"So what? At least we don't believe that. We trust that it wasn't you, right?"
Arthur looked at Hermione and Ron, and Harry followed suit.
Hermione gave a firm nod, while Ron's eyes darted away, looking guilty.
Well, with Ron's famously thick head, it wasn't that surprising he had doubts about Harry.
After all, this was the same guy who'd believed his brothers when they told him first-years had to wrestle a dragon during the Sorting Ceremony.
Arthur sighed and continued, "Hermione once told me that you're not even friends with the people gossiping about you, so why care what they think?"
When he and Hermione had become well-known around school, Arthur had been uncomfortable with all the attention at first.
But it was Hermione's words that woke him up — since when did he need to care about the opinions of people who didn't matter?
Harry gave a reluctant nod, clearly not feeling great.
It looked like he still cared more than he wanted to admit.
...
There's a saying called Murphy's Law — if something can go wrong, it will, no matter how unlikely it seems.
And sure enough, the next morning, Harry's worst fears came true.
The younger students started avoiding eye contact with him.
Harry hid beside a classroom window and managed to overhear what was going on.
It all started with a Hufflepuff student he'd talked to during yesterday's Dueling Club class — Justin Finch-Fletchley.
The boy had told Harry he was Muggle-born.
But after learning Harry was a Parselmouth, he became terrified.
He was convinced that Harry was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets… and that he would be the next victim.
He shared his theory with his roommates — and one of them had a big mouth.
The rumor spread like wildfire and quickly got out of hand. Some students were even saying the reason Harry could make the Dark Lord vanish was because he was an even more powerful Dark wizard.
Soon, students from all four houses were on edge. Muggle-borns especially were giving Harry a wide berth.
It was enough to seriously tick Harry off.
Thankfully, his close friends didn't buy into the rumors, which gave Harry a bit of comfort.
But still, being watched all day with wary eyes wore him down.
So he decided to head back to the common room alone for a break.
Ron was still miserably slogging through his homework, Hermione was deep in a book, and Ranni — well, she was either with Arthur or tucked away in his "Zen Garden," reading or studying that Peashooter seed.
Arthur, with nothing urgent to do, decided to follow after Harry.
On his way back, Harry ran into Hagrid, who was carrying a dead rooster.
"Hey there, Harry. You alright?" Hagrid asked.
"Hagrid, what are you doing with that?" Harry eyed the limp chicken with confusion.
"Oh, this is the second rooster that's died this term. I figure it's either foxes or some blood-sucker. I'm off to ask Dumbledore if I can cast a protective charm around the coop."
Arthur and Ranni were walking behind them, and he noticed Ranni's eyes locked onto the chicken.
He reached over and gently tousled her hair. "Be good. That chicken looks poisoned — not safe to eat. If you're hungry, we'll go to the kitchens and have the house-elves make something."
Ranni nodded in agreement, accepting his explanation.
Up ahead, Harry and Hagrid had overheard their conversation and turned back.
"You know what killed this chicken, Arthur?" Hagrid asked, clearly agitated.
He'd put so much effort into raising those birds — losing them like this really upset him.
"Hmm, isn't it obvious~?"
Arthur nodded, deciding it was time to tell Harry about the basilisk — no point letting the kid mope in the dark.
"Something killed the chicken without eating it, which rules out normal predators. On top of that, the wounds carry traces of poison. Now, if we connect that to the night Mrs. Norris was petrified — the snake-like trails on the floor and the fleeing spiders — I think it's pretty clear what's behind it all: a basilisk."
"Merlin's beard! That actually makes a lot of sense. But isn't looking directly at a basilisk supposed to be fatal? Why were Mrs. Norris and that student only petrified?"
Hagrid agreed at first, but then frowned in confusion.
Clearly, he did know about basilisks — naturally, as they were one of those "little critters" he was obsessed with. He must've read up on them extensively.
He wasn't stupid, just a bit… simple.
And anyway, basilisks were spider-killers. He already had a giant spider — or used to.
Oh right, Aragog had gone missing.
More accurately, Aragog had been taken out by Arthur.
"What if it was only indirect eye contact?" Arthur suggested.
Hagrid immediately remembered something he'd read.
"If it's an indirect view, then it just causes petrification!"
Arthur nodded. "Mrs. Norris probably saw the basilisk's eyes reflected in the puddle on the floor. As for Colin, he had a camera lens in the way."
Hagrid slapped his palm. "That's it! You're absolutely right! I have to tell Dumbledore right away!"
With that, he rushed off to the Headmaster's office.
Harry, meanwhile, looked completely stunned.
Once Hagrid was gone, he turned to Arthur and asked, "What is a basilisk?"
"A basilisk is a magical creature artificially created. Legend says it was first bred by the Dark wizard Herpo the Foul. He incubated a chicken egg under a toad, which hatched into the creature we call a basilisk. This monster…"
Arthur explained its origins.
Halfway through, he suddenly had a thought — why go after Slytherin's basilisk specifically?
Now that he knew how they were made, wouldn't it be better to just raise his own from scratch?
A basilisk raised from infancy would be much more obedient.
And sure, a thousand-year-old basilisk might be a rare find… but Arthur had the Zen Garden, which could manipulate time. For him, raising one would only take a few years at most.
Yep. Decision made.
He'd take out Slytherin's basilisk the first chance he got.
"So, the voice I heard… was actually the basilisk speaking?"
"Exactly~ It is a snake, after all. That's why only you could hear it."
As they chatted, walking back toward the common room, Harry suddenly froze.
"I hear it again — the voice!"
"Then let's follow it. Be careful, though. Direct eye contact with a basilisk is deadly," Arthur reminded him.
Harry nodded and followed the sound. Arthur and Ranni were right behind him.
They turned a corner and came face to face with two newly petrified figures.
Nearly Headless Nick was floating in the air, stiff as a board. On the ground lay Justin.
The kid who'd feared he was next — well, he wasn't wrong.
Arthur stepped forward. He didn't care much about Justin, but he was curious about Nick.
He knocked lightly on the ghost. Yep, solid as a rock.
Weird… even ghosts could be petrified? What would happen if one shattered?
He thought about it, then decided not to mess with Nick — the ghost hadn't done anything to him.
Maybe he could test on Peeves someday. That prankster ghost was always causing trouble, but Arthur hadn't run into him yet.
He wasn't sure if that meant he was lucky or if Peeves was.
At that moment, Filch appeared from the other end of the corridor, eyes blazing with fury.
"Caught you red-handed, Potter! This time I'll make sure you're expelled! And your little friends too!"
He shot Arthur with a particularly venomous glare.
Arthur didn't bother with pleasantries. He drew his wand and pointed it at Filch.
"Levicorpus!"
Filch was yanked into the air, dangling upside down.
He'd always acted like a tyrant, scaring younger students into obedience — but this time, someone had the nerve to fight back.
"You brat! You dare attack me? I'll have Dumbledore throw you out for this! Let me down!"
Arthur ignored him and said calmly, "I'm curious — did I ever do anything to you? I even gave you Mandrake root to cure Mrs. Norris. You didn't even say thank you, and now you're holding a grudge? Where do you get off, acting like this? Especially considering… you're a Squib."
The word Squib hit like a curse. Filch immediately went silent.
"H-how did you know?"
"I just guessed," Arthur shrugged, not bothering to explain. What was he supposed to say — I saw it in a movie?
"Now, answer my question. Or I won't mind adding one more statue to the hallway."
Filch panicked. "It was Lockhart! He said the Mandrake root you gave me was fake! That's why his antidote didn't work!"
Arthur blinked, then chuckled.
Wow. Lockhart's silver tongue was more impressive than he'd thought.
Even though Dumbledore had confirmed the Mandrake was real, Lockhart had managed to twist the narrative so the blame fell on him for the failed potion.
Arthur quietly made a mental note. He didn't have a forgiving nature. He'd get back to Lockhart when the time was right.
Just then, Professor McGonagall walked by.
Filch immediately screamed for help.
"Professor McGonagall! Help! I found the culprit — it's him! He even threatened to petrify me!"
Arthur wasn't interested in his nonsense. One Silencio spell later, Filch was blessedly mute.
McGonagall looked startled. "What on earth is going on here?"
Before Arthur could speak, Harry jumped in, explaining the basilisk theory and what had just happened with Filch.
McGonagall turned to Arthur. "Alright, Arthur. Please release Mr. Filch."
With a flick of his wand, Arthur let Filch drop to the floor.
He had to respect his Head of House, after all.
"Filch, you heard him. It was a basilisk. I trust my student wouldn't do something like this."
"But he threatened me just now!" Filch shouted.
McGonagall raised an eyebrow, but Arthur spun his wand in his fingers and said coolly, "I was talking about the Petrificus Totalus spell — a basic one that's reversible. Not the kind of petrification they suffered."
He gestured toward Justin and Nearly Headless Nick.
"Want me to test it on you, Filch?"
His mocking tone made it clear — this guy really thought McGonagall's presence would save him?
He must've forgotten whose student Arthur was.
McGonagall was clearly on his side.
There were doubts about Harry… but Arthur? Not a chance.
"Let's leave the final judgment to the Headmaster."
"I'm already here, Minerva."
Dumbledore had arrived, with Hagrid in tow.
He knelt to examine Justin and confirmed they were only petrified, not dead — a relief.
Then he stood and said, "Hagrid told me everything. Justin must have seen the basilisk through Nick, so he wasn't killed outright. Minerva, please have them sent to the hospital wing."
Once that was handled, he turned to Harry, Arthur, and Ranni.
"Come with me."
Filch, of course, wouldn't shut up. "Dumbledore! It was them! They're the ones who summoned the snake thing! Potter's a Parselmouth, it has to be him!"
To be honest, Filch had no clue what a basilisk even was — he just saw the word "snake" and latched onto the only Parselmouth around.
"Enough, Argus! I've said before — unless there's clear evidence, everyone is innocent until proven otherwise."
Even Dumbledore sounded fed up.
Filch finally fell silent, though his glare followed Harry as he left.
As for Arthur… he didn't dare look at him again.
He didn't want to end up as the next statue.
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