Bat-Bogey Hexers

26

"You're sure you don't want to come Ginny?" asked Vera, with a frown.

Ginny, who was sitting on her bed in the dormitory, nodded.

"I have a lot of homework to do..." Ginny trailed off.

"Alright..." said Vera. She looked concerned. Ginny avoided meeting her eyes.

It was mid December and pretty much everyone was heading down to the great hall to join the Dueling Club that school had just started. Ginny had no desire to go. Every time she thought about dueling, she either remembered Colin cheering her on, or the tears that had rolled down Viola Lestrange's face.

"But it will be good to learn dueling tricks in case we run into the air of Slytherin and his monster!" said Peggy.

Out of everyone one in their dormitory, Peggy was the one who was most afraid of being petrified. She was muggle born so she had a reason, but Vera was also Muggle born and she was very calm about the whole ordeal.

"And even if they weren't the case," said Pamela. "I heard a rumor that Lockhart is teaching it! And who wouldn't want to watch him for an extra hour?"

"I know I want to," said Wish dreamily.

"Well have a nice time while we're gone anyway," said Demelza. "We'll tell you how it was when we get back."

"Thanks," said Ginny.

She watched with a lonesome expression as the five girls left, but was actually very relieved to have some alone time. She didn't finish any homework like she said she we going to. Instead she wrote to Tom, about everything and anything. She had experienced a rough couple of weeks. Multiple times she'd found herself somewhere she couldn't remember going, and twice she'd found chicken feathers all down the front of her robes. Ginny felt like she was going mad. Tom was the only person Ginny felt comfortable confiding in. All the girls in her dormitory were very nice, but what would they think of her if she told them on the strange things happening to her? Yes they were nice, but they weren't Tom.

Yet, before she knew it, a hour had passed and the others were barging back into the dorm.

"Harry Potter is the heir of Slytherin!" Wish announced, upon her entrance.

Ginny looked at her with a bewildered expression. "What're you talking about?"

"Harry! He's a parselmouth!" said Pamela.

The two excited girls jumped onto Ginny's bed. She quickly shut her diary.

"Wait? What's a parselmouth?" asked Peggy in confusion.

"It's someone who can talk to snakes." said Pamela. Her and Peggy were followed into the room by Vera.

"And Salazar Slytherin could do it!" said Pamela. "It's a sign of a dark and powerful wizard-"

"No it isn't," interrupted Ginny. "But I don't understand? What happened?"

"So we were at dueling club and the teachers had just spilt us up into pairs," said Wish. "Harry was paired with that blondie, Draco Malfoy. Then Draco set a snake on Harry and the snake weren't after some Hufflepuff kid and then next thing we knew all these weird hissing sounds were coming out of his mouth! He was telling the snake to attack the Hufflepuff!"

Wish's words were rushed, but Ginny understood the story.

"Poor Harry," she said.

"Poor Harry? Poor Hufflepuff kid!" said Wish.

"I don't believe for a second Harry set a snake on someone," said Ginny. For the first time in days, she seemed more like her usual, fierce self.

Wish folded her arms across her chest. "Oh really? Well we saw it happen? Didn't we Pamela?"

Pamela nodded.

"Well, we don't really know what he was doing..." said Demelza. "It did kind of look like he was egging the snake on, but we really have no idea what he was saying."

"He's the heir of Slytherin." said Wish with certainty.

She hopped off Ginny's bed and marched over to her own. Romilda followed and soon they were muttering away, while casting dirty looks at Ginny.

Ginny didn't care. She felt so sorry for Harry. People were always suspecting him of something.

🦇🦇🦇

It had happened again. Ginny had found herself all alone in a random corridor of the Hogwarts castle, with absolutely no idea why or how she was there. The urge to cry washed over Ginny as she looked around herself.

What was happening to her? Where had she been? Where had she been going?

It was the day after the dueling club. A blizzard was blowing outside, and rumors about Harry being the heir of Slytherin were blowing around inside the castle. Harry had looked dismal all day.

Ginny rubbed her forehead. Last she remembered...she was heading to...Charms. Yes, that was right. But then why wasn't she in Charms then? Why? Why? Why?

Figuring she might as well try and get to class, Ginny headed down the hallway. Maybe she'd only be five minutes late or so. However when Ginny turned the corner, all thoughts of Charms disappeared from her mind.

She stopped in her tracks. Lying on the ground was a boy she didn't know the name of. He looked rigid and lifeless. Next to him was Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost. He was normally pearly-white and transparent, but now he black and smoky. He was floating immobile and horizontal, six inches off the ground. His head was half off, and his face wore an expression of of shock.

Ginny swallowed so hard it hurt. Slowly she approached the two. It became obvious that the boy, who wore a Hufflepuff tie and a terrified expression was he stared blankly at the ceiling, was petrified. And that had to mean that Nearly Headless Nick was also petrified.

If any one had wandered across Ginny staring at the two, they might have a assumed she was petrified as well. She just stood there, frozen, her eyes wide in horror. Panic was settling in her chest and nausea in her stomach.

She suddenly turned and fled. She raced into the nearest bathroom and into a stall. She slammed the door shut behind her, then collapsed onto the toilet cover and covered her face in her hands.

She was panicking. Her breathing became staggered, as sobs rose into her throat. Everything was coming together. The attacks, her lapses in memory, the feathers, the paint.

To fight the tears and the terror, Ginny pulled her diary out of her pocket, along with a quill and ink. She began to write.

There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad...

Tears began to roll down Ginny's freckled cheeks. They splattered against the yellow pages of the diary, blurring the ink of Ginny's words.

I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!