enchanted • draco malfoy

Year 2: Polyjuice Potion

Felicity's POV

Ron, Harry, Hermione, and I rushed into the Gryffindor Common Room immediately after Dueling Club. "You're a Parselmouth?" Ron exploded as soon as we caught our breath. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Harry looked confused. "I'm a what?" he asked. "Parselmouth. It means that you have the ability to talk to snakes," I informed him. "I know," Harry replied, still looking bewildered, "I accidentally set a python on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once."

Hermione, Ron, and I exchanged wide-eyed looks. "Once," Harry emphasized, "but so what? I bet loads of people here can do it, too." I shook my head. "No, Harry. It's not a very common gift." "This is bad," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"What's bad?" Harry asked exasperatedly, "If I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin-" "So that's what you said," Ron mused. "You were right there! You heard me!" Harry insisted. "We heard you speak Parseltongue, Harry. The language of the snakes," Hermione explained nervously.

"I-I spoke a different language?" Harry questioned, stunned. I nodded and Harry frowned. "But I didn't realize... How can I speak a language without knowing I can?"

"We don't know, but it sounded like you were egging the snake on or something," Hermione said, "Harry, there's a reason the symbol of Slytherin is a serpent. Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. He could talk to snakes, too." "Exactly," Ron confirmed.

"Now the whole school's gonna think you're his great-great-great-great-great-great-" "Okay, I get it," Harry said, cutting me off. "Grandson," I finished. "But I'm not!" Harry responded, "I can't be..." "He lived a thousand years ago," Hermione replied, "For all we know, you could be."

***

The four of us all sat next to each other the next day in Transfiguration, but Harry kept turning around to glance at our classmates that were staring at him. I glared at them and they turned around quickly. Harry looked to me, Ron, and Hermione and we all sent him sympathetic looks. He sighed and packed up his things. "I'll see you guys back in the Common Room," he said wearily. 

Everyone turned in his direction as he stood up, and stared at him as he walked out the door. It was dead quiet before I ruined it. "Don't any of you have anything better to do than stare and judge?" I snapped. They all averted their eyes back to the Transfiguration homework, muttering about the Heir of Slytherin.

After class, Hermione dragged me to the Great Hall, where Dueling club was taking place. I groaned. "Why do we have to do this? Harry and Ron aren't," I complained. "Because we need their hair," she whispered, pointing to two Slytherin girls, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode, fawning over -ugh- Malfoy. I wrinkled my nose up in disgust. "Fine."

All the girls stood in two parallel lines, and I was facing Pansy Parkinson. With a name like Pansy, you'd expect her to be slightly more... delicate looking...? Instead, she looked fierce enough to fight Crabbe and Goyle at the same time. But this wasn't a physical fight, it was a mental fight. And wands are only as powerful as the wizards who use them.

Each pair was placed roughly ten feet away from another pair, and each person within the pair was about four feet away from each other. Perfect. We both took out our wands, and I already had the perfect jinx in mind. George gave it to me last summer, in case I ever needed to scare someone away. I smirked and she sneered before shouting her first charm.

"Baubillious!" A bolt of white hot lightning shot at me from the tip of her wand.

"Protego!" I yelled as the shimmering shield I summoned rose and absorbed her attempt at frying me.