The Malfoy boy and the Potter girl

Trashy Hufflepuffs

By next morning, however, the snow that had begun in the night had turned into a blizzard so thick that the last Herbology lesson of the term was canceled: Professor Sprout wanted to fit socks and scarves on the Mandrakes.

I satnext to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, while Ron and Hermione used their time off to play a game of wizard chess.

"For heaven's sake, Harry," said Hermione, exasperated, as one of Ron's bishops wrestled her knight off his horse and dragged him off the board. " Will you stop pacing? Skylar,Go and find Justin if it's so important to you."

So I got up and left through the portrait hole, wondering where Justin might be.

The castle was darker than it usually was in daytime because of the snow at every window. Shivering, I walked past classrooms where lessons were taking place. And thinking that Justin might be using his free time to catch up on some work, and deciding to check the library first.

A group of the Hufflepuffs who should have been in Herbology were indeed sitting at the back of the library, but they didn't seem to be working. Between the long lines of high bookshelves, I could see that their heads were close together and they were having what looked like an absorbing conversation. I couldn't see whether Justin was among them. I was walking toward them when something of what they were saying met my ears, and I paused to listen, hidden in the Invisibility section.

"So anyway," a stout boy was saying, "I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if the Potter's marked him down their 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, "She'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."

Ernie went on, "Remember what was written on the wall? Enemies of the Heir, Beware. The Potter's had some sort of run- in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat's attacked. That first year, Creevey, was annoying Potter at the Quidditch match, taking pictures of her while she was lying in the mud. Next thing we know—Creevey's been attacked."

"Se always seems so nice, though," said Hannah uncertainly, "and, well, they're the ones who made You-Know-Who disappear. She can't be all bad, can she?"

"She's also hot as all get out, that dent make her anymore trustworthy. No one knows how they survived that attack by You-Know-Who. I mean to say, they were only a baby when it happened. They 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 them in the first place. Didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers the Potter's have been hiding?"

I couldn't take anymore. Clearing my throat loudly, I stepped out from behind the bookshelves. If I hadn't been feeling so angry that my eyes were burning red, I would have found the sight that greeted me funny: Every one of the Hufflepuffs looked as though they had been Petrified by the sight of me, and the color was draining out of Ernie's face.

"Hello," I said. "I'm looking for Justin Finch-Fletchley."

The Hufflepuffs' worst fears had clearly been confirmed. They all looked fearfully at Ernie.