Slytherin Lover

Second Year: Petrified ?

You sit at the Hufflepuff table, eating your dinner on a nice Sunday evening. Your second year at Hogwarts has started a few weeks ago, and you're more excited than ever. This year was already great, and it's going to be even better than last year, which means you have to avoid Draco Malfoy as much as possible, and you've been doing pretty good the last few weeks.

"Haven't you all heard ?" Susan asks, looking at you, and then at Ernie.
"Heard what ?" You ask, eating your dinner.
"I have", Ernie says, as he looks at Susan.
"Heard what ?!" You ask again, wanting an answer.
"Shh, not so loud !"
You sigh and look at Susan, who still hasn't answered your question.
"That Gryffindor boy - I'm not really sure what his name was .."
"Colin Creevey", Ernie says, helping her out.
"Yes, him. Colin Creevey. He has been petrified."
You swallow the food that was still in your mouth, and look at Susan as your eyes widen.
"Petrified ? How ? By whom ? Who petrified him ?" You immediately ask.
"Relax, Blanche. We don't know."
"Well, we might know", Ernie says. You turn your head to look at Ernie and raise your eyebrow. He continues to eat his food, but you keep staring at him.
"What ?" He asks, as he notices you're staring at him.
"We might know ?" You quote him. "Who is it ? Who has petrified him ?"
Even though you don't really know a student named Colin Creevey, you're shocked to hear this.
"Well, we're not really sure. Haven't you seen the sign on the wall ?"
"What sign ?"
"There is a sign written in blood on the wall in the hallway. Haven't you seen it ?"
You shake your head, not being able to get a word out of your mouth anymore.
"What does it say ? I haven't seen it either", Susan says. Ernie clears his throats before continuing.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir .. beware", he whispers.
"What does that mean ?"
"Have you ever heard of a Chamber of Secrets before ?" You ask, your eyes switching between Susan and Ernie.
"Not much", Ernie says, while Susan shakes her head. You look away from them, and try to finish your dinner, but you've lost your appetite.
"What if more students will be petrified ?" You suddenly ask, not looking at either Susan or Ernie.
"I'm sure that doesn't happen -"
"But Susan, what if it does ? What if one of you will get petrified ? What if - I get petrified ?" You swallow and look at them, hoping they'll say something encouraging that will make you stop worrying, but before they can even open their mouths, a familiar voice starts talking.
"What if you'd get petrified ? I'd be very happy, Lightwood, and I'm saying that from the bottom of my heart."
You turn around, and see Draco's evil smirk as he walks by. He and his friends start laughing as they walk away towards the entrance of the Great Hall.
"Go away, Malfoy", Ernie yells as he stands up.
"Ernie, it's alright. I wasn't going to let him bring me down anymore, remember ? And I've been doing pretty great the last few weeks, I'd like to keep it that way."
Ernie nods and sits back down.
"I really don't know why he hates you so much", Susan says. You look at her and pull up your shoulders.
"Me neither. Perhaps because he's jealous ?" Ernie says, looking at Susan. She looks back at him, and they start having a conversation about all the reasons why Draco might be so mean to you.
"Perhaps he's just a jerk."
"Not perhaps, he really is."
"That's true. But there has to be something -"
"Can you please stop ?" You say, interrupting them. They both nod and continue to eat. You try to eat also, but look up as you hear someone running into the Great Hall.
"Guys ! Justin has been petrified also !" Hannah Abbott, a fellow Hufflepuff student, yells and looks at her friends who are sitting at the Hufflepuff table. They stand up, and follow her outside the Great Hall. Almost every other student stands up as well, and follows her to Justin.
You look at Ernie who's sitting next to you. Even though you and Susan didn't really spent much time with him, you know Justin's a good friend of Ernie.
As Ernie stands up, you and Susan stand up as well and run after Hannah.

"This can't be."
"There have been two students petrified already."
"That's not all, I heard Mrs. Norris has also been petrified."
"And Nearly Headless Nick too !"
All the students start panicking and stand around Justin, who's laying on the ground. Harry Potter is sitting next to him.
"What's going to happen next ?" You whisper quietly, but you can't take your eyes off of Justin.
"I - I don't know", Susan says.
You look at Ernie, and see that he's just as shocked as everyone else is. You take his hand and intertwine your fingers with his. You notice that Susan does the same thing, but with his other hand. You squeeze softly in his hand, which makes Ernie smile lightly.
"He's going to be fine", you say, as calm as possible. Ernie nods his head.
"We know he will be", Susan adds.
After the professors are also standing around Justin, they tell all the students to leave and go to their dormitory. You are still holding Ernie's hand as the three of you walk to the Hufflepuff common room. Even though you're trying to stay strong for Ernie and letting him see there's nothing to worry about, you can't deny that you're really scared. You could be the next student who gets petrified.