Amelia Potter and the Chamber of Secrets PART 1

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scarves on the Mandrakes, a tricky operation she would entrust to no one else, now that it was so important for the Mandrakes to grow quickly and revive Mrs Norris and Colin Creevey.

Harry fretted about this next to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, while Ron and Hermione used their lesson 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. 'Go and find Justin if it's so important to you.'

So Harry 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 thick, swirling grey snow at every window. Shivering, Harry walked past classrooms where lessons were taking place, catching snatches of what was happening within. Professor McGonagall was shouting at someone who, by the sound of it, had turned his friend into a badger. Resisting the urge to take a look, Harry walked on by, thinking that Justin might be using his free lesson 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, Harry could see that their heads were close together and they were having what looked like an absorbing conversation. Another Hufflepuff boy who looked to be in his fifth year was sitting away from them reading.  He couldn't see whether Justin was among them. He was walking towards them when something of what they were saying met his ears, and he 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 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