginny.

"You're welcome," Luna said happily, "Of course, I don't think you're attacking people."
"You don't?" Hazel looked back over her shoulder.

"Oh no. You would need to control Slytherin's monster and no one can control a Kerkin."

"A what?" Ginny asked.

"A Kerkin, a relative of the Snorkack. It lives in suits of armour, and it petrifies people with its tongue."

"Snorkack's don't exist," Ginny snorted, "They're from fairy tales."
"They do exist," Luna said cooly. Did Ginny really have to offend the one Ravenclaw in the school who didn't think she was a muggle-hating snake talker?

Ginny rolled her eyes and went back to her work.

"But," Hazel said, "Why would a…um…"
"A Kerkin," Luna said helpfully.

"Sorry, why would a Kerkin be attacking people?"

"It doesn't mean to. It just likes licking people, like a dog. It's trying to be friendly."

"Oh right," Surely if it was that easy, Dumbledore would have sorted it out by now? If Ginny thought it was mental then everyone else probably did too. She was a little, odd, Luna. And she hadn't forgotten the potion she'd given her on the Hogwarts Express to wash her hair with. At least she didn't think Hazel or Harry were attacking people. It was better than nothing.

"That's time everyone," Professor Sinistra said, "Please pack away. Your homework is to finish cataloguing Saturn's first twenty moons for next week in order of discovery. That will be our practical assignment as well. Thank you."

"I can't believe it," Romilda moaned once they were out of class, "I only got two moons done that whole class!"

"Well," said Atia, "If you had spent less time on your nails, then maybe you might have finished more work."

"Just because your nails look like tombstones doesn't mean mine need to as well," Romilda snapped, "And I don't remember asking for your opinion."
"I was just telling the truth, you've not even heard my opinion yet."

Romilda's answer was lost as Ginny stumbled in front of them, books falling from her bag.

"Ginny!" Hazel caught her as she fell, "Are you alright?"
"Fine," Ginny mumbled, "I just lost my balance."
"Do you need to go to the hospital wing?"
"No! I just need to go to the toilet and splash some water on my face, wake myself up a bit."

She scooped up her books and headed for the toilet.

"That was odd," said Atia, "Perhaps the stress of school is getting to her."

"No one asked you," Romilda said.

"Don't you have nose hairs to perm or something?"
They argued all the way down two staircases as they made their way to Charms. As they turned onto the Charms corridor though, they were met by a rush of students coming the other way who looked equal parts terrified and excited. They came to a screeching halt at the sight of Hazel, as if they were about to step on a mine.

"What?" Romilda said, "What's happened?"
"Another attack!" said a Hufflepuff boy who was the colour of paper, "One of ours in second year and the Gryffindor ghost!"
"A ghost?" Atia said, "That's impossible."
"It was the ghost with the missing head!"
"Nearly missing head," Atia said under her breath.

"And get this, Harry Potter was with them!"
"Harry?" An awful dread clawed at Hazel's heart. Surely he hadn't been attacked.

"Yeah, he was standing over them! Professor McGonagall's brought him to Dumbledore."

"About time too!" Someone shouted from further back down the corridor.

"Why don't they just expel him!" Another voice shouted.

"Him and that sister of his!" said a third person.

Everyone was watching her with hard and angry eyes. What was she supposed to do? The words to defend herself died in her throat. A lot of the students were older than she was, taller and stronger. They hated her, for something she hadn't done.

She felt for the Gryffindor common room without even turning around.

Just when she thought things could sink no longer, Hogwarts found a way to surprise her.

At least Dumbledore didn't think Harry was behind it. It was pretty much the same thing she'd told her after the attack on Colin. The rest of the students were convinced that the Potter siblings were as good as guilty. People now actively avoided her in the corridor, turning and fleeing like they were escaping a lava flood. The Great Hall fell silent every time she and Harry entered like someone had pressed a giant mute button. It was excruciating every single time it happened. The castle had had a real air of fear now, more over the attack on Nearly-Headless Nick than the poor Hufflepuff. What could do that to a ghost?

Professor McGonagall came around the Gryffindor table about a week after the attacks to find out who was staying at the castle for Christmas. Funnily enough, only Hazel, Ginny and Atia from their entire year were staying.

"You must be joking," Romilda had snorted when asked if she was staying, "It's only a matter of time before whatever psycho's behind this goes after a wizard-born and I'm not going to be here when it happens."

Hazel was getting next to no sleep anymore. She lay awake for hours, listening to Ginny thrashing about in her dreams and turning everything over in her mind. What if she and Harry really were behind the attacks? What if they were summoning the monster without even knowing they were doing it? Was there some spell? Some words or thoughts that were setting the monster on people?

"Absolutely not," Atia snorted when Hazel voiced these worries, "Whatever's attacking people is incredibly powerful. You couldn't control it without knowing. No one could."

"But what if we're really Slytherin's heirs? What if we have his blood and you're wrong?"
"I'm not," Atia was thumbing through a massive history book she'd borrowed from the library, "His heir has to come from his direct line and it died out decades ago. Of course, you probably do have his blood."

"How?" Hazel's stomach dropped.

"Slytherin was a pureblood through and through. There's not a magical family in Britain he hasn't married into by now. There's hundreds of people who probably have his blood. You, me, even Ginny."
Ginny had been staring into the fire and jumped in alarm at her name, "What?"
"Nothing," Atia frowned, "What's your problem? Slytherin's monster's not about to attack you in the Gryffindor Common Room."
"No, of course not."

"There she is!" It was Fred who sat down beside her.

"The Queen of Darkness!" George settled on her other side.

"We need you to settle a bet," Fred said.

"What?" She was nervous now.

"We've bet Lee a sickle that Slytherin's monster has fangs," said Fred.
"But Lee seems to think it's like the giant squid," said George.
"Which is mad," said Fred.

"But hilarious. I'd pay good money to see the giant squid squelching through the corridors," George laughed.

"Some come on, oh mighty heiress of Slytherin," Fred chortled, "Which is it?"

Ginny looked on the verge of tears, "That's not funny!"

"Of course it's not," Fred said.

"Yeah," said George, "We wouldn't hurt the poor monster's feelings now."

"You'll say sorry for us next time you see it, right Hazel?"

Ginny stood up from the table and stormed off.

"What's up with her?" George asked.

"Maybe she likes squids?" Fred said.

Hazel watched as Ginny threw open the Portrait and disappeared.

Ginny didn't talk much for the rest of the week, which wasn't like her. She was even late to the final Transfiguration class of the term and earned a stern look from Professor McGonagall as she sat down. She looked like she'd been crying but her temper was so short these days that Hazel didn't dare ask how she was.

She had enough to worry about any way. They were still working on changing toothpicks into pins, the easiest transfiguration of them all. At least, that was what Professor McGonagall said. As far as Hazel was concerned, she may as well have sat with her wand in her pocket for the entire double period. Even Ginny was doing better. She suspected Colin was doing better, lying petrified in the Hospital Wing like he was.

Professor McGonagall passed their desk and looked down at her toothpick, as perfect and untransfigured as they had been when the class started and frowned, "See me after class, Miss Potter."

Her stomach dropped. This was it. Professor McGonagall had finally run out of patience. First there'd been the attacks on students and now this. She just wasn't good enough for Hogwarts, just like she hadn't been good enough for anywhere else. Perhaps Malfoy had been right, perhaps Harry had gotten all the talent and she was just the spare part in the shadows.

The bell rang for end of class and everyone packed up. Atia and Ginny hovered close to the door but a sharp look from Professor McGonagall sent them away. It was her and Hazel now.

Professor McGonagall sat behind her desk, eyes fixed on Hazel, "Miss Potter, do you remember the last homework I assigned?"
"Yes, Professor."

"If I remember correctly, I gave you a nine out of ten for that homework. Shows a clear understanding of the material and process. That is what I wrote."

"Yes Professor," She could at least do the homework. That had been her one hope for staying in Hogwarts, but clearly it only got her so far.

"Then I fail to see how you can perform so consistently poorly in this class. You clearly understand the theory."

This was torture. If she wasn't good enough then just say it!

Professor McGonagall sighed, "Starting from next term, you will come to this classroom one evening a week. We are going to bring your wand-work up to the standard I would expect of a first year Gryffindor. Understood?"

"Yes, Professor," Yes! She wasn't being kicked out yet! She would get Christmas at Hogwarts! She could worry about humiliating herself in front of her head of house next term.

There was a stampede for the train at the end of term and the castle was practically deserted. It was quite nice actually, being able to eat her breakfast without being watched by the entire school. The days were spent exploring the snowy grounds or in Hagrid's hut and in the evening, the common room was so empty that the good chairs near the fireplace were always free. She spent her time reading of watch Harry and the Weasleys practising duelling. Harry was very good at it and she beamed with pride every time he disarmed one of the others. Ron was teaching her wizard's chess and the twins were teaching her wizards darts. It was very similar to muggle darts, except the dart flew a completely wild path through the air, between people's legs on its way to the board. Fred and George insisted there was skill to the game but it looked like it was completely down to luck.
That was what she was sticking to anyway, especially after her dart flew out the open Common Window and never came back. It was a stupid game anyway.

She woke early on Christmas Day with her stomach fluttering excitedly. Christmas had never been fun in Privet Drive. It was always the same, watching Dudley open his mountain of presents in the morning and then the evening was spent with Aunt Marge, which was like having her fingernails pulled off. For the first time, she was looking forward to Christmas, to the dinner, to pulling crackers and to spending time who actually liked her.

She lay in bed until she heard Atia pull back her curtains.

"Happy Christmas," Atia said sleepily as she rubbed her eyes.

"Merry Christmas," it felt weird even saying it. Had she ever said that before? "Merry Christmas, Ginny!"
"Merry Christmas! Don't open any presents without me!"

Presents?

There was a pile of boxes at the bottom of her bed, each wrapped and tied up with a bow.

There had to be a mistake?

No, the label on the first one had her name written on it in Hagrid's untidy scrawl. It was for her! She had presents at Christmas!

Once Ginny had finally joined them, she opened the first present. Hagrid had made her a wooden carving of Fang. It was rough but it was amazing how much detail he'd gotten, with how huge his hands were. She placed it on her side table with a warm feeling in her heart. He had also packed some home-made biscuits which felt like they were made of steel. Maybe she'd leave there a little while by the fire.

The next present was from Mr and Mrs Weasley and it was very lumpy. She had an idea what this would be, as Harry had gotten one last year. Surely enough, inside was a woollen jumper, dark blue in colour with a white 'V' knitted into the front. It was very soft and so warm to the touch. There was also a collection of chocolate cupcakes which looked amazing.

"Hey, you got a jumper!" Ginny said from behind her own huge pile.

"I did! Hey, why is mine so thick compared to yours?"

"I wrote and told mum you hate the cold. Maybe you'll stop stealing my jumpers now!"

"I'm not promising anything," She laughed. When was the last time she had felt this happy?

The next present was a book; Touring the Covens: A Complete Guide to Magical Britain and Ireland.

"I thought you don't know much about the magical world," Atia was playing with her hands and had gone a delicate pink, "Do you like it?"
"I love it!" Hazel was already thumbing through the pages, "Thank you, Atia!"

She recognised Harry's writing on her next present; a thick winter Gryffindor cloak which was exactly what she needed. Would the teachers let her wear it around the school? She tried to imagine what Snape would say if she wore it with Mrs Weasley's jumper.

The next present was the smallest; a single pin wrapped in tissue paper. That was nice, she could swap her toothpick for it in Professor McGongall's next transfiguration class and pretend she'd finally done some magic.

Ginny flushed red as Hazel picked up her last present, small and wrapped in brown paper.

"It's not much," she said hurriedly, "I didn't have much money so I took these from Fred and George's transfiguration classes."
It was a bracelet, made of two silver threads woven together. There were two beads threaded into it, one with a small 'V' and the other with a little 'G'.

"I have one too," Ginny said, "I just wanted to show, well…that we're friends."

"Oh Ginny," Tears were welling up in her eyes and she got up to hug Ginny. Everything she'd gotten was amazing and she was thankful for all of it, even her pin, but a friend like Ginny was the best present she could have ever gotten.

"Cute," Atia sneered, "I got you this Ginny. Sorry it's not quite so heartfelt."

"Thanks Atia," Ginny unwrapped a pair of Holyhead Harpies Chaser's Globes, "They're brilliant."

Atia then unwrapped Ginny's present, a hand-drawn and very good picture of the Malfoy family crest. She didn't thank Ginny but sat and examined it thoughtfully.

Hazel settled back in bed to look through her new book while the others worked through their much larger piles. Atia got a set of expensive robes, a fine phoenix tail quill, some exquisite glass instruments that did something Hazel didn't understand and countless boxes of sweets and chocolates.

Ginny's presents were simpler, homemade jam tarts, a new set of school robes, a dragon tooth necklace from Bill and Romanian chocolates from Charlie, her brothers.

The butterflies started fluttering fiercely in her stomach as each picked up the presents she had bought them. It was her first time buying anything for friends. Please like them…

She had bought Atia a book on the History of the Ministry of Magic.

"Excellent," She started looking through it at once, "Thank you, Hazel."

Ginny's book was Gwenog Jones' new autobiography.

"Yes! Thanks Hazel, I so wanted this!"

Thank goodness. She'd had so many sleepless nights worrying about those presents.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were already in the Common Room when they came down. Hazel went straight to Harry and hugged him tightly.

"Happy Christmas," she said, "Did you like your present?"

"Are you joking? Waterproof quidditch robes are perfect! Wood's going to be delighted!"

The Christmas Dinner was the best meal of her life. The food was amazing as always and the decorations were colourful and cheerful. Dumbledore led the hall as they sang Christmas carols and everyone laughed themselves silly at Percy's prefect badge, bewitched by Fred to say 'Pinhead' without him noticing. She chatted and laughed and ate until she thought she was going to burst.

"Hey Hazel," Fred leant over, "We're going outside for a snowball fight. Care to join us?"
"Okay!" She looked at Atia, "Are you coming?"
"Hardly," Atia snorted, "I'll go read my book. Have fun."

She got up from the table and walked over to the Slytherin table where her brother had just stood up. Malfoy's expression darkened as she approached. It didn't look like they were wishing one another a happy Christmas and they definitely didn't hug. Atia stormed off without looking back at the Gryffindors.

"Harry!" George said, "You coming?"

"Uh," Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, "No, thanks. we've got something to do."

"What?" Hazel asked. What was he up to? Was this his plan to find out if Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin?

"I'll tell you later. Have fun," Harry said as Fred and George dragged her from the hall.

What was he up to? He had that nervous look she recognised from whenever he was doing something he knew he shouldn't be. How often had she seen it when he snuck out from the cupboard under the stairs?

She worried about it all the way through the Entrance Hall and right up to the minute she was hit in the face by George's snowball. That put the thought completely out of her mind as she threw one back. She, Ginny and the twins spent the rest of the day outside until their hands were numb and they shivered fiercely from the cold. She had never been in a snowball fight before, but it was tremendous fun. It was especially funny when Fred tripped over a branch and managed to drop a snowball the size of a boulder on his own head.

Ron and Harry were sitting in the Common Room and whispering seriously to one another.

"What are you two up to?" Fred asked, "You weren't trying to petrify Filch were you?"
"Because we want to be there when you do," George nodded seriously.

"We were busy," Ron said as his ears went red.

"Of course you were," Fred said, "Now I need to go change before I freeze to death. Imagine having to tell that to Wood, he'd bring me back just to kill me again!"

Hazel waited until they'd gone, and Ginny had gone for a bath before turning back to her brother. He still had that same look, "What were you really doing? Where's Hermione?"
Harry hesitated, shared a look with Ron and invited her to sit down in one of the chairs. As he told her everything, her mouth fell open.

"You brewed an illegal potion?" She had to repeat the words, because she couldn't believe that was really what he'd said.

He nodded.

"After what happened over the summer, after what Dumbledore said about expelling you, you still went ahead and brewed an illegal potion?"
"We had to know if Malfoy was behind the attacks," Harry's face was going pink, "We had to be sure!"

"And you thought the best way to find out for sure was to imitate two Slytherins and go into their Common Room? What if you'd been caught? What if the potion had run out?" Her temper rising, like that day in Snape's potion's class "What's the matter with you? I thought you loved Hogwarts!"

"I do!"
"Then why are you trying so hard to get expelled?"

His cheeks reddened even further, "I'm not!"

"It looks like it to me!"

"Something's attacking muggleborns! And it's somehow connected to us."

"But how can it be connected to us? We're not the heirs of Slytherin!"

"I know we're not! But it can't be a fluke that we've been near every attack. Whatever it is involves us." He stopped but there was definitely more he wasn't saying.

"And?" Her hands were on her hips.

"And," He hesitated and took a deep breath, "And then there's you."

"Me?" She hadn't expected that.

"It's been too close to you already."

"But that's stupid, I'm not a muggle," Her temper was rising again.

"I don't care. As long as it's in Hogwarts, it's a danger to you, to Hermione, to every muggle-born in the school. There's no way I'm just sitting here and doing nothing!"

"You're such an idiot!" She said as she stormed off.

How could he have been so stupid! Had he stopped for one single second to think about what would happen if Snape had caught them stealing supplies? What if Madam Pomfrey asked questions now about Hermione? Harry would be expelled, his wand broken like Hagrid's and he'd be stuck with the Dursleys forever. How was he going to survive that? How was she supposed to survive Hogwarts without him?

Things weren't any better when she got up to the dormitory. Atia was sitting on her bed, her new book beside her. Her eyes were red and puffy, like she'd been crying.

"Atia?" She asked, "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Atia said hoarsely, "I'm fine. It's nothing."

"Oh, okay," It was definitely not nothing, but she didn't want to be nosey. Maybe Draco had said something in the Great Hall to upset her. What could he have said though? He was her brother after all.

"Can I help?" She asked at last.

"No, I don't think you can. I'm going to read for a bit, Hazel. Talk to you later." Atia drew her curtains and didn't reappear for the rest of the night.

The next day, Hazel went to see Hermione in the hospital wing. She had brought her favourite book, Gadding with Ghouls so Madam Pomfrey let her in after some persuasion. There was a curtain around Hermione's bed and Hazel's hand came to her mouth before she could stop herself.

"I know," Hermione said, "I look hideous."
"Oh no, not hideous," She said while trying desperately to think of another word, "Just…different."

"At least Harry and Ron are okay," Hermione took her book with a smile. At least, it might have been a smile.

Hazel didn't answer but her face must have given her away.

"I know it seems a silly thing to do," Hermione said, "But there was some very strong evidence that Malfoy might be behind the attacks. And now we know it definitely isn't him.

Had it been worth risking Harry getting expelled from the only place he'd ever belonged? It was on the tip of her tongue but in the end she didn't ask. Hermione had been punished enough.

"And it wasn't a complete waste of time. Malfoy let slip that his dad is hiding some very dodgy stuff in his manor, so Ron's let his dad know."
Hazel bit her lip. Did Atia know about that? Was that why she was so upset?

"And I got to brew a very advanced potion, so it was an invaluable learning experience!"

Well, it was definitely an experience by the looks of things. They sat and chatted a while longer until Madam Pomfrey arrived with a tray of potions for Hermione. Her face fell at the sight of them, and it was so very hard not to feel sorry for her.

There was one thing was obvious though. The three of them weren't going to stop until they found who the heir of Slytherin was. And the more Harry poked around, the more likely he'd be expelled.

There was only one thing for it.

She'd have to find him first.

Ginny wasn't very enthusiastic when she said about it at breakfast the next morning. There was no sign of Atia.

"Are you sure?" Ginny said quietly, "There's not been an attack since before Christmas. Maybe the monster's gone back to sleep?"
"But there was a big gap between Mrs Norris and Colin too, and until the monster's been caught we'll never be sure."

Ginny rubbed her eyes, "But where do we start?"

"Ah ha! The very girl!" The voice cut across Hazel before she could answer. It was Professor Lockhart dressed in robes of splendid scarlet and with his wide, perfect grin, "Miss Potter! You'll be serving your detention on the first day of the new term. I'll see you at 7 o'clock sharp, after dinner."

"I'm not doing detention with Professor Snape?" Harry's braindead move had completely knocked the detention out of her head.

"Ah no, he's a little busy at the minute so I've kindly stepped in," Lockhart gave her a huge wink and her heart fluttered a little. Even though he'd told the entire school about her and his classes were a little terrible, he was still very handsome, "I trust Harry's told you all about my detentions."

Unfortunately so, but it probably wasn't good to say that. She just nodded.

"So, I'll see you then!" He strode off.

"Lucky you," Ginny pulled a face.

"It might help though," Hazel was thinking very quickly, "Maybe I could ask him about the monster, see what he knows."
"If it's as much as he knows about pixies, then you'll need this to write it on," Ginny picked up a cracker.

"Oh haha."

Hazel spent the rest of the holidays reading Hogwarts: A History, which was the size of a small car and trying to note down everything they already knew about the attacks. Maybe there was a pattern.

"So, Colin and Mrs Norris were attacked at night," she said.

"But the Hufflepuff and Nick were attacked in the middle of the day," Ginny countered.

"Yeah, and they weren't all in the same House either; two Gryffindors and a Hufflepuff. The only thing that links them is that they're all muggleborns."
"Including Mrs Norris?"
"Oh, right."

The entire rest of the holiday was like that. No matter how hard she tried, Hazel just could not find a connection between the attacks. It was harder too when the rest of the school came back in the New Year. All they could talk about was Hermione and how she must be the Potter's latest victim. They eventually realised she wasn't petrified, but it didn't stop the rumours.

The first dinner of the year went by very quickly and before long she was making her way up to Lockhart's office.

As the door opened her jaw dropped. Every square inch of space was taken up by photos of Lockhart, all beaming and waving or working on their hair.

"You're in for a treat this evening," She jumped. There were so many moving Lockharts that having one moving around the room felt weird. It was a bit like being on a stage surrounded by an audience, "You'll be helping me write my new book!"

He gestured to a desk with a stack of parchment piled high to one side. Her heart sank as she sat down and saw another pile on the floor as tall as the chair itself.

"Great," She muttered.

"Isn't it!" Lockhart looked like he'd just revealed the secret of immortality, "I've had a lot of correspondence in the past few months from authors wanting to collaborate, but I thought it best to have some new blood, a Potter, help co-author this one."

On and on it went. Lockhart talked without breath for what felt like hours as she tried to keep up. The only time he stopped was to make her read something back. He would then scrunch all of her hard work into a ball and throw it in the bin.

"I knew at once that something was wrong in the village when I spoke to the chief," How could anyone be so enthusiastic after talking about themselves all night? "And I knew it must have something to do with the trolls. After all, that was typical of, what type of trolls did I say they were again?"
"Cave, Professor," Her fingers felt like they were going to fall off.

"Hmm, no. Make them mountain trolls! Much fiercer!"

Seriously? He'd been talking about these trolls for above five rolls of parchment!

"Yes, Professor."

"Excellent! Never be afraid to embellish the truth now and then, for the sake of a good story! Now, where was I…"
"Professor!" She interrupted him, if only to save her poor hand, "I wanted to talk to you about the Chamber of Secrets."
"Oh yes?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I was just wondering what you knew about it. And about the monster? Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

Lockhart chuckled, "Hazel, Hazel, Hazel. The monster's done with. Finished! I've been closing in on it for months now! It was only a matter of time before I'd tracked it down."
That should have been a relief, but it was hard to feel anything but the cramping in her hand,
"But you are going to deal with it?"

"The monster isn't a problem anymore. I've known all along exactly what we're dealing with."
"What? How did you work it out?"
"Years of experience, my dear girl. Subtle hints and clues that only I knew to look for."
"Like what?"
"Good lord," He glanced at this watch, "Look at the time! It's well past midnight! The time has just flown! Well, off you pop back to the Common Room. And I would ask that you don't share anything we shared tonight with your friends. We don't want anyone else getting a sneak peek now!"
A sneak peek of what? She was already trying to forget the evening herself, nevermind telling anyone else about it.

She left the office, massaging her wrist. Would the quill imprint in her palm ever go away?

There was another snowstorm swirling furiously outside, the new year hadn't brought new weather, and the castle was in a murky darkness even with the candles. It was freezing, and she shivered fiercely. She should have brought her new school cloak with her, or Mrs Weasley's jumper. The sooner she was under her covers, the better.

Her hairs were standing on end. This was reminding her horribly of the night Colin was attacked.

She stopped suddenly.

There was a junction ahead. Straight ahead brought her back to Gryffindor Common Room but right…right brought her to the corridor she and Colin had taken that night.

A deep breath. This was such a stupid idea.

She turned right.

Even in the dark she found the right place quickly enough. How could she not? It was practically burned into her brain.

The candles were lit this time, but it was still hard to see more than a few feet in front of her. Had these gremlin statues always been here? Why did they have to make them look so creepy?

Wait! What was that? She leant down to the closest statue. It was scratched at the bottom, like someone had rubbed it with sandpaper. It was the same on the floor, but it was harder to see with the footprints. Colin had been attacked over there, so the monster must have come from the other direction.

She followed the marks, staying as close to the ground as she could. The further the marks went, the more her excitement grew. She was finally getting somewhere!
Then they stopped.

What? How could they just stop?

They stopped in front of another gremlin statue. There wasn't anything special about it; it wasn't hollow, it didn't move. It didn't even look any uglier. It was just…a statue.

She would have to come back during the day, when she could actually see what she was doing. Her teeth started chattering. Any longer here and she was going to end up as an ice lolly. Even the statue had ice on it!

Creak.

Her stomach dropped. That sounded like a suit of armour moving. But the suits didn't move?

She stopped in behind the gremlin statue as a beam of light swept the corridor.

"Who's there?" Oh no, Filch, "I know you're there. Show yourself!"

She tried to make herself as small as possible, tried to keep herself from shaking from cold and fear. If Filch caught her, she wouldn't even make it to Dumbledore's office.

Footsteps. He was coming down the corridor.

What did she do? What could she do?

"Out of bed, are we? Oh dear, oh dear," Filch gloated, "What are we going to do with you? A little detention perhaps? Or maybe someone needs expelled! Just to set an example."
She could hear him breathing. She put her head in her knees, as if that was going to help.

She tipped backwards just as Filch's lamp turned the corner.
"Ah ha!" He shone the light right where she had been. He frowned and swept the light backwards and forwards.

She was between the gremlin's legs. Couldn't he see her?

She didn't dare breath.

With a scowl he moved on.

Hazel sat frozen for ages. What if she moved and he came back? What if she stood up and he was waiting there for her?

But she had to move at some point. She couldn't sit here forever.

A deep breath.

Come on Hazel, now or never.

She crawled out from under the statue.

There was no sign of Filch in the corridor.

She looked at the gremlin. It looked back at her with big, stone eyes. Beneath it was solid stone.

Now wasn't the time to question her good luck.

She hurried back to the Common Room as quietly as she could.

She could thank the gremlin tomorrow.