RUMOURS

Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. Snape, too, was looking at me in an unexpected way: It was a shrewd and calculating look, and though I clearly understood the intention and fear behind it, I didn't like it. I was also dimly aware of an ominous muttering all around the walls. Then I felt a tugging on the back of my robes.

"Come on," said Neville's voice in my ear. "Move – come on –"

Neville steered him out of the hall, Hermione hurrying alongside them. As we went through the doors, the people on either side drew away as though they were frightened of catching something. I understood of what was going on, and Neville and Hermione did not seem to be interested in explaining anything until they had dragged me all the way up to the empty Gryffindor common room. Then Hermione pushed Harry into an armchair and said, "You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm a what?" I pretended to be clueless.

"A Parselmouth!" said Neville. "You can talk to snakes!"

I replied as if everything that had happened was absolutely normal "I know, I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once – it's a very long story – but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to – that was before I knew I was a wizard –"

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Neville repeated faintly.

"So?" I said " I bet loads of people here can do it."

"Oh, no they can't," said Neville. "It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is bad."

"What's bad?" I asked feigning ignorance. "What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Zoe and Justin –"

"Oh, that's what you said to it?"

"What d'you mean? You were there – you heard me –"

"I heard you speaking Parseltongue," said Neville. "Snake language. You could have been saying anything – no wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something – it was creepy, you know –"

I gaped at him.

"I spoke a different language? But – I didn't realize – how can I speak a language without knowing I speak it?"

Neville shook his head. Hermione, and Neville were looking as though someone had died. I couldn't see what was so terrible.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a massive snake biting off Zoe and Justin's heads?" I spoke.

"Thank you for that," Neville mumbled under her breath.

"What does it matter how I did it as long as Zoe and Justin don't have to join the Headless Hunt?"

"It matters," said Hermione, speaking at last in a hushed voice, "because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent."

"Exactly," said Neville. "And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-great-grandson or something –"

"But I'm not," I spoke, with a panic I couldn't quite explain.

"You'll find that hard to prove," said Hermione. "He lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be."

It seemed that even my closest friend was finally convinced that all that happened was real and not acting. I was sure that this incident will reach Dumble's as well as Tommy. It was crucial that believe that I had no idea about the gifts I possess or how to use them. This would be the basis of my survival in the time ahead.

The next day I was taking a stroll to check if the gossip had spread properly.

The castle was darker than it usually was in the daytime because of the thick, swirling gray snow at every window. I however had casted a simple heat charm on my clothes being aware of Hogwarts winters. I 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, I walked on by, thinking that Justin might be using his free time to catch up on some work, and deciding to check the library first.

A group of 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, I could see that their heads were close together and they were having what looked like an absorbing conversation. I couldn't see whether Justin was among them. I was walking toward them when something of what they were saying met my ears, and I paused to listen, hidden in a closed 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 the Gryffindor's he was Muggle-born. Justin actually told them 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 Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."

There was some heavy murmuring at this, and Ernie went on, "Remember what was written on the wall? Enemies of the Heir, Beware. Potter had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat is attacked. That first year, Creevey, was annoying Potter at the great hall, taking pictures of him while he was eating. Next thing we know – Creevey's been attacked."

"He always seems so nice, though," said Hannah uncertainly, "and, well, he's the one who made You-Know-Who disappear. He can't be all bad, can he?"

Ernie lowered his voice mysteriously, the Hufflepuffs bent closer, and Harry edged nearer so that he could catch Ernie's words.

"No one knows how he survived that attack by You-Know-Who. I mean to say, he was only a baby when it happened. He should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark wizard could have survived a curse like that." He dropped his voice until it was barely more than a whisper, and said, "That's probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill him in the first place. Didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers Potter's been hiding?"