Harry Potter and the Time Fluke

The Consequences of Eavesdropping

"The Chamber of Secrets... do you think it's true?"

"Slytherin's heir! I never would have thought..."

"Maybe now they'll think twice about letting all those mudbloods into the school..."

"I'd heard a rumor from one of the upper years about something big happening this year... Could this be it?"

Harry's already narrowed eyes completely closed and he strained his ears to try and block out everyone but the other fifth years standing near him.

"–talking about? Who'd you hear that form?"

"Well, I didn't hear it from anyone, exactly. Or, well, they weren't talking to me. It was a conversation I overheard between the seventh year prefect–"

"Pucey?"

"Yes, him and Malfoy."

Harry sucked in his cheeks and bit down on them, hard. He cracked open his eyes and glared ferociously at the stone floor. He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it, but the proof was there, frolicking stark naked in front of him. Abraxas had known, and he hadn't. Pucey had develped an inkling, yet he, Harry, was left out. Undoubtedly, a large number of upper-year Slytherins seemed to have had suspicions, but he'd been obliviously living through his days.

It hurt. A lot.

"Malfoy... Abraxas Malfoy?"

"Of course it's Abraxas, do you know of any other Malfoy at this school?"

"Do you think he's the heir?"

"I would, if my mother hadn't forced me to learn pureblood genealogy. The Malfoy's were one of the families she had me practically memorize in hopes that it would help me one day marry into the family. They aren't related to Slytherin at all."

"Who is? I heard that the line's been extinct for at least a century."

"No, they married out of Britain. Into a Greek family, I believe."

"No, it was Russian. I'd bet a hundred galleons they married into a Russian family."

"Anyway, I heard them talking. I couldn't completely understand everything, they were speaking rather quietly, but I think the gist of it was that something big was going to happen this year that had to do with Slytherin and the rest of the school."

"So Malfoy already knew? Or was it Pucey?"

"Malfoy was telling Pucey about it, I think. Pucey definitely had more questions and Malfoy had more answers..."

The group was silent for a moment. Harry attempted to relax his muscles, which he hadn't realized were tense until now.

"Do you think it's Riddle?" He froze.

"That would explain why he's sitting in The Chair..."

"But Riddle is so... It's not a Pureblood name..."

"But just look at him. He's surrounded by sixth and seventh years, and none of them are trying to have him move."

"So? I mean, sure, he's not a seventh year, but maybe they're letting him sit there as an exception to the rule because he's so powerful. You can't deny he's beyond superb with magic, even if his surname's muggle..."

"Seventh years have never made an exception before."

"That we know of, you can't say for sure it's never happened in the past..."