After the satisfying defeat of Slytherin, Gryffindor were celebrating their first win of the year. Jake managed to sneak out of the party just after it started to go and check on Harry. He had told Hermione to go on ahead as he knew she wasn't that big on parties. He was walking towards the Infirmary when he was stopped by someone talking to him from behind, "Congratulations on the win."
Jake turned and saw Slytherin's Quidditch Keeper standing there, "Thanks..." he said cautiously.
"That dive was risky business. How did you call your broom back to you?" He asked Jake.
"What are you getting at?" Jake asked him.
"Just genuine curiosity," the Slytherin was smiling at him. It was a little unnerving.
"Genuine curiosity, huh? Just who are you? I don't remember you at the Sorting last year," Jake demanded of him.
"Oh, where are my manners? Logan Pendragon, but please, call me Ivan," he said with an extended hand.
"I think I'll stick to Pendragon," Jake reluctantly shook his hand, "You're pretty good yourself, blocking the majority of Gryffindor's shots."
"Thanks, well, I'll let you go see your friend, take care," he said and walked away.
That was so far the most bizarre thing Jake had bared witness to. He didn't know whether he was being lulled into a false sense of security or not, but he'd keep an eye on this Logan Pendragon fellow. He made his way to the Hospital Wing and saw that Harry was sitting up with his arm outstretched, probably so the bones grew in properly.
"How are you feeling?" He asked his bedridden friend.
"I've been better... never let anything happen that causes you to lose your bones, Skele-gro tastes absolutely disgusting," Harry informed him.
"Duly noted. Hermione told you, I assume?"
"She did. Ron actually saw you in free-fall from the window there-" Harry was interrupted.
"Speaking of which," Hermione wasn't happy, "How could you do something so dangerous and stupid?"
"I wasn't thinking when the Snitch U-turned like that. I jumped and caught it, I wasn't thinking far enough ahead about the consequences of me jumping off my broom," he tried to defend his actions.
"Clearly," she said, her frown unchanging.
"I'm sorry, Hermione, I didn't mean to give you a scare like that," he said, feeling bad about his actions.
"You're just lucky you have the Blood of Merlin coursing through your veins. I'm not sure how you would have survived that otherwise," she said, crossing her arms and sighing.
He looked down at his feet, "Next time I have to fill in for Harry, I'll be more careful, Hermione, don't worry."
"I'm always going to worry, that's something a friend does, worry for their other friends," she said, smiling at him a little.
"Alright, that's enough, Mr. Potter needs rest, the three of you, get out," Madam Pomfrey came over and ushered them out of the Hospital Wing.
They did leave so as to not invoke her wrath, making their way back to Gryffindor Tower, "Something weird happened to me on my way to see Harry."
"What would that be?" Ron asked him.
"The Slytherin Keeper, he showed up and was congratulating me. He also asked me how I called my broom down to me as I was falling... I didn't tell him," Jake looked at them, "but he called himself Logan Pendragon."
"Logan Pendragon? Why does that last name sound familiar...?" Hermione trailed off.
"Beats me. I don't know what his game is, but I'm not dropping my guard around him, he's a Slytherin. I know not all Slytherin are bad, but one trait of a Slytherin is being Cunning. Just better to be safe than sorry," Jake said as they made it back to the Tower. He was immediately pulled by the Three Chasers, Both Beaters, and the Keeper into a celebratory cheer before they let him go.
When he got back over to Hermione and Ron, Ron pointed something out, "Maybe it's just me... but has Katie Bell been nicer to you lately?"
"Has she? I haven't noticed," he glanced behind him for a second, seeing the back of her head before turning back.
Hermione had her eyes narrowed and was looking down at a table, 'Katie Bell? Why would she be nicer to him lately? It's not like he's done anything that directly impacted her that would cause her to like him the way I do, right?' She was having an internal struggle with herself.
Hermione felt herself get nudged and she looked up, "You alright?" Jake asked her.
"Yeah, yeah I'm alright," she said with a smile, but it was a forced smile, and she was pretty sure he noticed.
"Alright then," he dropped the subject. After a while, Jake had felt tired from the events of the day and turned in early. Upon getting back to the dorm room, he bathed and dressed in his sleepwear when a stack of books caught his eye. Merlin's books to be precise. He pulled the smallest book out, the one that enticed him the most and he laid down on his bed, flipping it open to Page 1.
There were, however, no words on the page. Not at first, but then words did appear like it was only meant for him to read. Reading the words on that page revealed to him that this was a Record's Book; a Ledger, if you will. But it kept track of more than just money; Jake found out very quickly that property titles were also mentioned in here.
Upon flipping to Page 2, there no words again, but like last time, they appeared after a second. He read a passage that made him almost drop the book onto his face, ' To the one reading this book, or any of my other Nine, personal books I've written, you should be proud of yourself, for only the true heir to the Ambrosius Blood can read this page, and therefore, the entirety of my collection. Disclosed within the next few pages are properties in Pictland, Gwynedd, and Northumberland, that are yours, and only yours. No descendant of mine but you has claims to these. I do not know when you will be reading this, but the Deeds will be with your money, I have Charmed them as such. The Properties are yours to do with as you see fit, or not use them at all if you have no need for them, but they will always be there if you need them. ' Jake was in shock with what he was reading. He had Property across the British Isles, ' I must ask that at your earliest convenience, you head to the one in Northern Pictland, all of these buildings are hidden from Muggles, I only hope that no Norse Witch or Wizard has found them. The Deed to the property requires a Blood Contract to bind you with the Magic infused within the place. Once that is done, use Floo Powder to get there quickly and say the words, 'Merlin's Tower,' to arrive in the Fireplace there. The Fireplace is set up so that only you, my True Heir, can initially go there, but you may set up the Fireplace to accommodate more if you wish. There is something of dire importance there that will be most beneficial to you. ' Jake finished reading and saw that Merlin had signed his name, showing that it was indeed him that wrote it.
Jake sat up in his bed and continued to read the small book, sleep be damned, he was not going to be able to sleep until this book was read through.
*******
Jake, Hermione, and Ron were in Myrtle's Bathroom Sunday morning, awaiting Harry's arrival, Jake was sure he'd show up here first. Madam Pomfrey had said that his bones should grow back by the morning, but if not, she'd have to give him another swig of the apparently disgusting liquid. Jake never wanted to have to taste that stuff if he could help it.
He didn't tell them about the Small Book, either. He told Hermione of its existence, but he has yet to disclose the information that lies within. He wasn't sure when would be a good time to do so, and he couldn't very well show any of them, because only he could see what was written on its pages.
That reminded him of something. Dumbledore never mentioned being able to not read it, or any of them, for that matter. What was he hiding? As he was contemplating this, someone opened the door to the bathroom, causing them all to hush up, "It's me," Came the voice of Harry.
Hermione opened the stall the three of them were in, " Harry ! You gave us such a fright - come in - how's your arm?"
"Fine," he said, squeezing into the already tiny stall, which was not meant for four Second Years and a Cauldron.
"We'd've come to meet you, but we decided to get started on the Polyjuice Potion," Jake said as Harry locked the door, barely, "we agreed this is the safest place to hide it since no one will come in here with Myrtle, plus it still says Out-of-Order."
"Since Jake is the best at Potions out of the four of us, he started the Potion, and has been giving us precise instructions on when to add things," Hermione said, feeling her cheeks ever so slightly burn.
"Right, so last night, Colin was brought into the Hospital Wing-" Harry started, but Hermione interrupted.
"We know - we overheard Professor McGonagall talking to Professor Flitwick this morning, that's why we agreed to go ahead and get this going," she explained.
"The sooner we get a confession out of Malfoy, the better," Ron said, snarling his nose, "D'you know what I think? He was in such a foul mood after Jake humiliated him by getting the Snitch in one of the most epic displays imaginable, saw it from the Hospital Wing, mate, that he took it out on Colin."
"There is something else," Harry got their attention again, "Dobby came to me in the middle of the night."
The three of them looked up at him in amazement. He told them about everything Dobby said to him, or to Jake, didn't say at all.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened before ?" Hermione asked, mouth agape.
"This settles it," Ron said, "Lucius Malfoy must've opened the Chamber when he was at school here and now he's told dear old Draco how to do it. It's obvious. Wish Dobby'd told you what kind of monster is in there, though, I want to know how come nobody's noticed it sneaking around the school."
"Maybe it can make itself invisible?" Hermione asked aloud, prodding leeches to the bottom of the Cauldron. "Or maybe it can disguise itself?"
"There is such a thing as a Chameleon Ghouls, but I've never read about one paralyzing people," Jake said.
"You both read way too much," Ron said, pouring dead lacewings on top of the leeches. He then turned to Harry, "So Dobby stopped us from getting on the train and he broke your arm..." Ron shook his head, "If he doesn't stop trying to save your life, he's going to kill you."
There was one thing bothering Jake about this. According to the Legend that Binns told them, Salazar Slytherin only spoke of a single Heir. For it to be Lucius AND Draco, it didn't make sense to him. Seeing as they still had no other lead, he didn't voice this to his friends.
*******
The news about Colin being attacked and now lying in the Hospital Wing spread through the school faster than a Wildfire, as everyone knew about it by Monday morning. The air was suddenly thick with rumor and suspicion. The First Years all moved around in groups, as though scared of being attacked if they ventured off alone.
Ginny, who said she sat next to Colin in Charms class, was visibly distraught. Jake noticed that Fred and George tried their best to help, but they were going about it the wrong way. They took turns covering themselves in Fur and Boils and jumping out at her from behind statues. They only stopped when Percy, apoplectic with rage, threatened to write home to Molly and tell Ginny about her nightmares.
In other parts of the Castle, away from the teachers prodding eyes, an underground trade of talismans, amulets, and other protective items swept across the school. Neville in particular bought a large, evil smelling green onion, a pointed purple crystal, and a rotting newt tail before the other Gryffindor boys could point out that he was in no danger, as Neville was Pure-Blooded, so he was unlikely to be attacked.
"They went for Filch first," Neville told them, his round face fearful looking as ever, "and everyone knows I'm almost a Squib."
Jake simply didn't understand why Neville had such a hard time with magic. A wand works with its owner, it chooses them, so he didn't understand why Neville's wasn't working for him. He noticed that in First Year, even Ron had trouble with some spells. He currently had a good reason for his spells not working for him, he broke his wand from crashing into the Whomping Willow.
He looked around at his fellow students and just shook his head. Many of them must've been Half-Blood or Muggleborn. He wasn't sure still what he was, but he figured if he was Merlin's true Heir, he must have been Pure-Blood.
*******
In the Second week of December, Professor McGonagall came around and collected the names of the Gryffindor who were staying at Hogwarts for the Winter Break. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Jake all signed her list upon hearing that Malfoy would be staying this year, and it couldn't be more perfect.
Jake really tried to get out of staying and going back to the Leaky Cauldron to find the Deed to the property Merlin mentioned, but Hermione told him that without him, their chance was cut in half, so he relented and agreed to stay at Hogwarts.
The Potion was only half-finished, but that wasn't an issue. They were still short the Bicorn Horn and Boomslang skin, and the only place to get that quickly was Snape's private storeroom.
"What we need," Hermione got their attention, "is a diversion. Then one of us can sneak into Snape's storeroom and get what we need."
"I can handle that," Jake said, "I know exactly what to do. I've been reading into the higher grade spell books a little, and I know what will cause an... explosive distraction."
"Alright, Jake will cover the diversion, just please be careful with whatever you have planned?" Hermione asked him.
"It's me... I make no promises," he shrugged and she sighed.
"Well, it better be me to steal them then, since I know what to look for, and besides, if you two get in trouble again like that, you'll be expelled for sure," she said to Harry and Ron, who neither looked like they were going to complain.
The Potions class they waited for took place in one of the large dungeons on a Thursday Afternoon and the lesson was proceeding as usual. Twenty Cauldrons stood steaming between the wooden desks, on which stood brass scales and jars of ingredients. Snape prowled through the fumes, and stopped at Jake's Cauldron. He had tasked them with making a Swelling Solution for the two hour period, and Jake, as usual, had a flawless brew thus far. Snape never awarded Gryffindor points for Jake's Potion-making skills, but he also couldn't take them away. Jake figured it was because Snape would be betraying his own High Standard by faulting a flawless brew or Potion with Point loss.
Of course, he never took points off of Slytherin, even though Crabbe and Goyle were literal idiots and had no idea how to even use the scales properly.
Jake eyed Goyle from across the room, seeing him haphazardly adding ingredients, but they were all, miraculously, the right ones. He discreetly pulled his wand out and rested it on his lap. He looked to Hermione, whom he was paired with, and nodded. He looked back to Goyle and saw that he was dangerously dangling an ingredient over the Cauldron that, in that quantity, was devastating to the brew, causing an explosive outcome. Jake, having read his Potions book cover-to-cover many times, knew the side effects of every Potion, and you were only supposed to add half the amount Goyle had. Jake whispered, " Diffindo ," and cut the ingredients at their roots, causing them all to drop into the Cauldron.
Hermione stealthily got off her chair and a few seconds later, pandemonium happened. The Swelling Solution exploded everywhere, hitting many students. Hermione was already at the private storeroom door when the explosion happened, so she was in the clear. In the chaos, she snuck in and out before Snape realized what had happened.
While she was in the storeroom, people were screaming and panicking, and Snape was trying to restore order to his classroom, "Silence! SILENCE!" He roared, "Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draught," he said and then eyed all of them. Since Jake wasn't hit, he continued on as though nothing had happened. His eyes stopped on Jake a moment before looking back to Goyle, "Useless," he said, causing a few to laugh through the pain of enlarged mouths or stomachs. As expected, Snape did not deduct points from Slytherin.
Hermione quietly snuck back out, her robes bulging with the ingredients. She quickly snuck back to Jake and gave him a devious smirk. The bell rang ten minutes later, and as expected, Jake and Hermione were the only two to have a perfect Potion by the end of class. They all hurried back to Myrtle's bathroom and Hermione dropped in the ingredients, and Jake began to stir in the cauldron feverishly, "Alright, this bad boy will be ready in about two weeks. Would've been sooner had we gotten the Bicorn Horn and Boomslang Skin earlier, but I digress." The Potion frothed and bubbled in a dull manner as it was stirred.
"D'you think Snape knew it was you?" Ron asked him.
"I saw Snape's eyes linger on you, before he called Goyle 'useless'," Harry couldn't stop the snicker.
"He actually said that about Goyle?" Hermione asked them.
"Yeah, it was actually the best thing about the class period," Ron said with a smirk.
"He doesn't know," Jake reassured her.
"I hope you're right," she said, fearing for his safety.
*******
A week later, the four of them were walking across the entrance hall when they saw a small knot of people gathered around the notice board, reading a piece of parchment that had just been pinned up. Seamus and Dean beckoned them over, looking excited, "They're starting a Dueling Club!" Seamus said excitedly, "First meeting is tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days..."
"Now that sounds exciting," Jake said with great interest, "I overheard that Professor Flitwick used to be quite the champion duelist before becoming a teacher here at Hogwarts."
"Oh, that would be absolutely marvelous, being taught how to duel by a Champion!" Hermione said excitedly. They walked into the Great Hall for dinner and at eight o'clock that evening, found themselves back in the Great Hall, the long dining tables vanished and replaced with a golden stage along the center of the room.
Jake already had a bad feeling about this. There were thousands of candles floating overhead, and the ceiling was Velvety Black once more. All of the students at the school stood under it, wands out and eager to get started, "So..." Ron got their attention, "Who do you think will be teaching us? Professor Flitwick?"
"Well, as long as it's not-" Hermione didn't get to finish her sentence except in a groan. Gilderoy Lockhart was walking into the Great Hall, accompanied by Snape. Lockhart was in resplendent robes of deep plum, and Snape was in his usual all black attire.
Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called, "Gather round! Gather round! Can you all see me? Can you all hear me?"
"Unfortunately," Jake said quietly, causing Hermione to giggle slightly.
"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works," he said with a stupid grin on his face. Jake wanted to punch it so badly.
"Boring reads," Hermione said, getting Harry and Ron to laugh.
"Now let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," he said, flashing a wide smile. Snape wore his usual snarl, "He tells me he knows a tiny bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry - you'll still have your Potions Master when I'm through with him, never fear!"
"Oh, I feel so bad for Professor Snape," Jake said in a humorless tone, getting more than a few people to snicker quietly.
"Now I will explain how to duel," Lockhart said, "Obviously, in a life or death situation, you will not be doing this with your opponent, but in a friendly duel such as this, we have sportsmanship standards to maintain-"
"Excuse me, Professor Lockhart," Snape suddenly, getting everyone's attention, "but given that your skills are legendary, I just don't think I have the ability to duel you," he said, causing many to laugh. He then turned his eyes right to Jake who went wide-eyed the moment he realized what Snape was implying, he just didn't understand why Snape would be choosing him.
Lockhart looked oddly relieved for a moment, "Well, I appreciate the kind words, Severus, but we do have children to teach how to duel."
"And we shall... but I have another contender in mind... how about... young Fernandes over there?" He said slowly, almost menacingly.
"He doesn't know how to duel-"
"I will go over it with him quickly," Snape said, walking towards Jake, "follow me for a moment."
Jake did just that and they walked out of the Great Hall, "Professor Snape?"
"I know you're the one who sabotaged my Potions class," he said evilly, "one quick search of your wand will tell me as much. However," he closed his eyes, "I will not report this to Dumbledore if you tell me why... but believe me, I will make sure you have detention for this, and it will be with me, and you will not like it. That I will make most sure of."
"I-I understand, Professor..." Jake involuntarily stuttered.
"Now... Why did you sabotage Goyle's Potion? Who were you distracting me from?" Snape demanded of him.
"No one, I just wanted to see if you would take points from Slytherin for a change, or give Goyle detention," Jake lied through his teeth.
Snape stared at him hatefully, like he was trying to pry into his mind or something. Jake didn't understand what Snape was doing, but he must not have found what he was looking for, "Do you know how to duel?"
"Not from first-hand experience, but I've read several books on it and have the theory down pretty well," Jake explained.
"Good, I will have McGonagall bring you your detention slip tomorrow morning," Snape said, walking to the Great Hall, but turned back around, "Oh, and Twenty-five points from Gryffindor," he said and sauntered back into the Great Hall.
Jake took a moment to follow, his stomach not feeling so great. He took some deep breaths before walking back into the Great Hall, "Ah, ready to go?" Lockhart yelled across the room to him, looking much better about the duel he was about to partake in.
"Yes," Jake said with confidence.
He walked up to the stage and went through the necessary steps with Lockhart. They walked away from each other and turned, "Now, Professor Snape will count down the duels start, and remember, we aren't aiming to kill," he told the audience.
Hermione was on edge. She knew Lockhart was a joke, but what if he actually learned something since their last time seeing him with a wand? She had her elbow resting in her opposite hand, and her fingers curled in front of her mouth as she awaited the start, "On the count of three. One," Snape said with a sneer. Hermione tensed up, "Two," she felt her vision go blurry, "Three."
" Depulso ," Jake yelled, sending Lockhart flying through the air and almost off the stage. Most of the girls, as predicted, feared for his safety. All of the guys, and Hermione, were laughing, as he struggled to stand up.
"Very good... very... good..." Lockhart said in a daze, standing up slowly. "Now, that... that was the Banishing Charm... I must admit... I wasn't expecting that from a Second Year, but had I been, I'd have been able to easily block it and then Counter-Attack."
"I doubt it," Jake with a sneer.
Lockhart said nothing about it, "Now I will give a quick demonstration of a different spell, the Disarming Charm-"
" Expelliarmus !" Jake yelled disarming Lockhart and his wand flying towards him. He caught it and held it up, "The Disarming Charm can end a duel in a heartbeat," Jake boasted.
"Quite," Lockhart went to collect his wand, but Jake tossed it and he fumbled with it, but kept it off the ground, "Now, I want you all to split off and pair up, practicing the Disarming Charm."
"Time to split up the Quartet I believe..." Snape said with a wicked grin, "Weasley, pair off with Finnegan," he turned to Harry, "Potter, you pair with Malfoy. Malfoy, come here, see what you make of the famous Potter." Jake, defiant of Snape, tried to pair with Hermione, but he was quick on splitting them up as well, "I don't think so. Miss Granger, you'll pair with Miss Bulstrode. Fernandes, you'll be with Pendragon."
Jake looked over and saw Logan walking his way, "Jake, good to see you again," he said kindly.
"Yeah... likewise..." Jake said, staying on guard around him, and they got into position to try out the Disarming Charm.
They went back and forth, trading Disarms for about three minutes. They both had a pretty solid grasp on the Charm, "You're pretty good," Logan said.
"You aren't so bad yourself," Jake smirked. He looked past Logan and saw Millicent Bulstrode with Hermione in a headlock. Hermione was whimpering and had a hand extended, trying to reach for something. He squinted and saw the necklace he got for her, being dangled in the air out of her reach. Jake missed when Logan disarmed him again, he was too enraged.
Hermione was begging with Millicent, "Please... please... g-give it back..." she was in tears from both the pain of being in a headlock and the necklace that was so dear to her was being held out of her reach.
"Poor little Granger, your boyfriend isn't here to save you," Millicent taunted. If Hermione wasn't in her present situation, she'd be embarrassed and most likely stuttering.
Hermione was about to beg her again to give it back, when Millicent suddenly began choking and gasping for air. She let go of Hermione and her necklace, both falling to the floor. Hermione quickly gathered up her most treasured gift and looked up to see glowing red eyes across the room.
She looked back to Millicent, and noticed she was still gasping for air and started to turn a little purple. She put her necklace in her robes pocket and hurried over to Jake. "Jake," she said when she got closer, "Jake, it's okay..." she placed a hand on his shoulder. She saw his eyes turn back to normal. Millicent could be heard taking in big gasps of air, a few Slytherin's were checking on her.
Jake had his eyes closed, calming himself down, "I'm sorry..."
"Don't apologize... you helped me get this back," she said and pulled out her necklace he got for her.
His eyes opened and he looked at the necklace, and then her. She had tears in her eyes, but why, he didn't know. Could've been out of happiness, the pain she could still possibly be feeling, or out of almost losing what he got for her birthday, "Want me to tie it back on?"
"Please?" She asked and handed it to him, turning around. She saw the necklace come from above her and rest on her chest. He moved her hair and tied it around her neck once again.
"Stop! Stop!" They heard Lockhart yelling. The chaos that had been going on unknown to Hermione and Jake was brought to a halt with that, "Dear, dear..." Lockhart was skittering through the crowd, gazing at the damage done by the incompetent duels. "Up you go Macmillan... careful there, Miss Fawcett... pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second, Boot.
"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," he said, standing flustered in the midst of the hall. He glanced over to Snape, whose black eyes glinted in the candle light, and he looked away very quickly, it caused Jake to chuckle, "Let's have a volunteer pair - Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you-"
"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," Snape said, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat, "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the Hospital Wing in a matchbox." Neville's round, pink face managed to become even more pink, "How about Malfoy and Potter?" Snape said with a twisted smile.
"Excellent idea!" Lockhart said without a care in the world. He motioned both Harry and Draco over to the stage. He then began to whisper to Harry and brought his wand out in a poor attempt at a Flourish, and dropped his wand. Picking it back up with the grace of an armless monkey, everyone laughed at his ridiculous antics, "Whoops - my wand is a little excited."
Jake scrunched up his face at the poor taste of his word choice.
Snape moved closer to Malfoy and began whispering to him as well. Malfoy began smirking as well. Jake could only imagine what Snape had said to him.
Harry and Draco got ready and Lockhart began speaking, "Three - Two - One - Go!"
Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, " Serpensortia !" A snake flew from the tip of his wand and fell heavily to the floor. It began hissing at Harry, but Harry remained unmoved, like he was paralyzed to the spot. The snake raised its head, like it was preparing to strike, and most students let out screams and backed away. Jake, however, began walking towards the stage slowly.
"Don't move Potter," Hermione heard Snape say lazily, like it was a serious inconvenience for him, "I'll get rid of it-"
"Allow me!" Lockhart shouted. He brandished his wand and pointed it right at the snake. There was a loud bang and the snake flew up into the air.
Jake's eyes followed the snake into the air and back down to the floor of the stage. It was obviously angered by this and lashed out at the closest student, which happened to be Justin Finch-Fletchley. It's fangs were exposed and it was poised to strike.
Jake was broken from his trance when he heard a hissing to his right. He looked at Harry and couldn't believe his ears. He was the one hissing at the Snake. Jake looked back at the snake and it was backing off from Justin, but something unexpected happened. When it caught sight of him, it didn't hesitate as it lunged straight for him.
Hermione suddenly saw the Snake burst into flames midair, the ashes flying off with the wind that was caused by a few opened windows. "Just what are you getting at, Potter?" She heard Justin ask him.
"What about Fernandes? His eyes just glowed red and the snake burst into flames!" An older Ravenclaw said.
Justin stormed out of the hall and murmurs were heard all across the hall. She hurried to Jake and dragged him away from there, Ron doing the same with Harry. The four of them were soon in an empty classroom, Ron threw Harry into a chair, "You're a Parselmouth, why didn't you tell us?"
"I'm a what?" Harry asked, obviously confused.
"I'm sure if he knew, Ron, he'd have told us," Jake said, diverting his attention to Harry, "A Parselmouth is someone who can talk to snakes fluently. We didn't understand you because none of us speak snake language. All we heard was a hissing coming from you, Harry."
"Well, I knew I could talk to snakes, sort of," Harry said, "that was the second time I've done it, though. The first time I set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the Zoo. It was telling me it had never seen Brazil and wanted to go. Then the glass magically disappeared and the snake left after thanking me, but this was before I knew I was a Wizard," Harry then shrugged, "I don't see the big deal, I bet loads of people can do it."
"No, Harry, it's not a common gift..." Ron said, "Oh this is bad..."
"Why?" Harry enquired before saying something else, "Why are you freaking out? If I hadn't said anything to that Snake, it would have attacked Justin."
"You told it to stop?" Ron asked with a surprised look, "It sounded like you were egging it on, or something..."
"No it didn't. Parseltongue sounds like that anyway, but if you looked at the Snake, it was obviously backing off from Justin, but no one seemed to notice that, did they?" Jake asked them.
"Well," Hermione said, getting their attention, "I know Harry wouldn't have had it attack anyone, especially Jake, so why do you think it attacked?"
"That, my dear Hermione, is a very good question," Jake said, looking right at her.
"I still don't see why it's bad that I can speak Parseltongue," Harry huffed, annoyed.
"Because..." Hermione started uneasily, "Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth and he was famous for it. Remember what Binns told us? Salazar Slytherin's true heir will open the Chamber of Secrets..."
"But I can't be his heir," Harry said a little angrily.
"You'll find that very hard to prove, mate," Ron said.
"Slytherin lived over a thousand years ago," Jake said, "For all we know... you could be."
*******
By the next morning, the snow that had been falling all night turned into a Blizzard and in turn, all end-of-term Herbology and Care of Magical Creature's classes were canceled. Jake, as expected, was handed his Detention Slip and the first day of break, that being tomorrow, would be when his Detention was with Snape. He sighed and when his friends looked at him, they were confused, "I'll tell you tomorrow morning."
During when their last class was supposed to be, that being a canceled Herbology class, Harry was over next to the Fireplace in the Common Room, fretting over the two attacked victims so far, and was worrying about Justin.
Ron decided to challenge Jake to a game of Wizard's Chess while Hermione watched while reading a book at the same time. Ron did well in his first two games, but Jake had gotten the hang of the game and was currently doing well in the third game, really giving Ron a run for his money, not that he had much anyway.
Hermione sighed exasperatedly, "For heaven's sake, Harry," she got his attention, "if it's so important to you, go and find Justin." So he nodded and did just that, leaving the Common Room. Hermione settled back into her chair to continue reading. She looked up when Jake yelled triumphantly.
"Checkmate, Ron!" Sure enough, he had put Ron's King in Checkmate. Ron stared at the board for a solid two minutes, trying to find any way to get around it, but he eventually admitted defeat, "I told you last year, didn't I? I didn't want to get better than you at it."
He just grumbled, "Hermione, you wanna play?" He asked her.
"I suppose a game or two wouldn't hurt," she said and closed her book, taking Jake's seat. It was noticeably warm from where he had been sitting there for the past two hours. Even with Hermione watching and observing, she still lost every game to Ron. She huffed and stood up, "Never am I playing Wizard's Chess again," and she went back to reading.
It was incredibly late when Harry showed back up, but by the time he did, the news about Nearly Headless Nick and Justin had already spread around the school, and Harry didn't have anything good for them, especially Jake, "Everyone suspects you of being dangerous, with the glowing red eyes. The Hufflepuff's are weary of you, not as much as they are of me, since they think I'm the one attacking people, but still... you're not exactly their favorite."
"Eh, I don't live to please them," he shrugged and closed the book he was reading and yawned.
"It's late, we should all probably go to bed," Hermione said, "We can talk more in the morning, I heard most, if not everyone but us four, the rest of your family, Ron, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle are all leaving Hogwarts for the break."
"Brilliant, the use of the Polyjuice Potion just became that much easier," Harry said with a sigh of relief that something went right for them.