Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 47: The Power of Friendship

10 May 1993

JIM POTTER SAVES THE DAY! SLAYS BEAST OF SLYTHERIN!
RETRIEVES ANCIENT RELIC THAT REVIVES PETRIFICATION VICTIMS

By Rita Skeeter, reporting for the Daily Prophet

Faithful readers have no doubt been following the nightmarish events that have taken place over the past few days at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. The recent petrifications of several students and a cat, followed by that of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore himself. The astonishing revelation that famed adventurer and author Gilderoy Lockhart was the architect of the petrifications followed by his shocking self-Obliviation here in the very offices of the Daily Prophet. And worst of all, the horrifying development that Lockhart's foul machinations survived even after his fall, as nearly the entire Hogwarts staff was petrified leaving the students defenseless.

Luckily, once again our hero and national treasure, Jim Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was on the case. Taking the initiative when it was revealed that Aurors were unable to penetrate Hogwarts security, Jim bravely fought his way through to the legendary Chamber of Secrets where he personally slew Slytherin's Monster, which turned out to be a Basilisk! That's right, gentle readers, Salazar Slytherin created a Basilisk and hid it in the bowels of Hogwarts, no doubt for some malign purpose. Fortunately for all concerned, the Basilisk was only able to petrify rather than kill outright. It was this creature that Gilderoy Lockhart used against our children.

And then, the perfidious Lockhart found an even worse way to harm our younglings – turning them against one another. For it turns out that Lockhart had an unwitting accomplice, an innocent student to whom he had passed a book cursed with the darkest of magics, one which Confunded the child so that he would continue with Lockhart's masterplan even after his eviction from Hogwarts. The child's name is currently being withheld for privacy reasons, but authorities assure this reporter that there are no further signs of dark magic affecting the boy, who is the son of a respected Ministry official. In a brief interview conducted via Floo, Peter Pettigrew, solicitor and spokesman for the Potter family had this to say:

"When the teachers were all petrified and one of Jim's good friends was taken down into the Chamber of Secrets and the Ministry was unable to assist, of course Jim did what he had to do. He is the quintessential Gryffindor, and he does what is right instead of what is easy. The real scandal here is that his heroism came despite months of slander and defamation from across the nation over his Parseltongue gift, one he acquired as a result of his victory over You-Know-Who that saved our nation from destruction. Jim was only able to enter the Chamber of Secrets because he was a Parselmouth, and had he not possessed that gift, or worse, been afraid to use it because of the opprobrium of narrow-minded individuals, disaster would have befallen the entire Hogwarts student body. As Albus Dumbledore is fond of saying, 'It is our choices that define us, not our abilities.' I hope as a result of Jim's heroism, the people of Magical Britain will become more open-minded about Parseltongue which, while unusual, is clearly not inherently evil."

Mr. Pettigrew reassured the Daily Prophet that Jim is none the worse for wear from his titanic battle against the deadly 100-foot-long Basilisk and that Jim also wanted my readers to know of his personal gratitude to two people who accompanied him to the Chamber to provide moral support: his twin brother, Harry Potter, and First Year Slytherin, Jennifer Weasley.

For more information about Parseltongue as it is viewed around the rest of the world, see page 7.

The Hogwarts Great Hall
8:45 a.m.

"Jennifer? Jennifer?!" Ginny Weasley exclaimed in disbelief as she read Skeeter's article.

"Hey, at least you're in there," Amy Wilkes replied with a smirk. "I'm not mentioned at all."