Adventures of Harriet Potter

Cornelius Fudge

Harriet, Ron, and Hermione had always known that Hagrid had an unfortunate liking for large and monstrous creatures. During their first year at Hogwarts he had tried to raise a dragon in his little wooden house, and it would be a long time before they forgot the giant, three-headed dog he'd christened "Fluffy." And if, as a boy, Hagrid had heard that a monster was hidden somewhere in the castle, Harriet was sure he'd have gone to any lengths for a glimpse of it. He'd probably thought it was a shame that the monster had been cooped up so long, and thought it deserved the chance to stretch its many legs; Harriet could just imagine the thirteen-year-old Hagrid trying to fit a leash and collar on it. But she was equally certain that Hagrid would never have meant to kill anybody.
Harriet half wished she hadn't found out how to work Riddle's diary. Again and again Ron and Hermione made her recount what she'd seen, until she was heartily sick of telling them and sick of the long, circular conversations that followed. "Riddle might have got the wrong person," said Hermione. "Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people. . . ." Harriet had to agree, since a giant spider didn't fit the monster's attack pattern. She wasn't stupid, she knew spiders used venom to attack and kill prey — and none of the victims had any puncture wounds consistent with spider fangs on them. "How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" Ron asked dully. "We always knew Hagrid had been expelled," said Harriet miserably. "And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award." Though it was too convenient really, especially with Hagrid still on campus being trained as groundskeeper. Harriet had a feeling Riddle overlooked that part, after all who better to make a scapegoat to throw off suspicion for oneself than the true heir of Slytherin. Hagrid most likely was in the wrong place at the right time.
Ron tried a different tack. "Riddle does sound like Percy — who asked him to squeal on Hagrid, anyway?" he said. "But the monster had killed someone, Ron," said Hermione. "And Riddle was going to go back to some Muggle orphanage if they closed Hogwarts," said Harriet. "I don't blame him for wanting to stay here. . . ." She was still deep in thought about how Riddle seemed to bust Hagrid at just the right time for no one to question how someone Hagrid's size avoided being caught for so long. "You met Hagrid down Knockturn Alley, didn't you, Harriet?" Hermione asked suddenly.
"He was buying a Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent," said Harriet quickly, having looked it up and found it was dangerous enough to be sold in an alley specialized in the dark arts. The three of them fell silent. After a long pause, Hermione voiced the knottiest question of all in a hesitant voice. "Do you think we should go and ask Hagrid about it all?" she asked. "That'd be a cheerful visit," said Ron. "'Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?'" In the end, they decided that they would not say anything to Hagrid unless there was another attack, and as more and more days went by with no whisper from the disembodied voice, they became hopeful that they would never need to talk to him about why he had been expelled. It was now nearly four months since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick had been Petrified, and nearly everybody seemed to think that the attacker, whoever it was, had retired for good. Peeves had finally got bored of his "Oh, Potter, you rotter" song, Ernie Macmillan asked Harriet quite politely to pass a bucket of leaping toadstools in Herbology one day, and in March several of the Mandrakes threw a loud and raucous party in greenhouse three. This made Professor Sprout very happy. "The moment they start trying to move into each other's pots, we'll know they're fully mature," she told Harriet, who had volunteered to help clean up. "Then we'll be able to revive those poor people in the hospital wing."

The second years were given something new to think about during their Easter holidays. The time had come to choose their subjects for the third year, a matter that Hermione, at least, took very seriously. "It could affect our whole future," she told Harriet and Ron as they pored over lists of new subjects, marking them with checks. "I just want to give up Potions," said Harriet sourly, Snape had tried to throw her off her game by berating her in class in the hopes she'd mess her potion up. She'd been lucky because she almost had. "We can't," said Ron gloomily. "We keep all our old subjects, or I'd've ditched Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"But that's very important!" said Hermione, shocked. "Not the way Lockhart teaches it," said Ron. "I haven't learned anything from him except not to set pixies loose." Neville Longbottom had been sent letters from all the witches and wizards in his family, all giving him different advice on what to choose. Confused and worried, he sat reading the subject lists with his tongue poking out, asking people whether they thought Arithmancy sounded more difficult than Study of Ancient Runes. Dean Thomas, who, like Harriet, had grown up with Muggles, ended up closing his eyes and jabbing his wand at the list, then picking the subjects it landed on. Hermione took nobody's advice but signed up for everything. And refused to be dissuaded from it, no matter how many times Harriet tried to convince her the workload would be too much.
Harriet smiled grimly to herself at the thought of what Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would say if she tried to discuss her career in wizardry with them. Not that she didn't get any guidance: Percy Weasley was eager to share his experience. "Depends where you want to go, Harriet," he said. "It's never too early to think about the future, so I'd recommend Divination. People say Muggle Studies is a soft option, but I personally think wizards should have a thorough understanding of the non-magical community, particularly if they're thinking of working in close contact with them — look at my father, he has to deal with Muggle business all the time. My brother Charlie was always more of an outdoor type, so he went for Care of Magical Creatures. Play to your strengths, Harriet." But the only thing Harriet felt she was really good at was Quidditch. In the end, she chose one of the same new subjects as Ron and one of the ones Hermione had chosen, feeling that if she was lousy at them, at least she'd have someone friendly to help her.