Hazel followed Snape in a numb daze. All she could see was Colin lying on the ground, camera held up to his face and his eyes wide open in fear.
The monster had gone right past her to get to him. Why hadn't she stopped it? Why hadn't she even tried?
Colin was the kindest, happiest person in the school. He was the last person who deserved to be petrified.
Now she was being brought to Dumbledore's office and that could only mean one thing.
He thought she was the one attacking people. He had to, she was the only one who had been at both places.
She was going to be expelled.
Uncle Vernon's face floated into her mind and her heart lurched in fear. She could see the wide, evil grin spreading across his moustached face.
"So…back again, eh?"
She was fixed by the thought that she only just avoided walking into Snape's back. He had stopped in front of a huge, bronze statue of an eagle.
"Lemon Drop," he said.
The statue ground unpleasantly as it turned in place, twisting up like a screw to reveal circular stairs climbing up the narrow space. At the very top was a smart wooden door that Snape held open for her.
"In," he said.
Her mouth had gone very dry as she entered the headmaster's office. There were lots of interesting little instruments on top of spindly tables and hundreds of portraits lined every wall. Beside the massive desk was a large, red bird that looked quite unhealthy. A lot of feathers had piled up underneath its perch.
"Sit," Snape ordered.
He was pointing to a chair in front of the desk. He wouldn't look at her. That's how much trouble she was in.
She sat down and looked at her shoes.
Why hadn't she just convinced Colin to wait? Stupid, stupid girl. Just like Uncle Vernon always said.
The bird gave a pathetic cough, and she felt an urge to go and comfort it. It clearly wasn't well, but she didn't dare move with Snape behind her. He was being very quiet, no gloating, no sneering, none of that amusement from Halloween. Surely finding a Gryffindor out of bounds at night was exactly what he wanted? It was the perfect excuse to make her feel even worse. Not to mention the student found…
She couldn't even finish that thought.
"What were you thinking?" Snape said suddenly. He said it so quickly, it was like it'd just burst out. He sounded so…angry.
She didn't dare answer. She didn't dare look into his eyes. The rage in his voice was enough.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous the castle can be at night?" He said, "I thought you would have recognised how lucky you were after Halloween, but it seems I was mistaken."
She felt like an ant.
"You're too much like him. Too much like that brother of yours. No doubt this was his idea, it's very… Potter."
What? She looked up and through her fear and terror came a hot surge of anger, "He had nothing to do with this."
"How very touching," Snape's mouth curled into that familiar sneer, "How quickly you come to his defence. Yes, this is exactly the sort of thing Potter would encourage. I'll be sure to mention it to the headm-"
"Leave him alone!" She was out of her cheer before she even knew it. Her fists were clenched tightly, and blood throbbed through her ears.
Snape raised an eyebrow, but he was still sneering, "You are very much like him. How disappointing."
"Even after what happened tonight, you still just want to pick on Harry! Why do you hate him so much? Why don't you just go and pick on someone who can fight back, you big bully!"
She'd made a terrible mistake. Snape's black eyes flashed dangerous, and his voice dropped to a snake-like hiss, "Be very careful, Miss Potter."
She didn't care. She was so angry! Angry at Snape for his pathetic bullying, angry at Harry for ending up in the Hospital Wing, angry at Colin for wanting to go out so badly.
Worst of all, she was angry at herself. That anger was the worst of all.
She opened her mouth to say something she'd regret for the rest of her life when the door opened and there stood Dumbledore. He looked very grey, like he'd aged a lot since finding Colin, but his eyes were glowing a fierce blue.
"Severus," he said calmly, "Can you join the others in checking the corridors? All the other students are accounted for, but I would like to be sure, all the same."
Snape swept from the room without a word.
"Sit, please," Dumbledore gestured to the chair Hazel had just left.
She did as she was told but the anger was still pulsing through her. Dumbledore sat behind his desk and placed his long fingertips together. He peered at her over his half-moon spectacles as if just noticing her for the first time. What was he staring at? Why was he drawing this out like Snape?
"What?" She snapped and met his blue eyes defiantly.
He didn't answer. Her anger washed away at once at his calm, steady gaze. She looked down at her feet again.
Well done, Hazel. If you weren't being expelled before, you definitely are now.
She didn't even feel dread anymore. She just felt numb.
Dumbledore pulled out his wand and flicked it. She flinched, waiting to be turned into a toad or a pincushion or something else horrible but he just summoned a steaming pink teapot with blue flowers.
"Have a drink," He put his wand away and put his fingertips together again, "It has been a difficult night."
She drank. The tea was warm and perfumy. The cup was shaking in her hands.
"I would like," Dumbledore said, "For you to tell me everything that happened tonight, from your leaving the portrait until I found you."
She told him everything and he didn't interrupt once. He sat with his chin resting on his fingers until she had finished.
"You saw nothing unusual in the corridor?"
"No, Professor Dumbledore."
"You didn't hear anything? Someone speaking, perhaps?"
"No, Professor." What an odd thing to ask.
He sat back with a sigh, "Thank you for your honesty, Hazel. You will be pleased to know that Colin will be revived by the same potion we are already brewing for Mrs Norris. By the end of the year, he will be back to his old self. He has been most fortunate."
What a stupid thing to say. How had he been fortunate? Fortunate to miss the rest of his first year at Hogwarts? Fortunate to spend months as a statue? Fortunate that he wouldn't see his brother or his dad at Christmas?
The lump came back to her throat. It should have just attacked her. She was terrible at her classes anyway so she wouldn't have missed much.
No one would have missed her.
"You mustn't blame yourself, Hazel," Dumbledore was watching her over his half-moon spectacles and down the length of his crooked nose, "What has happened to Colin is not your fault."
"But Professor, I should have stopped him from leaving the dormitory. If we'd just waited until morning then…" Her voice died away.
A weight settled on her shoulder and made her flinch. It was the red bird who had flown over from his perch. He rubbed his beak against her cheek and she felt a warmth like sitting beside a roaring fire. She stroked the bird's head and felt better.
"Fawkes doesn't agree, it seems," Dumbledore said with a smile, "Do you have the gift of divination, Hazel? The gift to tell the future?"
"No, Professor."
"Then how could you have known what would happen tonight? If I had a lemon drop for every student who's snuck out of their dormitories this year alone then I would be shopping for much larger robes as we speak. It has been the profound misfortune of yourself and Colin that this has happened tonight, of all nights. That you have been a victim of that bad luck does not make you responsible for its occurrence."
"Do you know what attacked him?"
"There are many possibilities. Far too many to make assumptions," Dumbledore was tapping his fingers against his nose in thought, and he spoke as if talking to himself, "But it cannot be a coincidence. Though how, I cannot yet say."
"Professor?" What did he mean a coincidence? What did Colin have in common with a cat?
Dumbledore smiled and stood from his desk, "I shall accompany you back to Gryffindor tower. I think we could all benefit from sleep.
There was no way on earth she was going to be sleeping tonight, but she went with him anyway. It was obvious that the conversation was over.
Sure enough, she didn't sleep a wink. She tossed and turned in her bed, haunted by visions of Colin every time she closed her eyes, of monsters that grew more horrifying with each nightmare.
As soon as the sun peaked over the horizon, she woke Ginny. There was a horrible weight in her stomach as she explained what had happened, how Colin had been attacked.
"Oh no," Ginny put her hand over her mouth, "Poor Colin…"
"I know," Dumbledore had said it wasn't her fault, that there was nothing she could have done but it didn't stop the guilt from sitting her stomach.
"I don't get it though, why did the monster leave you alone? It literally went around you to attack Colin."
"You're really not helping," Her stomach was knotting horribly, "I'm going to visit the hospital wing. Do you want to come?"
"No," Ginny fell back into bed. She looked better than last night, but she was still very pale and there were bags under her eyes, "I'm going to tell Tom what happened. Maybe he can help."
"But you said he didn't know anything?"
"Yeah, but now we have a bit more information. It can't hurt to ask. Say hi to Harry for me."
The castle was bathed in bright autumn sunlight, but Hazel still walked to the hospital wing as quickly as she could. It felt like the monster could be around any corner or hiding behind any door. Her skin crawled unpleasantly all the way to the doors of the hospital wing.
Harry was already awake, awkwardly feeding himself porridge with his bad hand. His arm had reinflated since last night and looked back to normal, apart from the sling.
"How's are you?" She asked, "How's the arm?"
"A bit stiff but way better," he lifted his arm, "Nevermind that though, you'll never guess what happened last night!"
"Colin was attacked," Her stomach lurched, and she looked at the floor.
Here it goes…
Harry didn't speak until she was finished but she didn't dare look up. He was shaking from anger.
"I don't believe you. After what I said last week, after what happened at Halloween, you still went out at night!"
"Colin was going anyway; I couldn't let him go on his own!"
"And whatever petrified him was literally inches from you! What if it missed him? What if it went for you instead!"
"I'm sorry," her voice broke. Of all the people who were angry at her, it hurt so much more when it was Harry, "I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt."
"I know you didn't," his voice was immediately kind and he was smiling when she looked up, even though his face was still a little red, "It's just that I saw Colin being brought in last night and knowing that could have been you…"
He shuddered violently. Hazel reached over and took his good hand without thinking and gave it a squeeze. Furious or not, he was still her brother. She couldn't even imagine how she'd feel if he had been petrified.
"So, Dumbledore didn't tell you anything about the attacks?" Harry asked.
"He just said it can't be a coincidence."
"What? That Colin and Mrs Norris were attacked? Malfoy said that muggleborns would be next, but what's that got to do with Mrs Norris?"
"Can you get muggleborns cats?" Hazel felt far from happy but she forced a smile all the same, "Maybe cats have their own little sorting hat."
Harry snorted, "But Dumbledore said last night to McGonagall that the Chamber of Secrets has definitely been opened, and I realised the chamber's been opened before!"
"What? How?"
"I had a visitor last night"
She could only stare by the time he was done, "Dobby stopped you getting on the train? And he broke your arm with the bludger?"
"He thinks he's helping."
"Like Aunt Marge's dogs were 'helping' us learn how to climb trees?"
"I don't know, I didn't exactly ask him for details!"
"So what's next then? Is he just going to collapse the castle on top of you?"
"Don't even joke about that, he might be listening!"
"I'm not joking!"
"I'll keep an eye out for him, don't worry. In the meantime, we have bigger things to worry about."
"Bigger things than a house-elf who's trying to turn you to mush?"
"The Chamber of Secrets! Ron, Hermione and I think we might know who's behind it."
"Who?"
"Malfoy, of course."
"Malfoy? As in Draco Malfoy?"
"It makes sense! You heard what he shouted on Halloween night, and his family have been in Slytherin for centuries. His dad could have opened the Chamber when he was at school and now he's told Draco how to do it."
Hazel bit her lip.
"What?" Harry said defensively, "You don't think it's him?"
"I mean, it could be."
"We'll need to find out for certain."
"How do you plan to do that? He's hardly going to stand up in the Great Hall and announce it."
"Leave that to me," Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office, "In the meantime, please stay out of trouble?"
"I was going to tell you that!" She managed before the matron chided her from the Hospital Wing.
The news of the attack on Colin spread through the castle like wildfire and by Monday the whole school knew about it. The mood in the Great Hall that morning could not have been more different to that of Halloween. Every table was buzzing with conversation, and everyone was looking very serious. A few people stared as she entered, and their eyes burned into her back as she sat next to Ginny and Romilda.
"This is mad," Romilda said, "I can't believe the Chamber of Secrets exists. Like, my dad talked about it, but he said it was just a story."
Ginny shrugged. She looked like her thoughts were a million miles away. When Romilda was distracted by Theodora sitting down, Hazel leant over to her.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just tired."
"Did Tom know anything more about the attacks?"
She shook her head, "He knew the chamber was open before, but all he'd say is that they dealt with the person a long time ago."
"Did he know who it was?"
"He wouldn't say."
"He's not very helpful, is he?"
"Leave him alone," Ginny snapped, "He's just a diary, he's doing his best."
"I wonder why it went after Colin," Romilda said aloud as Theodora walked off to join Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.
"Might it be because he's muggle-born?" Hazel jumped as Fred sat down.
"Could have something to do with it alright, Fred," said George as he sat next to Hazel, "Plus he was out of the dormitory."
"At night."
"In the dark."
"On his own."
Hazel caught Ginny's eye and hurriedly looked away. She hadn't even told the twins about that night. How could she? It had been bad enough telling Dumbledore and Harry. If anyone else found out then they'd think she was behind it.
"I wonder how it knew to find him though," Fred said thoughtfully, "Has the monster been wandering the corridors since Halloween just hoping to find someone?"
"It must have been bored stiff," George said, "Unless it was going into that locked room in the east wing of the third floor. It's always a riot in there."
"Literally, George!"
"Why is it a riot?" Ginny asked.
"Apparently, a load of wizards killed each other in a riot in the middles ages or something," said Fred, "and they were causing mayhem for the Ministry."
"So, they stuck them in that room and let them get on with it," George helped himself to bacon.
"Imagine fighting the same people for centuries," Fred shook his head, "You'd get tired it at some point."
"Even if it was Flint?"
"A good point well made, sir."
"Oh, this can't be good," George was looking up at the staff table. Professor Lockhart had stood up and cleared his throat loudly. He was wearing robes of brilliant teal and his smile shone even from the opposite end of the Great Hall.
"Can I have your attention please!" He called. Everyone else ignored him, "I would like to address the incident that occurred over the weekend!"
The Great Hall went quiet at once.
The other tables at the table had gone very tense. Professor Flitwick was tugging urgently on Professor Lockhart's sleeve, but he hadn't noticed.
"Now, I can confirm that a student was attacked the night of the quidditch game. It is most unfortunate that I was not there to prevent this attack, as the petrification attack is one I have often faced in my many, many legendary battles. However! It is not all bad news, as the quick actions of myself and the other teachers ensured that the second student on the scene was not harmed."
"Second student?"
The tables whispered amongst themselves like a swarm of bees. A chill ran down Hazel's back.
Oh no…
"Of course, we must respect the privacy of said student after such a trying night, so if anyone is thinking of asking Miss Potter for an account of the evening, I would ask that they instead direct their questions to me as I can give a full account of what happened. Thank you."
He sat down. Professor Flitwick had his head in his hands.
No one spoke. Hazel felt like she'd been petrified. Everyone was staring at her.
"You didn't tell us you were there," Romilda said but her eyes were bright and excited, "What happened? Did you see the monster? Is it horrible?"
She felt sick.
She ran from the Hall. Her footsteps echoed loudly on the stone. The whispering swirled around her as if she were surrounded by snakes. Every head turned as she ran past.
She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't care. She just needed to get away from that Hall, from the accusing stares, the hideous whispering.
"Hello?"
She stopped with a gasp. Only then did she look around She had run right through the castle, to the gardens on the other side. It was absolutely freezing!
Atia Malfoy sat on a bench, wrapped in a thick cloak and surrounded by evergreen bushes. A large book rested in her lap. She didn't look angry, or scared.
"You seem upset," said Malfoy, "What's happened?"
Hazel took a seat next to Atia and told her what had happened in the Great Hall.
Atia just sighed, "It was bound to happen eventually."
Great, Hazel didn't think it was possible to feel worse but here she was, "What? Everyone in the school was going to hate me?"
"It's not hate, it's fear. People need someone to blame. You and your brother are well known and that makes you easy targets."
"Brilliant. I feel much better."
"It's not as bad as it seems. You and Po-your brother, are obvious targets now. Fear makes people quick to judge, often without thinking. That same fear means they will shift blame once a more obvious target presents itself."
She thought of what Harry had said in the Hospital Wing, about how Draco was behind the attacks. Would Atia Malfoy be so calm if her brother was the Heir of Slytherin? Did she even know?
"How do you know?" She settled on asking.
"I know people. It comes with being a Malfoy."
"Oh."
What else comes with being a Malfoy?
"Who do you think it is?" She couldn't contain it anymore.
They sat quietly for a while.
"I was sorry to hear about Colin," Atia finally said, "He always seemed nice."
"He was," There was a lump in her throat, "He is."
The bell for the first lesson of the day rang. Hazel took a deep breath. How could she face those accusing stares again?
"Shall I walk with you?" Atia said, "Not that it will help much, being seen with me."
"No, I'd like that," It was nice that there was one more person in the school who didn't think she was a monster, "Thank you."
The next few days were not fun.
Gryffindor Tower was the only place that there was any peace. Everywhere else, people pointed and whispered or bunched together as if she was going to sprout horns and breath fire. People wouldn't even look at her, as if catching her eye would be enough for them to drop stone dead.
"It was still worse in first year," Harry said one night in the common room, "But it's getting close."
Brilliant…
"We just need Malfoy to talk," Harry went on, potions homework abandoned in front of him.
She had told him about her chat with Atia but, in that way that only Harry could, he was stubbornly refusing to listen to her.
"I don't think it's him," she said yet again.
"Well, Atia Malfoy's hardly going to say it's Draco, is she?" Harry answered the same way he had every time they had this talk, like a robot.
"Whoever's behind this is going to get hit by the Ministry like one of Dobby's bludgers," Ron added helpfully, "She's not going to land her brother in it."
"We're working on a plan," Harry said, "If it's not Malfoy then at least we can ask who he thinks it is."
"What's the plan?" She asked for what felt like the hundredth time.
"I'm not telling you."
"Why not?" This was so frustrating!
"It's not ready yet. I'll tell you when we're done with it, I promise."
And that was all he'd say, no matter how many times she asked. Why did he have to be so stubborn!
Things got even worse a few days later.
Hazel was in an armchair wonderfully close to the common room fire. Normally she wouldn't have got within a mile of such a good seat but most of the older students had gone to Lockhart's new duelling club so it was free. It was so annoying that the first years weren't allowed to go. Even if she couldn't do any of the spells, it would have been amazing to see Lockhart in action.
It wasn't his fault that he'd told the whole school about her after all. He was only trying to take the attention away from her. They'd have all found out eventually. She was reading Travels with Trolls again. It was maybe her favourite of all his books.
Romilda was curled up in an armchair reading a magazine and Ginny was in another reading Winning Witches: A history of the Holyhead Harpies.
"Oh, look who it is," Romilda said over the crackling fire.
Atia Malfoy had come down from the dormitory with her book under her arm. She looked over at the group by the fire, hesitated and walked over.
"May I join you?" she asked very nervously.
"Sure," Hazel answered before Romilda or Ginny got a chance, "We have a spare seat."
Romilda gasped dramatically but went back to her magazine. Ginny was giving Hazel a very dirty look, but it was nothing compared to what she gave Atia as she settled properly in the armchair.
"I don't want to fight," Atia had noticed the look, "I just want to read my book near the fire."
Ginny shrugged and went back to reading. That hadn't gone brilliantly. Hazel had hoped that Ginny would be a bit more understanding but then, she had been in a bad mood all day. Everything suddenly felt a little tense.
The Fat Lady's portrait swung violently open and most of Gryffindor house spilled through, talking furiously. That was weird, they were at least half an hour early. What had happened? Where was Harry?
"I still don't believe it," Seamus Finnegan said.
"There has to be some other reason," said Katie Bell.
"I always knew there was something up with him," said Cormac McLaggen, Theodora's older brother.
They spotted Hazel and everyone went very quiet. That now familiar sense of dread washed over her. None of them would look at her. What had happened?
"Hazel!" Fred pushed his way through the crowd, "You never told us Harry was a parselmouth?"
"A what?" Whatever it was, it was bad. Ginny's eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hair and Romilda covered her mouth in shock.
"A parselmouth!" said George, "He can talk to snakes!"
"Well yeah," That was it? That's what everyone looked so worried about? Why did they look so much worse now she'd said yes? Had she just done something very bad? "But he only did it once! In a zoo."
"Twice, after tonight. Malfoy," he shot Atia a dirty look, "Fired a snake at him and it went for one of the Hufflepuffs. Harry spoke to it."
"Was anyone hurt?" She felt very cold despite the roaring fire.
"No, Snape got rid of the snake before it could hurt anyone," said George, "but it was creepy."
"Why was it creepy?" Was no one going to explain to her what was so bad? He'd only talked to a snake! It wasn't like he'd summoned a dragon!
"It's a hallmark of a dark wizard," Fred said, "Slytherin was famous for it, all his descendants could talk to snakes."
"But Harry's not a dark wizard," she said at once. No one answered, "He isn't!"
"Of course he's not." Everyone looked at Atia Malfoy who had stood from her chair, book in hand, "That's absolutely ridiculous."
"What would you know about it?" Seamus Finnegan snorted.
"Yeah!" said Lee Jordan, "If it hadn't been for Malfoy, there wouldn't have been any snake for him to speak to!"
There were angry mutterings of agreement.
Atia had gone a little pink but she spoke loudly over the crowd, "First of all, unless my brother and Harry Potter are secretly working together then I doubt Draco summoned a snake with the sole intention of Po-Harry talking to it. Second of all, Salazar Slytherin is the most famous parselmouth but he's not even close to the only one."
"You-Know-Who could talk to snakes," said Cormac McLaggen to more muttering.
"So could Merlin, and I don't recall anyone calling him a dark wizard. Do any of you actually believe that Harry Potter is the heir of Slytherin?"
No one answered.
"I thought not," Atia said, "I thought it would be bad enough in the rest of the school but aren't you Gryffindors supposed to stick together, no? Goodnight."
With that, she left to stunned silence.
Everyone else headed up to their dormitories, although the mutterings of before were nowhere near as bad.
"Wow," said Ginny, "Did that really just happen? A Malfoy defending a Potter?"
"I think so," Hazel still felt sick. Where had Harry gone? Was he okay? "I'm glad she did though."
"Me too," Ginny nodded, "At least someone else is looking out for him."
"Even if it's a Malfoy?" Hazel asked cheekily.
"Well, no one's perfect."
Snow fell on Hogwarts that night and didn't stop for a whole week. Herbology was cancelled so Professor Sprout could protect the mandrakes and the corridors, already chilly, were like freezers. It didn't help that Peeves was emptying buckets of water onto the floor and opening windows, so random corridors were turned into ice rinks. Poor Magnus Gilchrist slipped on one and had to go to Madam Pomfrey with a broken wrist.
She was actually looking forward to Potions that afternoon. Yeah, the dungeon was dark, slimy and smelt like rotten eggs but at least it wasn't cold with all the fires going. Hazel was wearing her cloak everywhere now as well as a second jumper. Any more layers and she wouldn't be able to lower her arms enough to fit through doorways.
Plus, Potions didn't need a wand, so it was one of the few classes she could actually do. They sat in the classroom and unpacked their bags while waiting for Snape. Atia had joined them at their table and, though Ginny was a little unsure, the defence of Harry seemed to have won her over.
"Hey, Hazel," Euan Neill said with a grin nearly as wide as Professor Lockhart's, "Wait until you see this!"
He pulled out what looked like a mouldy purple onion that smelt like sweaty socks. Her stomach lurched at the first sniff, "What is it?"
"It's an Ushaladi," he said, "It's from Africa, it wards off evil spirits."
Atia snorted derisively.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" Hazel asked.
Besides keep it as far away as possible obviously…
"You carry it," Euan said, "Then if Slytherin's monster comes after you, you're completely protected!"
"Slytherin's monster isn't an evil spirit," Atia said.
"It might be! And even if it's not, this thing can ward off all sorts of creatures. Did you know aurors in the Zimbabwean Ministry of Magic carry them?"
"I bet they're really popular," said Ginny.
"Doesn't this dungeon smell bad enough without that as well?" Atia added.
"Come on, Hazel," Euan pressed eagerly, "What do you say? They're normally two galleons but I'll give you this one for twelve sickles as it's a bit past it's best."
"A bit?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"There's another detail you may have missed," said Atia, "Hazel's not a mu-muggle, the monster won't go after her."
"Ah, but can you run that risk? Go on Hazel, I'll do it for ten sickles, you can't say fairer than that! I'll even throw this in," He pulled out something small, brown and round from his pocket.
"And I suppose that wards off mummies?" Atia snorted.
"No, it's a jam donut. I took it from breakfast this morning."
"Well, well," Matilda Tallow, sneered as she entered the room "Making friends, Atia? Do you want a bar of soap for when you're done?"
The other Slytherin girls; Yaxley, Graves and Selwyn all giggled horribly. Atia lowered her head to her desk.
"Clear off, Tallow," Ginny snapped.
"Oh, listen to the little Weasley baaing. You might want to be careful; we'd not want you to get in trouble or anything. No more howlers in the post."
Ginny went pale and she looked away.
"That's what I thought. I don't know why you're bothering, Atia. These 'Gryffindors' don't have a backbone amongst them. Especially this one," Tallow pointed to Ginny, "Even for a Weasley she's pathetic. Look at her, it's like she's wasting away. I guess that's what happens when your family has too many mouths to feed, the runt always gets left behind."
The anger surged through Hazel like she'd been electrocuted. Tallow had the same look as Dudley all those times before. When they had beaten Harry, when they had teased her to tears. When they had everything they could ever want and just used it to hurt the people who didn't. She'd had enough of it!
"Shut up!" She jumped to her feet. The ingredients on the bench flew in every direction, smashing against the walls and the floor. A bottle missed Tallow by inches, and she was drenched in thick, horrible smelling snake bile.
The class had gone very quiet.
Tallow was shaking but her face was contorted in fury, "You'll regret that you bi-"
"Silence!" Snape strode into the room, cloak billowing and eyes narrowed, "What happened here?"
"It was Potter, Professor!" Tallow said with a little of her smugness back, "She threw a bottle at me!"
"Only because you were being a massive bully!" Hazel shouted back.
"Quiet!" Snape snapped, "If this ever happens in my class again, I promise the punishment for those responsible will be terrible."
Hazel didn't dare meet his eyes, but that anger was still pulsing unpleasantly.
"Go and clean yourself up, Tallow," Snape said, "And return at once."
"Professor!" Tallow was outraged, "Aren't you going to punish her?"
Snape turned to look at her and the Slytherin wilted under those cold, black eyes, "Go and clean up, now."
Tallow stormed off. The other Slytherin girls watched Hazel with dirty looks from their desk.
"That was brilliant," Ginny said, "And still no punishment from Snape?"
Hazel didn't care. Tallow's smirk wouldn't leave her mind.
"Now," Snape had summoned the attendance sheet to his hand, "I see we have an empty chair. Who do we have missing?"
The Gryffindors looked amongst one another in astonishment.
"is Creevey here?" Snape looked around. The Slytherins laughed.
"He's been petrified, Professor!" Euan said angrily.
"Oh dear," Snape clicked his tongue, "That's no excuse to miss Potions. I shall have to take a point from Gryffindor for this. And for every class that he happens to miss between now and the end of the year."
"What?"
"Professor Snape!"
"That's so not fair!"
"Silence!" Snape called and the protests stopped, "Now. Is anyone else going to dare speak out of turn?"
Hazel's anger rose up and mixed with guilt in her stomach, "It's not Colin's fault he's been petrified and you're punishing him, just like it wasn't Harry's fault and you wanted to punish him! Do you just enjoy being wrong?"
That was it. She had officially gone too far.
There was a deadly silence in the room. It was like no one even dared breath. Snape stood frozen as if he'd been petrified himself. All of that anger washed away at once.
What have I done?
"Forty points from Gryffindor," Snape's voice was barely above a whisper. She had never seen him look so angry, "And detention, Potter. If you speak to me like that one more time, it will be instant expulsion."
She felt so drained as she looked down at her remaining potions ingredients. She couldn't even look at Ginny.
What would Snape have in store for her?