Ruthless, But Fair
By the next day, the double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick had only fuelled the rumours even further.
The fact that the Potter-Jackson brothers had once again been found at the scene of the crime turned the old suspicions into near certainty in many people's minds: one of them had to be Slytherin's Heir, and the other his accomplice.
And most of them believed the Heir was none other than Harry.
As a result, even more students began avoiding them, especially the Muggle-borns, who turned pale the moment they saw them and hurried away as fast as they could. Some of them had even chatted quite happily with Harry the year before.
So it wasn't unusual for Harry to overhear other students talking about him as he walked through the corridors.
That morning, as he headed towards the Great Hall, he heard several Hufflepuffs speaking quietly just ahead of him, completely unaware that he was behind them.
"Last year he was asking who the Muggle-borns were. He even looked like he was making some sort of list. I saw him," Ernie Macmillan said, speaking noticeably louder than the others without even bothering to lower his voice.
"What? Is that true? Then maybe he'd already been planning all of this since last year. Why are they still letting him stay at Hogwarts?" one of his friends asked. "Is it because he's the Boy Who Lived?"
"That can't be true... can it? Harry's always been really nice. Besides, he... you know, defeated You-Know-Who and saved the wizarding world," Susan Bones cut in.
"And didn't that ever seem strange to you? After all, You-Know-Who was supposed to be an incredibly powerful wizard, and yet... he was defeated by a child who was barely one year old," Macmillan added in a dark tone.
Harry couldn't help letting out a sigh.
He suddenly didn't feel very hungry anymore.
Without letting anyone realise he was still behind them, he simply turned around and quietly retraced his steps.
As he walked back, he ran into Percy and Tyson.
His brother was trying to cheer up the young Cyclops, whose eyes... well, whose one eye... looked full of tears.
Since he was always with Harry and Percy, even the usually friendly Hufflepuffs had begun distancing themselves from him.
Some of them now practically avoided him whenever they saw him coming, including those who had refused to believe the rumours before.
It seemed fear had finally won them over.
"They don't even invite me to the castle kitchens anymore," Tyson complained sadly.
"Don't worry, big guy. It's because of us. If you want them to start talking to you again, just stay away from us for a while and everything will go back to normal," Percy said soothingly, patting him on the back.
"No," Tyson said immediately, shaking his head. "I'd never leave you. I'm just a little sad because they don't want to be my friends anymore. But I still have you two. And Hermione, Neville, and Ron too," Tyson said quickly as he sniffled and wiped away his tears with his fists, trying to act brave.
Percy looked at Harry with a hint of guilt.
A feeling Harry, of course, shared.
After all...
This should have been a fun school year for Tyson, his very first time ever attending school.
And not just any school.
A place filled with the kind of magic and wonder he'd dreamed about ever since learning it existed.
"Yeah, Tyson, don't worry. We'll never leave you behind," Harry added, joining in to cheer him up. "After all, you share Percy's surname now, so we're practically brothers," Harry said with a smile. "You could even pass as Percy's twin brother," he added, unable to resist teasing his brother at the same time.
"Well..." Percy was naturally about to defend himself, but after seeing Tyson like this, he could only sigh.
"But I'm the older brother," he added, accepting the nonsense as though it were true, just to make Tyson feel better.
Those words seemed to work surprisingly well.
Tyson's face lit up with a genuinely happy smile, and the sadness disappeared from his expression.
"Oh, lads, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you already be having lunch?"
A voice came from nearby, making all three of them turn around.
Hagrid was walking towards them with a smile on his face.
What caught their attention most, however, wasn't the fact that he was inside the castle.
It was what he was carrying in one hand.
A dead rooster.
He was holding it by its legs.
Both Harry and Percy looked at it in confusion.
"Hi, Hagrid. Why are you still carrying a dead rooster around since yesterday?" Percy asked, voicing exactly what both of them were thinking.
After all, when Hagrid had burst into the Headmaster's office the day before, he'd also been carrying a dead rooster and had scattered feathers absolutely everywhere.
Hagrid looked down at the bird.
"No, no. This one's a different one. Just found it. That's the third this week. I was going to mention it to Professor Dumbledore yesterday, but I forgot, so I went back to ask if he could put some sort of charm on the old chicken coop," Hagrid said, clearly upset about his dead roosters.
Then he seemed to notice Tyson had been crying, as the young Cyclops was still sniffling a little, even though he had already calmed down.
"Did something happen? Are they picking on yeh? If they are, yeh shouldn't pay them any mind, lad. I went through the same thing when I was at Hogwarts. Even Professor Flitwick did. Don't let it get to yeh," the giant said quickly, sounding genuinely sympathetic.
He still believed Tyson might be, like him, a half-giant.
"No. Tyson was just feeling a bit down because his classmates have started avoiding him. They think he's friends with Slytherin's Heir," Harry explained.
"The Heir?" Hagrid frowned. "Who's that supposed ter be?" he asked.
"Apparently Harry," Percy answered immediately in an amused tone. "I mean, out of the two of us, he's obviously the more suspicious one," he added.
Harry merely rolled his eyes, though he did rather feel like punching his brother.
"What a load o' rubbish!" Hagrid burst out, raising his voice. "Is this because o' what happened yesterday? The Headmaster himself said it was obvious Harry didn't do it. If they're botherin' yeh, Harry, I'll—"
Before Hagrid could continue, Harry stopped him with a slightly forced smile.
"It's alright, Hagrid. Don't worry about it. It doesn't bother me. And they're not bullying me. They're far too scared of me to say or do anything while I'm around," Harry said calmly.
"Yeh sure?" Hagrid asked, still looking worried.
"Yeah. Don't worry. You'd better go see the Headmaster before whatever's been attacking your roosters kills another one," Harry replied calmly.
"Mmm... alright then. But yeh know, Harry, if yeh ever need ter talk, or anything else, my hut'll always be open fer yeh. Fer all o' yeh," Hagrid added, looking at the three boys, who all nodded.
The half-giant gave the three boys one last concerned look before turning around and continuing towards the Headmaster's office.
Once Hagrid disappeared around the corner, Percy finally opened his mouth.
"Wow. Acting all mature. As your older brother, I'm proud of you," Percy said, nodding confidently with a teasing grin, knowing perfectly well Harry wasn't nearly as unaffected as he pretended to be.
"Don't talk nonsense. You're younger than I am," Harry replied irritably.
Before the two of them could fall into one of their usual arguments, an enchanted paper bird flew over to them.
Harry caught it and unfolded it to read the message inside.
Written in Hermione's familiar handwriting, it simply said:
It's ready.
"Good. It's time. Let's finish our investigation before Christmas so we can go home. And if one of them really is Slytherin's Heir..." Harry said calmly. "We break his legs first... then hand him over."
Percy raised an eyebrow before a small smile spread across his face.
"Ruthless...
But fair."
Tyson looked from one of them to the other.
Then he nodded as well.
He was coming with them.