The New Marauders and the Password Panic

Password Please

One perk of having friends, Molli discovered, was that they had friends of their own that now seemed to want to be your friends too. This is what Molli was experiencing as he happily chatted with Alice on his walk away from Transfiguration class.
"You're telling me ALL SLYTHERINS know sign language?" She signed in disbelief.
"Not ALL of them." Molli told her. "But most do."
"I gotta get me a snake friend." Alice joked. "B-R-I-A-N is a sweetheart but charades gets boring after a while, you know?"
Molli giggled. Speak of the devil. The sunglasses wearing Hufflepuff popped up next to them.
"What did she say?" He asked. "What's the joke? I wanna hear!"
Molli giggled nervously and leaned away from him. He kind of reminded him of Logan with his excitable energy. And while he loved Logan to bits, he could only really handle one of her.
"U-uhm... It doesn't really translate well." He lied.
"Daw..." Brian slumped.
Alice stuck out her lip in mock sympathy and pinched his cheeks, all while Edith lost her mind in the background. Molli laughed again. He still couldn't believe it. Only three months into school and he already had 10 friends. Logan, Ceril, Edith, Lydia, Greta, Alice, Brain, Jamal, Nana and Valary. That was more friends than he'd ever had in his life. And, granted, he wasn't as close to Greta, Lydia, Alice, Brian, Nana, Jamal and (he guessed) Valary, but he still counted them cuz they TALKED TO HIM like he was a person rather than just a Slytherin. Speaking of which.
"I gotta go." He announced. "Slytherin common room is that way." He jammed his thumb down the hall.
"See ya, Molli." Brian waved.
"Bye!" The girls signed in unison.
He signed back before turning his back to them with a smile. That was another thing. He no longer dreaded having to go back to the Slytherin common room. While he still felt awkward, he at least had a friend there now. Valary had filled the hole in Molli's life that existed everywhere Logan, Ceril, and Edith couldn't follow him. Mainly places to do with Slytherin.
His legs suddenly stopped moving.
"Huh?" He squeaked.
There was a gathering of Slytherin students gathered around the portrait entrance. It wasn't ALL of them but a significant amount. And among them was Valary.
"What's going on?" He asked her.
"I think someone changed the password and didn't tell anyone what it was." Valary explained. "Apparently some folks have been out here for hours."
"If the password was changed, why didn't anyone get told?"
"My guess is that someone WAS told and they're just sitting on their arse, watching the chaos unfold."
"Well that would be very Slytherin of them, wouldn't it?"
She chuckled before cupping her hands over her mouth.
"OI! Anyone know the password!?" She called.
"No!" The sea of Slytherins boomed back.
"I do..." a small voice practically whispered.
He was a small boy... actually no, he was probably taller than Molli. He just appeared smaller because of the fact that he was in a wheelchair... and the fact that he was folding in on himself and trying to look as small as possible.
"Well why didn't cha say anythin', Smith!?" An older Slytherin said. "Go ahead an' say it!"
"I can't..." the pale boy practically whispered.
"Oh for Merlin's sake." A silky smooth voice called. "Move, I know it."
Molli recognized that voice. Rigel. The tall boy pushed to the front of the group and looked up at the portrait. The words he said next, shook Molli to his core.
"Valary is a mudblood."
The only sound that came afterwards was silent snickering from the portrait and creaking as it opened up. The Slytherin's were all stunned, Molli most of all. He turned to Valary, but she wasn't there anymore. He turned just a little more to see her running away at full speed. Molli was thinking of calling after her but thought against it. Instead of outing her to their entire house, he ran after her in silence.
...
Molli was gasping for breath. They'd been running for five minutes straight and Valary wasn't slowing down. Molli knew he wasn't going to catch up to her. The girl was clearly in better shape and was really fast despite her short legs.
"Valary!" He choked out.
She stopped so suddenly that Molli almost bulldozed into her. He came to a stop, gasping and panting. He had to take a moment to catch his breath but he could still see that she was trembling. He was about to say something. Console her. Tell her he'd help her through this or protect her. But she had different ideas.
"HOW COULD YOU!?" She roared, spinning around to face him.
Molli almost fell backwards. Her face was red with tears and anger and hurt.
"I..." he gasped for air. "... what?"
"I trusted you..." she mumbled. "Why the hell was I stupid enough to trust you?!"
Molli's eyes widened.
"Y-you think that I..." he couldn't even finish that sentence. "I-I didn't! I-I would never! Valary, you have to believe-"
"You're the only one..."
"What?"
"You're the only one who knows I'm muggleborn..." she told him. "You're the only one who even knows my NAME!"
His eyes widened.
"I... am?"
Valary squeezed her eyes shut and trembled like she was trying desperately not to punch him. Molli was grateful for that, because he knew that if she did, he wouldn't try to stop her.
"... You're the only one who knew... which means either you did this, or you TOLD the person who did this."
"I didn't..." he whispered. "I swear I didn't, Valary..."
She didn't answer. She just shook violently and then stormed off. Valary had won her internal battle. She didn't punch him... but she didn't need to. He felt like she'd punched him right in the gut. His chest hurt. His jaw hurt. He wanted to throw up.
...
"I am aware, Mr Vandoroth." Professor Skerge said. "I've already had five other students come forward with this information."
Professor Skerge was the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor and the head of Slytherin house. He was a brown man with wavy black hair and multiple scars across his face. He had a cold stare and a stern presence. Molli had to admit that he was intimidated by the professor. Especially since he didn't do too well in his class and was certain the man disliked him. But despite his fear of the professor, Molli brought himself to confront the head of Slytherin house and tell him what had happened.
"Ten points to Slytherin for looking out for your housemates." Skerge told him. "As for your friend, she will be called to my office soon enough and I will assure her that the faculty will not tolerate this. We will find the one responsible and make sure it does not happen again. For now, please go about your day. Return to your common room and get some sleep. We will handle this, Mr Vandoroth."
Go back? To the common room? Where he'd have to call his recently lost friend a blood slur to enter? No thank you. Molli did not return to his common room that night. Instead, he went to the library. He looked up password spells. He looked up portraits and how susceptible they were to magic. He studied all the way into the night and curled up under that table he had been studying at when he couldn't force himself to stay awake any longer. He was well aware that he'd be given detention for being out of bed after hours but he slept soundly regardless. He deserved it anyways. He was certain that he didn't tell anyone and that he hadn't done this to Valary. But if he was the only one she ever introduced herself to... then that meant the person who did this had overheard them. Regardless... this was his fault.
...
Molli was not punished for being out past hours. In fact, he woke up with a blanket on his back and a pillow under his head that wasn't there the night prior. Ms Prince simply greeted him in the morning and asked for the pillow and blanket back before sending him off. It became clear why when he was walking down the halls towards the great hall. He had not been the only Slytherin student to sleep outside that night. He saw them scattered in the halls. Some had tried to hide themselves behind curtains or statues. There was even a group that was camped just outside the common roomb by the foot of the portrait. Not everyone had noticed this peaceful protest that day at breakfast but for the ones that did it was all they talked about.
"Molli." Logan called. "Were you one of the Slytherins found outside their common room last night?"
"Yes." He answered without hesitation.
"Why? What happened?" Ceril questioned.
"Guys, I'll explain everything later, but I gotta go." Molli announced.
He saw Valary out of the corner of his eye and shot after her. He didn't know how, but he had to make her believe that he didn't do this to her. He had to make her see that he was gonna help.
"Valary!" He called, once they were both out of the great hall.
Her distant expression turned hard and cold.
"No."
"Just hear me out-"
"No!"
"Valary!"
He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
"I didn't do it!" He insisted. "And I don't know who did but I'm gonna help you find them!"
"I don't want your help!"
"Too bad! If you don't want me around you, fine, but I'll just keep looking on my own! And my friends will-"
"Yeah, funny you should mention your friends." Valary cut him off. "There's one thing that's been getting to me since yesterday. How did a first year student change the password to the Slytherin common room... without help?"
Molli's eyes widened but instead of fear he looked... mad.
"You and those three you've been running around with are quite a handy lot, aren't ya?"
"HOW DARE YOU!?" Molli boomed.
Valary actually flinched back.
"Blame me! Be mad at me all you want but how DARE you suggest that MY FRIENDS would EVER do something so horrible! We'd never do that to someone!"
"Like what you did to Olivia?"
Molli went silent.
"H-how... how did you-?"
"You're not as good a liar as you think you are, Molli." Valary sneered. "One of your friends is a Ravenclaw, ain't he? That's how you got close enough to her. You yourself said you wanted to run at her, wand-a-blazing."
Molli stammered for a moment. Wow, and he thought HE was good at reading people. He sighed.
"You're right..." he said. "I'm not proud of it but... it WAS us who jinxd Olivia."
"AND outed me."
"NO. THAT was not us." Molli insisted. "Look, we pranked Olivia because she made fun of our friend's disability."
Valary's eyes widened. THAT she hadn't been expecting.
"And that doesn't justify what we did but it does explain it." Molli continued. "I wasn't lying to you when I told you that my best friend is muggle born. That Gryffindor girl with the yellow glasses and red braids? Her name is Logan and she's my best friend. She's also muggleborn, like you. And while I can't convince you that I wouldn't betray her, know that SHE would never allow us to do that. She would not have helped and she would have reported us by now. So please, leave my friends out of this."
Molli slowly turned around to walk away when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Valary looking off to the side with her cheeks burning red.
"... I believe you..." She mumbled.
Molli's eyes lit up.
"Really!?"
She bit her lip to prevent herself from smiling.
"Yeah... I'm sorry..."
"Nononono!" Molli waved his hands in front of her face. "Don't be sorry! You were right to suspect me! I mean, who else would have known?"
"Well, technically anyone. We had that conversation in the middle of a crowded hallway." She said, feeling a bit foolish now at the realization that Molli really WASN'T the only one it could have been.
"Oh..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah... well THAT'LL make finding the culprit harder, won't it?"
Valary blushed deeper.
"You... you're REALLY gonna help me with this?" She asked. "Even after...?"
"Of course! We all will!"
She didn't fight the smile this time. Molli's own smile dropped when his stomach growled. He blushed brightly as Valary snickered.
"Come on, big guy." She said, tugging him back towards the great hall.
...
"I'm not sitting there." Valary said in a steely tone. "Whoever did this to me had to have been a Slytherin in order to access the portrait without suspicion and I'm not sharing a table with them."
Molli internally winced. Not showing up at the table was gonna make him stick out like a sore thumb to his brother. But that didn't matter. Valary was what mattered.
"Okay." He told her. "We can sit with Ceril if you want."
"Who's Ceril?"
"Ravenclaw boy." Molli answered, pointing to the tall lad with a ponytail.
"Ah."
And so the two Slytherins meekly shuffled over to the Ravenclaw table. People were obviously watching closely. The last time someone had cross sat (at least as first years) it hadn't exactly been pretty. Even so, Molli walked up to Ceril, practically shaking where he stood, and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Ah! Molli." Ceril said before Molli could speak. "We've been expecting you."
"We...?"
He looked around more and noticed the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff girls that were a bold contrast to the blue robes around them.
"Oh! You're all here. Good." Molli smiled. "Uh... this is my friend, Valary. C-can we... sit down?"
"Of course." Ceril said, scooching over to give them room.
There was a bit of mumbling from the Ravenclaws around them. Ceril gave them THE LOOK and they immediately shut up.
"Unless anyone has any OBJECTIONS?"
Silence. Ceril seemed satisfied with this. Molli and Valary sat down and that was that. No one said anything else. Molli sighed in relief and tried to ignore the prying eyes at his back coming from the Slytherin table.
"Nice ta meet cha!" Logan beamed, sticking her hand out across the table to Valary.
The girl took it, carefully.
"Hi... It's Logan, right?"
Instead of answering right away, Logan smirked at the chubbier Slytherin.
"Been talking about me, have ya Molli?" She teased.
The boy smiled nervously, much to her amusement.
"Y-yeah... sorry. B-but look, there's something we need your help with." He told them.
Everyone leaned in to listen but he was cut off by a loud clap.
In an instant, the room fell silent and everyone turned to the head of the room where Mcgonagal was standing.
"I have an announcement!" She stated. "Let it be known that, until further notice, any and all Slytherin students are permitted to resign to the great hall to rest instead of their common room. If anyone wishes to be placed elsewhere, I suggest that you speak to a member of the faculty about further arrangements. All students are still required to be in bed after hours, regardless of where they chose to reside."
She sat back down. The room began murmuring again.
"Why are you allowed outside your common room?" Nana asked.
"Does this have something to do with the Syltherin students sleeping outside last night?" Jamal added.
They were bombarded with even more questions and Edith hastily pulled everyone to their feet. The five of them raced out of the great hall.
"Okay!" Molli, who was getting quite fed up with all this running, panted. "We need to go somewhere private."
"By private, do you mean... headquarters?" Logan asked.
"Headquarters?" Valary echoed.
"You don't mind, do you?" Molli said.
"I certainly don't." Ceril said.
"Usually I'd say yes but I kinda like that the Whomping Willow is just our place..." Edith signed guiltily.
"I get that, but this is kinda important." Molli said, rubbing the back on his neck again.
"I can keep a secret." Valary assured her.
"I vote yes." Logan stated. "I just really wanna know what's going on!"
"I say yes as well." Ceril said.
Edith thought about it...and then nodded.
"Alright then." Molli grinned.
...
"Woah..." Valary breathed, seemingly in awe at the tree.
"So." Ceril said, walking past her and sitting at the base of the Whomping Willow's trunk. "Mind explaining what all the fuss is about?"
"Yeah, sorry about that." Molli said. "So, uh..." He looked back at Valary. "Do you wanna tell them or should I?"
She tore her eyes away from the tree and stared into his big green orbs for a moment. There was a spark of guilt in her eyes as she realized just how much she'd misjudged his character.
"You go ahead..." she told him. "I don't really wanna talk about it."
"Right..." he turned back to his friends. "So... uh, someone changed the password to the Slytherin common room to... something offensive. S-specifically directed at Valary."
"What is it?" Logan asked.
"I... I-I'd rather not repeat it-"
"The password was "Valary is a mudblood"." The girl in question stated.
Ceril and Edith gasped. Logan looked confused and Molli winced as he realized that he'd have to explain what that meant to her.
"I-it's an offensive term that implies a witch or wizard is inferior or tainted for... being born to muggles..."
Logan's eyebrows raised slightly but that was all the reaction they got from her. He could tell she was putting the pieces together in her mind and not liking the picture she saw.
"A-and because of this, I, a-and apparently a lot of other Slytherins, h-have decided that we aren't gonna step foot in Slytherin common room until it gets fixed."
"And rightfully so." Ceril said, face eerily still. "No wonder the staff seemed to support your decision so fiercely."
"That's terrible!" Edith cried. "Are they gonna fix it!?"
"They're gonna try." Molli told her. "But even if they do, they still won't know WHO did it."
"And if whomever that is goes unpunished, they may be inclined to do it again." Ceril stated. "Therefore, Valary is not safe until they are reprimanded."
"Exactly." Molli tried not to shiver at the thought.
"Valary..." Logan spoke up.
Everyone turned to her. She had been silent the entire time. Slowly standing up, Logan walked over to Valary and took her hands.
"I'm so sorry..." she whispered. "We're gonna find who did this and get their ass expelled." She growled.
Valary's brown eyes widened at this.
"It is unlikely that they will be able to expel the culprit simply for a phrase, but I agree." Ceril said, standing up. "We will see to it that they are properly reprimanded."
Edith signed something and looked pointedly at Molli, silently telling him to repeat it to her.
"A-and until then, we'll be here to... p-protect you." Molli said.
Valary practically melted and Edith grinned. She shot up and zoomed into the shorter girl's arms. Logan quickly followed suit.
"Uh..." Valary hummed, looking very red.
"We hug a lot." Ceril stated, joining the hug. "You'll get used to it."
"Oh... cool..."
She very sneakily grabbed Molli's wrist and pulled him in as well to be smothered by Logan. He squeaked loudly and everyone laughed. For that short moment, all was well.