Snape led Harry and Draco into his office.

"What happened?" Harry asked. "Why was Justin so... so scared?"

"You spoke Parseltongue," Draco said. "You spoke to a snake."

"I know," said Harry. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once- long story- but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to that was before I knew I was a wizard-"

"This wasn't the first time you had spoken in Parseltongue?" Snape said, surprised.

"No, and obviously this is a bad thing by everyone's reaction."

"It isn't necessarily a bad thing, Potter," Snape said. "But the reason why they're scared is because the only other people that can speak to snakes is Salazar Slytherin and the Dark Lord."

"You-Know-Who," Harry muttered, blood running cold. "Of bloody course."

Why couldn't he be normal for once?

Later, he went to find Justin to tell him what really happened. A group of Hufflepuffs were in the library speaking in hushed tones.

"So anyway," a stout boy was saying, "I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Potter's marked him down as his next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Potter he was Muggle-born. Justin actually told him he'd been down for Eton. That's not the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin's heir on the loose, is it?"

"You definitely think it is Potter, then, Ernie?" said a girl with blonde pigtails anxiously.

"Hannah," said the stout boy solemnly, "he's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a Dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."

There was some heavy murmuring at this, and Ernie went on, "Remember what was written on the wall? Enemies of the Heir, Beware. Potter isn't exactly the warmest person around. Hell, he's friends with Draco Malfoy, of all people."

"He may not be exactly warm, but he's polite," said Hannah uncertainly, "and, well, he's the one who made You-Know-Who disappear. He can't be all bad, can he?"

"No one knows how he survived that attack by You-Know-Who. I mean to say, he was only a baby when it happened. He should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark wizard could have survived a curse like that." He dropped his voice until it was barely more than a whisper, and said, "That's probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill him in the first place. Didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers Potter's been hiding?"

"You actually believe that?" Harry snapped.

The Hufflepuffs jumped. Ernie spoke first. "Is there a reason why we shouldn't?"

"I don't hate Muggles!" Harry said. "Forget it, where's Justin?"

"What do you want with him?" said Ernie in a quavering voice.

"I wanted to tell him what really happened with that snake at the Dueling Club," said Harry.

Ernie bit his white lips and then, taking a deep breath, said, "We were all there. We saw what happened."

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

"All I saw," said Ernie stubbornly, though he was trembling as he spoke, "was you speaking Parseltongue and chasing the snake toward Justin. "

"I didn't chase it at him!" Harry said, his voice shaking with anger. "It didn't even touch him!"

"It was a very near miss," said Ernie. "And in case you're getting ideas," he added hastily, "I might tell you that 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!" said Harry fiercely. "Why would I want to attack Muggle-borns?"

"I've heard you hate those Muggles you live with," said Ernie swiftly.

A bitter laugh escaped Harry's lips. "You would, too, if you met them."

The Hufflepuffs' jaws dropped. There was no way that what he was implying was true.

Without waiting for an answer, Harry whipped around and began to leave. "And for the record, my mother was Muggle-born, and while I don't know her personally, I do know that she was a wonderful woman that protected those she cared about fiercely."

Just then, there was a loud commotion. "What the-?"

"ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!" It was Peeves.

"Please don't be Justin," Harry groaned. He didn't see the guilty looks from Hannah and Ernie, who were now convinced that Harry was not the person behind the attacks.

Unfortunately, it was. But it was also Nearly Headless Nick.

"Oh, Potter, you rotter, oh, what have you done, you're killing off' students, you think it's good fun-" Peeves sang out.

"That's enough, Peeves!" barked Professor McGonagall, and Peeves zoomed away backward, with his tongue out at Harry.

"It wasn't him!" Hannah said, surprising Harry with her defense. "He was in the library!"

Peeves just blew a raspberry in response.

Justin was carried up to the hospital wing by Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department, but nobody seemed to know what to do for Nearly Headless Nick. In the end, Professor McGonagall conjured a large fan out of thin air, which she gave to Ernie with instructions to waft Nearly Headless Nick up the stairs. This Ernie did, fanning Nick along like a silent black hovercraft.

Harry shivered. "How could a ghost be petrified?"

"I'm afraid no one knows, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said somberly.

I... cannot end a chapter to save my life :/