Scarred from the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter Fan Fiction Retelling)

Chapter 12: You are Literally Always at the Scene of the Crime

Percy basically had to act as Harry's bodyguard on the way back to the Gryffindor common room. With the surprise revelation that Harry could talk to snakes ("I knew it all the time," Malfoy bragged, however. "I saw him slithering on his stomach up on the fourth-floor corridor the other day.), no one wanted to miss the chance to yell at him and blame all the attacks on him.

"He's the Heir of Slytherin!" Ernie shouted as Percy briskly marched Harry past a group of Hufflepuffs. "I heard he opened the Chamber of Secrets. He made that poster with the creepy message. I recognized his arts and crafts handiwork in a heartbeat. He's the one who set loose the horrible monster that petrified Colin and that cat. I saw Harry attack them myself!"

"You saw Harry attack them?" Hannah cried with wide-eyes. She threw her quill at Harry. "Attacker! Stop attacking people, attacker! Attacker!"

"Wow, and I thought Harry was cute," Cho mumbled, shaking her head as Harry scurried by. "I mean, he seemed so nice and innocent, even though he mysteriously defeated You-Know-Who when he was just a baby. Like, right, Padma?"

"It does make sense," Padma agreed. "Harry probably opened the Chamber of Secrets 12 years ago and released the monster on You-Know-Who. It all fits! That's how Harry defeated You-Know-Who! But how could he do that when he could barely walk?"

Thanks to Ernie and his gullible listeners, the whole school now believed the evil from the Chamber was some kind of monster.

Percy shoved his way through a gang of finger-pointing ghosts as he maneuvered Harry up the spiraling staircase to the common room. They stopped outside the portrait of the Fat Lady. Her canvas looked even more faded than last year. "Password?" she asked.

"Memories," Percy recited.

The Fat Lady glared at Harry beneath Percy's outstretched arms. "What's he doing here?"

"Harry Potter's in Gryffindor."

"A likely story. I heard he's the Heir of Slytherin. Henceforth and so with, he's in Slytherin. I can't let a Slytherin into the Gryffindor common room. Honestly, the green will clash with the red."

"I'm not the Heir of Slytherin!" Harry yelled, throwing Percy's arm off of him. "I don't understand why people even think that when all I did was talk to a snake?"

The Fat Lady grunted. "Is he serious? I don't mean the prisoner."

"Just open, or I'll paint over you," Percy threatened.

"I am highly offended!" The Fat Lady grunted again and swung open.

Percy rushed Harry inside and tossed him into a chair by the fireplace. "Okay, you're here. Now I can get away from you, freakoid." He shivered and hurried up to his bedroom.

"Uh, okay..." Harry looked around. There were a few other Gryffindors in the common room. Lavender and Parvati were shoveling dirt into her schoolbag for some reason. Cormac McLaggen was giving himself a crude Quaffle tattoo. Ginny was in the other chair by the fireplace with a black book in her lap. He smiled awkwardly at her. "Hi, Ginny."

"Hi." Ginny's eyes suddenly turned white, and she began breathlessly writing in her diary. Then she stopped, looked up, and her eyes returned to normal. "Hi, Harry."

"Uh, I'm feeling uncomfortable," Harry muttered.

"What is that monstrosity?"

Harry turned around and saw Angelina pointing into Lavender's bag.

"It's nothing!" Lavender cried. "It's a portable poinsettia. They're all the rage in Dufftown."

"No, it's not!" Angelina hollered, snatching at the bag.