The train pulled smoothly into the Hogwarts platform.
They followed the crowd out of the dark station. This time, they didn't need to take boats to get to the school.
Outside, a hundred horseless carriages were waiting for them... or more accurately, Thestral-drawn carriages—though Jon still couldn't see the Thestrals pulling them.
He and Astoria climbed into one of the carriages.
The carriages passed through the gates and down a wide driveway. Soon, the grand doors of Hogwarts Castle came into view.
Moments later, the carriages stopped at the stone steps in front of two oak doors. After getting out, they climbed the steps and entered the deep, cavernous entrance hall.
Returning after the Christmas holidays wasn't like the start of term—there was no grand feast this time. Jon and Astoria quickly said their goodbyes and were about to follow the other students from their houses to their common rooms when a middle-aged witch in a bright green robe stopped them.
"Professor McGonagall, is something wrong?" a Ravenclaw girl asked loudly.
"I'm terribly sorry!" Professor McGonagall looked pale. "But you'll need to wait for your Head of House to escort you back to your common rooms... Gryffindor students, over here!"
"What's going on?" some older boys shouted.
"There was another attack, just over ten days ago... Two victims—Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff, and Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost," McGonagall said grimly.
"What?!"
"Justin was attacked..."
"Wait... even a ghost wasn't spared?"
The crowd broke into an uproar. Just as Astoria had said, most of them hadn't heard about the incident.
Hufflepuff students especially looked stunned.
Fortunately, Professor Sprout arrived soon after.
"Hufflepuffs, come with me..." she said, worry written all over her face.
...
"It has to be Potter!" As Jon crawled through the barrel and into the tunnel, he heard Ernie Macmillan's loud voice.
Ernie hadn't gone home for Christmas, so he knew more about the "truth" of what happened to Justin!
Several Hufflepuffs who had been home quickly gathered around him.
"Did you hear? Potter just happened to be at the scene of the attack again... When we found Justin and Nick, he and Weasley were right there!" Ernie said animatedly.
"If it was just once, maybe it was coincidence—but three times, he's always at the scene of the attacks? That's no accident!"
Honestly, Ernie wasn't wrong. From any angle, Harry Potter did seem like the prime suspect. And each time he heard something strange (the Basilisk), he would run off… but never once encountered the Basilisk or Ginny (if he had, he'd be dead already), which was just uncanny luck.
"Why would he attack Justin?" Hannah Abbott asked, confused. "I thought Harry and Justin got along during Herbology..."
"Justin mentioned to Potter that he was Muggle-born. Maybe that didn't sit well with him!" Ernie declared. "A few days before Christmas, during an extracurricular class, Potter told a snake to go after Justin! If Professor Snape hadn't stopped it, Justin could've died... But that incident exposed Potter's secret!"
"He's a Parselmouth?"
"That's right! Parseltongue is a sign of the darkest wizards... Salazar Slytherin himself was a Parselmouth!"
"He hid it that well?!" Hannah shrieked.
"I swear on the Macmillan name—Harry Potter is the culprit!" Ernie announced with finality.
...
But Ernie's dramatic theory was abruptly cut short when Professor Sprout appeared.
"Ernie, don't let your suspicions turn into accusations!" she said sharply. "Professor Dumbledore believes Mr. Potter isn't the attacker, and that should be enough."
"Yes, Professor..." Ernie slunk away.
Jon was surprised when Professor Sprout turned her gaze to him.
"Jon, can I speak with you for a moment?" she asked gently.
"Yes, Professor!" Jon quickly followed her out of the barrel.
"Is something wrong, Professor?"
"I wanted to ask about your two spiders," Sprout said seriously. "How are they?"
"They're dead," Jon said, looking sad.
"After you came to the common room to help me catch them, they never really recovered… Then one day in November, they started screaming, and when I went to feed them, they were already dead."
"I'm sorry to hear that... But do you remember what day that happened?" she asked.
"Let me think…" Jon frowned. "I think it was the day after Hufflepuff beat Ravenclaw in the Quidditch match!"
"What?" Professor Sprout's expression changed instantly.
"What is it, Professor?" Jon asked, though he already knew—it was the day after Colin Creevey was attacked.
"It's nothing, child... I need to find Professor Kettleburn..." Sprout stammered, then excused herself. "Sorry, I must go!"
After a few steps, she turned back.
"Remember—don't leave the Hufflepuff common room alone."
"Yes, Professor!"
...
Leaving the castle, Professor Pomona Sprout, the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts, hurried toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
But when she arrived at the thatched hut, she realized the person she was looking for wasn't there.
Professor Silvanus Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, was absent.
She walked around the hut for a bit and spotted Hogwarts' burly Keeper of Keys.
"Hello, Hagrid!"
"Hello, Professor."
Rubeus Hagrid was carrying a large cage that was filled with noisy chirping.
"I was looking for Silvanus. He's not at school?" Sprout asked softly.
"Professor Kettleburn?" Hagrid grinned. "He went to London to get his prosthetic replaced. He won't be back for about a month. Professor Grubbly-Plank is taking over his classes!"
As he spoke, Hagrid couldn't help showing a hint of envy.
"Is that so?" Sprout sighed. Her eyes then fell on the cage in Hagrid's hands, and she asked curiously, "What's in there?"
"A bunch of little roosters!" Hagrid replied casually. "All twelve roosters at school were killed—no idea if it was a fox or a Blood-Sucking Bugbear. Now there's not a single one left to crow..."