Atropos → george weasley

xxii. dueling and disagreements

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twenty two

dueling and disagreements

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No student could speak of anything other than the petrification the next day. There were whispers around every corner and in every stairwell about who the 'heir' could be and what the Chamber of Secrets was.

Ottilie was no exception to this.

After lunch, she joined Justin and Ernie in the library to finish homework before Monday's lessons. However, she found herself having trouble focusing on much.

"Hey, Ernie?" she asked. He lifted his head. "What's a Squib?"

His eyes widened slightly. It appeared he was trying to stifle laughter. "A Squib is essentially a Muggle-born in reverse—someone with magical parents who can't use magic. They're not Muggles, really, but they aren't wizards, either. Why do you ask?"

Filch's hatred towards Hogwarts students and their magic suddenly made a lot of sense. She wondered why he'd even want to work in a school of magic.

"No reason," she said with a shrug. "Just that I bet Squibs need to watch out too. If the heir doesn't like Muggle-borns, they'd certainly be no friend to Squibs." Which could explain why the heir had gone after Filch's cat.

"Are there even Squibs at Hogwarts? Could they even be admitted?" asked Justin.

"Sure they can. They even let them teach Defense Against the Dark Arts!" Ottilie said.

Justin's mouth fell open. "How can you suggest that Lockhart's a Squib? Have you read any of his books? Look at all of the creatures he's defeated, how many lives he's saved! He's a marvelous wizard!"

"Yeah, I've read his books. He's only a slightly better fiction writer than he is a wizard—which is to say he's not a very good fiction writer at all."

Ernie groaned. "Come on, please, not this again!"

Since the beginning of the year, Justin and Ottilie had been butting heads about Lockhart. Justin thought the sun shone out of his arse, and Ottilie firmly disagreed.

Justin ignored Ernie. "Are you accusing him of making it all up?"

"Well done, Justin, two points to Hufflepuff."

"It really is true. The Ministry of Magic awarded him with the Order of Merlin! Didn't you see the photograph in Voyages with Vampires? There objectively was a vampire terrorizing that little village in the Midlands, and Lockhart got a medal after it was stopped. How could it not be him who did it?"

"So, the great Gilderoy Lockhart can handle a vampire on his own, no problem. But, when it comes to pixies, he crumbles? I mean, come on, Justin, the man is a joke!"

"He may be a bit vain, fine, but he's extremely talented and has the right intentions!"

"You sound like Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass," Ottilie said. "Tell me, do you have little hearts drawn around his name on your class schedule, too?"

Justin thrust an accusatory finger at Ottilie's face. "I think you just don't like him because he doesn't like you!"

"More like he doesn't like me because I don't swoon every time I pass him in the corridors."

"Okay, can we please talk about something else?" Ernie said wearily. "In case you haven't noticed, we've got bigger problems than Lockhart."

"Yeah, Justin, haven't you heard? A chamber of—get this—secrets is opened!" Ottilie gave a spooky oooh while wiggling her fingers at a thoroughly irate Justin.