Always knew it was you

Dark times

I went to Dean's house once and to Seamus' house once during the Christmas holidays.

I hadn't owled any of the Hufflepuffs for Christmas and they too hadn't owled me.

I owled Euan once asking about Colin and Justin and asked if there were anyone else was petrified. He said that no one else was petrified.

I missed the Hufflepuffs more than I thought I would. Soon, Christmas was over and we all went to Hogwarts again.

I was told that Hermione was sick, not petrified thankfully. Poppy didn't let me see her. But told me that she was alright .

In a few weeks, there was a match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. It seemed like the only ray of sunshine in a humongous dark room.

But the match was cancelled as Hermione and a Penelope Clearwater, a Ravenclaw prefect were petrified.

We were not allowed anywhere near the Black Lake, Astronomy Tower or Quidditch stadium. Teachers were to accompany us to all classes and we were allowed to use the restroom only when accompanied by a teacher. No one talked even in the common rooms. The sound of clapping, cheering or laughter was almost forgotten.

Even when I smiled at Dean's dumb jokes, I immediately felt guilty and stopped. Even the Weasley twins,who were major pranksters and comedians acted like they were nothing but model students.

Harry and Ron, looked lost after Hermione was petrified. Both of them looked like they had given up on life.

The only people who were unaffected by all this was Lockhart and Malfoy. Both of them strutted across the halls, as though nothing had happened .

The only good thing that happened was after Hermione was petrified, the Hufflepuffs apologized to Harry.

And to me, they hadn't exactly apologized, but all three of them crushed me with a bear hug and started talking to me, as though nothing happened.

Even the Hufflepuff common room,in which you can hardly hear what the person next to you was saying because of the loud laughter, chatter and noise, was awfully silent. The silence was too much for me. It felt as though, all the laughter and life was sucked out of Hogwarts.

And when I thought it couldn't get any worse, Dumbledore had gone missing and Hagrid had been put in Azkaban.

I don't know why, but I strongly felt Hagrid was innocent, there was no way he could have opened the chamber of secrets. But, Lockhart kept saying that Hagrid was guilty and even Harry seemed to agree with him. I was almost offended when Harry said Hagrid was guilty, I thought Hagrid was his friend.

It was so horrible that if to return the school to normal, I had to spend my lifetime listening to Lockhart go on and on about himself, I would probably agree.

One day, we were in potions and Malfoy told Snape that he could apply for the post of headmaster. Seamus pretended to vomit into his cauldron and I glared at Malfoy. Dean almost punched Malfoy but I kicked him in his shin to stop him.

Snape wasn't worth even half as Dumbledore. I felt like it was an insult to compare Snape to Dumbledore.

It was transfiguration, and I was staring into space when professor McGonagall told that the exams were starting in a week.

"Exams? We are still getting exams? ", Seamus almost shouted.

I panicked and made one of my legs vanish. Professor McGonagall put a spell and my leg became visible.

I stared at Dean and Seamus who shook their heads violently.