Chapter 21: The Egg's Song
A week had passed since the incident with Skeeter at Hogsmeade and Hagrid's intervention. Hermione, Claire, Ron, and Harry were surprised Skeeter hadn't published a new story about the Hogsmeade incident, but they weren't complaining. Meanwhile, Hagrid no longer took Skeeter's article to heart and went back to teaching Care of Magical Creatures. They were happy to have Hagrid back teaching, but they certainly could've done without the skrewts. Since his last talk with Hagrid, Harry (finally) began to focus on the second task. He was determined to make Hagrid proud. Claire followed through with her promise to help him prepare by figuring out when they would try out Cedric's hint about the egg.
"Maybe we should wait until after curfew to sneak into the prefects bathroom." Claire suggested as she and Harry walked into the common room and sat on the couch.
Harry nodded. "That's probably the best idea. There'll be a less likely chance of the other prefects showing up if we go then. The only thing is we'll have to keep watch for Filch."
"Yeah, I don't want to have a run-in with Filch again." Claire said, remembering their first year when they were caught by Filch after sending Noberta away. "Not to mention it'd save us the awkwardness of explaining why were in the perfect's bathroom in the first place. The task is only three weeks away. We need to do this as soon as possible. What date did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking next Monday. That's a week from now. We could take turns keeping watch on the Marauders' Map for Filch's nightly routines until then. That way we can make sure not to go down any of the corridors he patrols." Harry said.
"Ok, next Monday it is." Claire agreed.
"What's going on next Monday?" Hermione said as she and Ron entered the common room coming back from the library. (Ron had waited until the last minute to finish their History of Magic essay which was due the next day. Hermione agreed to help him finish it; after she had scolded him for a good five minutes.)
"That's January 30, right?" Ron said. "Wait, that's your birthday, Claire!"
"It is?" Harry and Hermione said in unison.
"Why didn't you tell us it was your birthday next week?" Hermione questioned.
"I'm just not into the whole celebration thing." Claire said. "Besides, there are more important things to focus on at the moment; like helping Harry prepare for the next task."
Hermione frowned at Harry. "Didn't you say you were already prepared for the second task?"
"Er—yeah. Claire was just going to go over everything to make sure I'm fully prepared. Can't ever be too prepared, right?" Harry said.
Claire discreetly rolled her eyes as Hermione looked doubtful at Harry's response.
"Alright, if you say so." Hermione said before heading up to her dormitory.
"I'm beat." Ron said sitting in between Claire and Harry. "Hermione wouldn't stop complaining the entire time."
"You did wait until the last minute to finish your essay." Harry reasoned.
"Yeah, but she's the one who wanted to help me. She shouldn't have been complaining." Ron said.
Claire scoffed. "If I recall correctly you were the one who was begging her to help you."
Ron's ears tinged a light pink. "No I wasn't."
Claire raised her eyebrow. "Really? This doesn't ring a bell?"
Claire cleared her throat. "'Bloody hell, I forgot to finish my History of Magic essay! Hermione, you're smart. I'm begging you, please help me. I know I'm stupid and forgetful but you're my only hope! If I don't finish this essay I won't be able to go on the trip for History of Magic. Please, please, please, please, Hermione you're smart and brilliant—'"
"Alright, so maybe I begged a bit." Ron interrupted his ears turning a darker pink.
"Sure, you did." Claire said sarcastically. "Are you sure you just didn't do your essay until now because you knew you'd get to spend time with Hermione alone?"
Claire was surprised when Ron's ears practically turned red.
"Wait, is that really why you—?"
"No!" Ron exclaimed a little too quickly for Claire's liking. "T-T-That's not why—I-I mean—I-I didn't—Shut up, Harry!"
Harry had started laughing as Ron's face turned red.
"I'm going to bed." Ron ran up to his dormitory as Harry stopped laughing. Claire was still processing the fact that Ron might like her best friend who just so happened to feel the same.
"Did Ron just sort-of admit he liked Hermione?" Claire questioned.
"I think he did." Harry said. "It makes since considering how he acted at the Yule Ball."
Claire nodded. "Wow. I'm shocked. I mean, don't tell Ron this, but Hermione told me she liked Ron earlier this year."
Harry looked surprised. "Really? When?"
"It was after Professor McGonagall's dance lesson." Claire replied. "She told me she was jealous that Ron and I danced together. She thought that we like each other."
"Oh, do you?" Harry said.
"Gross, definitely not! He's like a brother to me." Claire said.
It was quiet for a moment until Harry asked her a question. "So, who would you say is the better dancer Ron or me?"
"Considering Ron stepped on my feet the entire time and you didn't I'd say you're the better dancer." Claire said. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason." Harry said quickly. "It's getting late. Good night, Claire."
Harry disappeared upstairs almost as fast as Ron did, leaving Claire utterly confused. She shook her head and started walking to her dorm muttering to herself, "What the heck just happened?"
January thirty came faster than Claire expected. She woke up that morning to a bright light; Hermione had opened the curtains, the sun's rays flooding the room.
"Happy birthday, Claire!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Thanks," Claire said groggily, sitting up in her bed.
"I got you a present." Hermione held out a small red box that fit perfectly in her palm.
"You didn't have to do that, but thanks." Claire accepted the gift. She took the lid off the box to see several guitar picks. "Brilliant! Now I have back-up picks for my guitar. Thank you, 'Mione."
"No problem, Claire." Hermione said. "Now, c'mon, we better hurry if we want to eat before classes."
After they both changed into their uniforms and grabbed their bags, they headed downstairs. The common room was emptier than usual as they exited through the Fat Lady's portrait.
"Where is everyone?" Claire asked.
"I-I'm not sure." Hermione stuttered.
Claire furrowed her eyebrows. Hermione never stuttered. Something was up.
"What's going on, Hermione?" Claire asked her.
"Oh, nothing." Hermione waved her hand dismissively. "Let's get to the Great Hall. I'm starving, aren't you?"
Hermione grabbed Claire's arm and practically pulled her out of the common room all the way to the Great Hall. When they entered the Great Hall, they spotted Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George already seated at the Gryffindor table. However, the section they were seated at had balloons and a floating banner that read "Happy Birthday, Claire!" on it. Claire tried to exit the Great Hall without being spotted, but it was too late.
"Hey, look! It's the birthday girl!" George shouted after spotting her. He was wearing a red party hat. Fred was also wearing a party hat and blew on a gold plastic horn. Ginny rolled her eyes at her brothers before greeting Claire.
"Happy Birthday, Claire!" Ginny exclaimed.
Claire looked down at the floor feeling uncomfortable as the whole hall's attention went to her. Hermione dragged her to the table. Fred attempted to put a party hat on her head, but she prevented this by grabbing it from his hands.
"For Merlin's sakes..." Claire muttered, her cheeks flushed. "Are you trying to embarrass me?"
"Why of course, Claire-bear!" Claire glared at Fred as he put an arm around her shoulders. "It's our job as honorary siblings to embarrass our honorary sister!"
"Though you're not so ickle anymore. How does it feel being fifteen?" George asked.
"Great. Now, not that I don't appreciate the birthday wishes, but could you stop? Everyone's looking at us." Claire said, removing Fred's arm from her shoulders, and glancing at the people at the other tables looking their way. "You haven't celebrated my birthday since I was six, why are you starting now?"
"We thought it'd cheer you up considering everything's that's happened." Ginny said.
"Yeah, you've been in a right mood ever since the incident at the Yule-ow! Ginny, what'd you do that for?" Ron had been hit on the arm and was now rubbing it. Ginny gave him a look and he seemed to receive whatever message she intended on sending.
"A 'right mood'? I haven't been in a 'right mood'." Claire scoffed, defensively crossing her arms over her chest. "I've been acting completely normal, thank you very much."
"Are you sure about that?" George questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Last we heard you almost lunged yourself on that Skeeter woman—"
"—not that we would've minded if you did. Right hag, that woman is." Fred added.
"—but that's not acting completely normal, is it?" George said.
Claire sighed. "I suppose you have a point, but that witch had it coming to her. She can write things to ruin my life all she wants, but writing stories about my friends' lives, that I won't stand. She's lucky I didn't—"
"Hello, Claire." A familiar dreamy voice said from behind Claire. "Ginny told me it was your birthday today. Happy Birthday!"
She turned around and immediately recognized Ginny's friend Luna Lovegood. The same dream-like gaze was evident in the blonde's blue eyes. She had grown a few inches, but was considerably shorter than her as well as Ginny. Claire smiled politely at the sweet girl.
"Thank you, Luna. I haven't talked to you since—"
"Your second year, yes," Luna said dreamily. "I don't blame you though. Neither of us made an effort to have a conversation with one another. Though from what I've heard, you haven't had much time to talk with all the adventures you've experienced the past years."
"That's an understatement." Ron muttered.
Luna pulled a necklace from her robes' pocket; a small shiny red gem hanging at the end.
"I made this for you. It protects you against the Aqua-Dentis." Luna said handing her the necklace.
"What's a Aqua-Dentis?" Harry questioned.
"They're fanged creatures who live underwater. They feed on the blood from other creatures." Luna said.
"In short, they're water vampires." Hermione added. "They were first sighted in the late 1500s. There's no physical proof concerning their existence. They're believed to be a myth by most of the magical community."
"Daddy and I heard they were just sighted off the coast of Ireland." Luna continued. "They're far away from home. The Aqua-Dentis usually reside off the coast of Italy. However, they are known to migrate every three hundred years or so. It's always good to be prepared in case you come across one. They're deadly, but the charm on the necklace attracts sunlight and amplifies it. Aqua-Dentis' worst enemy is sunlight."
Hermione rolled her eyes. Claire could tell she was biting her tongue to keep from arguing with the blonde about the existence of Aqua-Dentis. Claire, not wanting to be impolite, accepted the gift. "Thank you, Luna. It's lovely."
Claire heard Ron 'cough' and gave him a look. Luna gave her a small smile before turning to Ginny.
"Oh, Ginny, did you remember to finish your Divination journal entry last night?"
Ginny groaned. "I completely forgot. Oh, well. That class is bonkers anyway."
"I'll say," Claire said. "She's claimed that Harry and I would die everyday for the past two years and yet we're still alive. Either she's bonkers or we're really good at avoiding death."
"According to Professor McGonagall, Divination isn't real magic," Hermione said. "That's why I decided to switch to a real magic class like Ancient Runes."
"You're just saying that because Trelawney said you didn't have the Inner Eye." Ron stated.
Hermione glared at Ron. Claire caught Harry's eyes; both feeling Ron and Hermione were going to start fighting.
"Anyway," Ginny said loudly, trying to prevent a quarrel. "It's time to open presents, Claire."
Before Claire could protest, Fred had pushed her into her seat next to Harry and George had placed a shoe-box sized present in front of her decorated in red paper.
"Open our present!" Fred and George said.
"Nothing's going to jump out of it, right?" Claire said looking at the box apprehensively.
"Possibly..." Fred stated.
"That's comforting..." Claire muttered. "I swear if something happens, I'm feeding you both to the giant squid."
Claire slowly removed the lid. Inside the box, there was a fluffy purple ball the size of her fist. Just as she reached inside to grab it, the fluff ball moved on its own. Claire retracted her hand.
"What the heck?" Claire exclaimed, glaring at Fred and George. "Are you trying to scare me to death?"
Fred and George started laughing.
"What is that thing?" Claire questioned, pointing towards the box.
After they recovered, George took out the fluff ball from the box and held it out in his palm.
"This is a Pygmy Puff and she's all yours." George said simply.
The fluff ball squeaked.
"What the hell's a Pygmy Puff?" Claire questioned.
"She's your pet." Fred said.
The fluff ball moved revealing her face. She had big blue sparkling eyes, a tiny nose, and a small mouth. A small yawn escaped its mouth. Hermione and Ginny 'awed' at the sight of the little creature. Claire had to admit it was adorable.
"Well, aren't you going to take her? Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean I'm going to stand here all day holding it." George said.
Claire took the Pygmy Puff from him. Its big blue eyes stared at her and it made another squeaking noise as it nudged dainty nose against the palm of her hand.
"Aw, it's so cute!" Ginny gushed. "What are you going to name it?"
Claire shrugged. "I don't know. I'm rubbish with names."
"What about Fluffy?" Ginny suggested.
Claire pictured the three-headed dog from first year and shook her head. "No thanks."
"Violet." Luna said, pointing towards the puff's fur. "She has violet-colored hair."
The Pygmy Puff squeaked happily.
"I think she likes the name." Hermione said.
"Oh, almost forgot," Fred took out a piece of parchment from his robes' pocket and handed it to Claire. "These are the instructions on how to take care of it. Don't forget to read them later."
Claire nodded and gently sat Violet down on the table. Hermione handed four gifts that were from Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, Remus, and her mom. Claire got a set of guitar strings from her mom, a batch of fudge from Mrs. Weasley, a black leather jacket from Sirius, and a music theory book from Remus. Ginny then placed a thin square gift in front of her.
"This one's from me." Ginny said.
Claire removed the wrapping paper to see the Joan Jett & the Blackhearts Record "Notorious".
"Thanks, Gin!" Claire said. "I love this band!"
"No problem." Ginny said.
Ron gave Claire her gift next. He had gotten her several boxes of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Jelly Beans.
"Thanks, Ron." She thanked him.
Harry's gift was last. He gave her a medium-sized rectangular package. "I hope you like it."
Claire unwrapped the package to see a Nirvana's Greatest Hits guitar chord book.
"No way!" Claire said excitedly flipping through the book. "'Come As You Are', 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', 'Heart-Shaped Box'! This is awesome! I can't wait to start learning them. Thank you, Harry!"
Suddenly there was a 'pop' in the air. Dobby had appeared next to Claire holding a large birthday cake with fifteen lit candles.
"Dobby heard Claire Smith's birthday was today. Dobby made a cake for Claire Smith!" Dobby placed the cake in front of Claire.
Claire smiled appreciatively at Dobby. "Thank you, Dobby. That was very sweet of you."
"Blow out the candles before they melt!" Hermione said.
"Don't forget to make a wish." Luna added.
Claire thought for a moment. What was she supposed to wish for? Just a few years ago, she would've wished for her parents to come back so they could be a family, but she had more than just her parents as a part of her family now. She had the Weasleys, Hermione, Luna, Remus, Sirius, and Harry as a part of her family. Claire knew even if the world around her didn't except her, they would. Her family and friends were the only things that made life better. Without them, Claire knew she wouldn't be able to survive the crazy world she lived in. The growing fear of another war had plagued her mind since the end of first year. The thought of them disappearing from her life, left her with an unsettling feeling. Claire then knew what to wish for.
I wish for my family and friends to be safe from whatever is lurking in the dark this year. Even if it costs me my own life, as long as they're safe that's all that matters. Claire blew out the candles.
"What did you wish for?" Ron questioned.
Claire smiled. "If I told you it wouldn't come true. Now, who wants cake?"
"I heard Minnie's planning on teaching us Human Transfiguration today." Fred said as he, George, and Claire walked to sixth-year Transfiguration together.
"Should be interesting," George said. "Could give us some new ideas for products."
"Doesn't Professor McGonagall ever get annoyed by you calling her 'Minnie'?" Claire asked Fred as they entered the Transfiguration classroom.
"No," Fred waved his hand dismissively, taking a seat and propping his feet on the desk. "I think 'Minnie' secretly likes the nickname I gave her."
"I assure you Mr. Weasley I do not." Professor McGonagall said sternly. "And do remove your feet from your desk."
"Sure thing, 'Minnie," Fred winked at her, taking his feet off his desk.
Professor McGonagall gave him a stern look before walking towards the front of the room.
"Don't let her demeanor fool you." Fred whispered to Claire. "I'm secretly her favorite student."
"Yes, I'm sure you are. Especially, the way you've been acting the whole year." Claire said sarcastically, remembering on several occasions of Fred doing things to get detention from Professor McGonagall.
The last of their classmates came into the room before the bell rang. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and the class went silent.
"Today we will begin a new unit: Human Transfiguration." Professor McGonagall was met with excited chatter. "Human Transfiguration is a sub-branch of Transfiguration that can be extremely dangerous if it's not properly done. Human Transfiguration enables one to transfigure parts or their entire body. This can be as simple to changing the color of your hair to turning into a lion. However, today we will be starting with changing the color of one's hair. The spell you must use is 'Crinus Muto'. Repeat class."
"'Crinus Muto'." The class repeated.
"Excellent. Now, before attempting the spell, please read page 18." Professor McGonagall. "You will have today in class to accomplish this spell. If you fail to do so, I expect you to be practicing until the next time I see you. I expect you to be able to do it by your next class. You may work with up to three people. Good luck."
Claire turned to page 18 and began reading. "It says here that you have to think of the color you desire before casting it. Also, it says pronunciation is key."
"What's the wand movement?" George said trying to look at the page over her shoulder.
"It looks like an upside-down 'v'. You have to point your wand directly in front of the desired area you want to change colors." Claire read.
"Freddie, you're up first!" George said.
"What do I do?" Fred questioned.
"You weren't listening were you?" Claire sighed.
Fred scoffed. "Of course, I was."
Claire raised her eyebrow at him.
"Okay, so maybe I wasn't paying attention the whole time." Fred said.
After she told him what to do, Fred said he was going to test it on her hair. Claire was hesitant about it.
"I don't know about that." Claire said.
"Why not?" Fred questioned. "I'm very responsible! You trusted me enough to look over your work this summer! Back me up, Georgie!"
George was pretending he was reading the Transfiguration book.
Claire sighed. "Alright, fine, Fred. Just try not to set my hair on fire."
"Fortunately for you I'm not Seamus." Fred said. He looked at her book and re-read the instructions before pointing his wand at her hair. "Ready?"
"Not really." Claire muttered.
"Good." Fred said. "'Crinus Muto'."
Claire felt a tingling sensation starting from her scalp.
"Whoa! It worked!" George said. "Nice job, Freddie!"
George and Fred high-fived each other. Claire held out a strand of her hair. It was the same red hair as the Weasleys!
"Now, you're an honorary Weasley, Claire!" Fred said.
Claire smiled. Fred and George's friend Lee Jordan then interrupted them.
"Any luck with—? Whoa, Claire you look hot as a redhead!" Lee whistled.
Fred and George sent him a stern glare. "Don't get any ideas Jordan! That's our sister you're talking about!"
Lee held his hands up in defeat before returning to practicing the spell with his partners.
"Good work, Mr. Weasley." Professor McGonagall commended him as she saw Claire's new hair. "Now, read page 19 to change her hair back."
Fred read the book before reciting the counter-spell. When he finished, he frowned.
"What's wrong?" Claire asked.
"The color's not going back." Fred said, checking over the instructions of the book.
Claire took the book from him. "Maybe you're forgetting a step. Did you use the correct spell? Wand movement?"
Fred nodded.
"Let me try it." George said, taking the book and reading over it. He tried the spell too, but he failed.
"That's strange." Fred said. "Wonder why it's not working."
"Professor McGonagall!" Claire raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Smith?" Professor McGonagall said as she walked over to their table.
"The counter-spell isn't working and they're doing the correct wand movements and pronunciations." Claire replied.
"Let's see..." Professor McGonagall waved the wand. "Well, that's odd. Your hair doesn't seem to be turning back. Mr. Weasley, are you sure you used the spell 'Crinus Muto'?"
Fred nodded. "Of course, I did. I re-read that spell and the counter-spell. I didn't do anything wrong."
"Wait, look the color's fading back to normal now." George said, pointing to the tips of her hair turning brown.
"Perhaps it will take a while, but you should have your hair back to normal soon, Miss Smith." Professor McGonagall said just as the bell rang."Well, it looks like there's no homework for you tonight, Mr. Weasley."
As they left Transfiguration, Fred said to Claire, "Told you I was her favorite."
Claire's hair returned to normal by the time she reached her next class. In Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid decided to give them a quiz on the skrewts. The quiz was simple enough and the best part was that they didn't have to interact with the skrewts. Hagrid wished Claire a happy birthday and gave her a few of his homemade rock cakes before she, Harry, and Ron headed to Divination. Upon entering Divination, Professor Trelawney claimed her "Inner Eye" sensed there was a birthday in the room. She wished Claire a happy birthday before warning her about her death. The remainder of class was spent finishing up their dream journals. The final bell of the day rang and Claire, Harry, and Ron began packing up.
"Finally, it's almost dinnertime! I'm starving!" Ron complained.
"That's nothing new." Claire said as she tried to put her Divination book back in her bag.
"That's weird." Claire looked at Harry who was looking at the Marauder's Map.
"What's weird?" Claire took the map from him. On the map in Snape's office was a dot labeled "The Doctor".
"Why's your dad in Snape's office?" Ron questioned.
Claire stared at the map in shock. "I don't know. I'm going to go check it out. See you two at dinner."
Claire rushed out of Divination before either of them could reply. Why was her dad in Snape's office? There was something fishy going on and she was going to find out what. Once she was outside the Potions classroom, she looked at the map again. The dot was in the same place. Claire put the map in her robes' pocket and slowly opened the door. As she stepped into the classroom, she saw the door to Snape's office. She walked over to the door—
"Claire?" Claire jumped around startled to see her father. "What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you the same question." Claire retorted. "Why were you in Snape's office?"
The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "I wasn't in Snape's office. I was just walking past this corridor and saw his door was opened. I thought he might have forgotten to shut his door or lock it."
Could the map have been wrong? Claire thought to herself.
"Anyway, it's a good thing I saw you. Where is it?" The Doctor began checking his trench coat pockets. "Aha! Allons-y! Here we are! This is your birthday present."
The Doctor gave her a thick brown book with an intricate design of gold circles intertwining on the cover. Claire opened the first page. It was titled: The History of the Timelords & the Planet Gallifrey.
"This book here is all about my species, well ours really. I figured you'd want to know more about the Timelords and Gallifrey." The Doctor said.
"Thanks, dad," Claire thanked him.
"Well, I believe dinner's already started. You should probably get going. I'm going to lock up the classroom." The Doctor said.
Claire nodded and walked to the Great Hall. Once she entered the Great Hall, Claire took a seat next to Harry at the Gryffindor table. Harry and Ron looked at her expectedly.
"What's going on?" Hermione questioned.
Harry then told Hermione about seeing the Doctor on the Marauder's Map. Claire then explained to them what happened when she went to Snape's office.
"It's just odd, isn't it?" Claire said. "I feel like there's something I'm missing."
"Maybe the map's wrong." Hermione suggested. "Write to your mom and uncle. They should know since they created it."
Claire nodded. "Good idea."
The rest of dinner went by quickly and before they knew it they were back in the Gryffindor common room. Claire and Harry agreed to meet back in the common room at ten to sneak out. When it was ten o'clock, Claire was already in the common room holding the Marauder's Map. Harry came downstairs with his invisibility cloak.
"Ready?" Harry whispered.
And with that they set off to the prefects' bathroom under the invisibility cloak.
The door creaked opened to the prefects' bathroom as Harry and Claire walked in. The room was softly-lit by a candle-filled chandelier and everything was made from white marble. An empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. There were about a hundred golden taps around the pool's edges, each with a differently colored jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, her long hair over her face. As she snored, it would flutter.
Claire whistled as she looked around at the elegant room. "If this is what to expect when you're a prefect I might consider it."
Harry couldn't help but agree as he walked around admiring the features. He placed the egg on the floor in front of the empty, rectangular swimming pool. Then he started to test the different taps. He found the water tap and turned it to hot. Harry then found another tap that emitted soap. Bubbles began to foam in the water.
"I wonder if there's any jets," Claire thought out loud.
Harry turned another tap and jets bounced off the surface of the water. "There is."
"Yep, I definitely want to be a prefect now." Claire said.
When the deep pool was full of hot water, foam, and bubbles, Harry shut off the taps. He then turned to Claire.
"What?" Claire said, but then realization came over her and she felt awkward. "Oh, right. Just tell me when you're done, I'll be over there checking out those towels. I bet they're really soft."
Claire walked over to the pile of towels. After a few moments, Claire heard a splash in the water.
"Er—you can turn around now." Harry said.
When Claire turned around, she fought the urge to blush. The bubbles of the pool covered everything below the waist, but it didn't hide Harry's muscular arms —not that she was looking at them. Claire looked everywhere except Harry as she walked toward the pool. As she sat down on the edge of the pool putting her feet in the water, she looked at Harry. He was staring intently at the egg. He reached for the egg and began to open it.
"What are you doing?" Claire questioned, stopping him from opening the egg.
"Trying to open the egg." Harry said in a obvious tone.
"Are you trying to get us caught? The moment you open that egg it'll be wailing and screeching and I know Filch is old, but I'm sure his ears will pick up that sound." Claire reasoned. "Besides, Cedric said to take a bath with the egg. Meaning you're suppose to put the egg in the water."
"She's right you know." A voice startled both Claire and Harry. It startled Claire so much she ended up falling into the water. When Claire broke surface of the water, she moved her drenched hair back from her face and glared at the culprit: Moaning Myrtle.
"Myrtle!" Harry said in outrage, "I'm—I'm not wearing anything!"
"I closed my eyes when you got in. Besides, you're not complaining about that girl seeing you without clothes." Myrtle said, glancing at Claire, who was getting out of the pool and heading towards the towel rack. "You haven't been to see me for ages."
"Yeah...well..." Harry said, bending his knees slightly, just to make absolutely sure Myrtle couldn't see anything but his head, "I'm not supposed to come into your bathroom, am I? It's a girls' one."
"You didn't use to care," Myrtle said miserably. "You used to be in there all the time."
"I got told off for going in there," Harry said. "I thought I'd better not come back after that."
"Oh...I see..." Myrtle said. "Well...anyway...I'd listen to your girlfriend. Cedric Diggory put the egg in the bath with him too."
Harry blushed when Myrtle said girlfriend.
"Er—Claire isn't my girlfriend. She's just my friend." Harry said awkwardly.
Myrtle looked at him skeptically. "Then why was she in the water with you when you're naked? That's an odd sort of friendship. Unless you're friends with benefits."
Claire had just returned with a towel wrapped around her to hear Myrtle say this. Now it was Claire's turn to blush. She wiped the blush off her face and glared at the ghost. "You gave me a start and I fell in the water."
"Hmmm, or did you just want to see Harry naked?" Myrtle asked staring at her skeptically through her glasses.
Claire was about to say a few choice words to the ghost when Harry changed the subject.
"Have you been spying on Diggory too?" Harry said indignantly. "What d'you do, sneak up here in the evenings to watch the prefects take baths?"
"Sometimes," Myrtle said, rather slyly, "but I've never come out to speak to anyone before."
"Stalker." Claire coughed.
"I'm honored," Harry said darkly.
"Aren't you going to put the egg in the water?" Myrtle asked.
Harry grabbed the egg and placed it underwater. When Harry opened the egg, a gurgling song was coming out of it, a song whose words he couldn't distinguish through the water.
"At least it's not wailing..." Claire said.
"You need to put your head under too," Myrtle said, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying bossing him around, "Go on!"
Harry took a great breath and slid under the surface. A few seconds later he emerged from the water.
"What did you hear?" Claire asked.
"A song." Harry said.
"Got that much," Claire said sarcastically. "What specifically did the song say?"
"'Come seek us where our voices sound...' and if I need persuading...hang on, I need to listen again..." He sank back into the water.
Claire waited a little longer for him to re-emerge from the water. He soon came back up and repeated the song.
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannnot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've take what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour—the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
"I've got to go and look for people who can't use their voices above the ground..." he said slowly. "Er...who could that be?"
Claire glanced at the painting of the mermaid and she had an epiphany.
"Merpeople." Claire said quickly. "The second task must take place in the Black Lake."
"Ooooh, very good," Myrtle said, her thick glasses twinkling, "it took Diggory much longer than that!"
"That's it then, isn't it?" Harry said excitedly. "All I have to do for the second task is find the merpeople in the lake and...and..."
"What's wrong, Harry?" Claire said, noticing the look on his face. Then she realized why he looked so nervous.
"How am I supposed to breathe!" Harry said slowly.
At this, Myrtle's eyes filled with sudden tears.
"Tactless!" she muttered, groping in her robes for a handkerchief.
"What's tactless?" Harry said, bewildered.
"Talking about breathing in front of me!" she said shrilly, and her voice echoed loudly around the bathroom. "When I can't...when I haven't...not for ages..."
"Sorry," he said impatiently. "I didn't mean—I just forgot..."
"Oh yes, very easy to forget Myrtle's dead," Myrtle said, gulping, looking at him out of swollen eyes. "Nobody missed me even when I was alive. Took them hours and hours to find my body—I know, I was sitting there waiting for them. Olive Hornby came into the bathroom—'Are you in here again, sulking, Myrtle?' she said. 'because Professor Dippet asked me to look for you—' And then she saw my body...oooh, she didn't forget it until her dying day, I made sure of that...followed her around and reminded her, I did. I remember at her brother's wedding—"
Claire rolled her eyes as she drowned out Myrtle's story. She was trying to figure out how to get Harry to breathe underwater for an hour. There was Human Transfiguration (which she was just beginning to learn in sixth year Transfiguration), but that was hard to master in a short amount of time. Plus, there was the risk of not being able to change back. That was out of the question.
"—and then, of course, she went to the Ministry of Magic to stop me stalking her, so I had to come back here and live in my toilet." Myrtle finished.
"Are you ready to head back, Harry?" Claire asked him.
"Yeah," Harry replied. "Close your eyes will you, that means you too Myrtle."
Claire did just that and in a few minutes Harry was dressed and told her she could look again.
"Will you come and visit me in my bathroom again sometime without your girlfriend?" Moaning Myrtle asked mournfully as Harry picked up the Invisibility Cloak.
"Er...I'll try," Harry said, though privately thinking the only way he'd be visiting Myrtle's bathroom again was if every other toilet in the castle got blocked. "See you, Myrtle...thanks for your help."
"'Bye, 'bye," she said gloomily, and as Harry put the Invisibility Cloak over himself and Claire he saw her zoom back up the tap.
"Lovely girl," Claire said dryly. "Really brightens the mood."
Harry rolled his eyes and took out the Marauder's Map.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He tapped his wand on the paper and watched as the map of Hogwarts appeared. "Coast is clear. Ready, Claire?"
"Sure, but you're carrying the egg. I'll take the map." Claire said, switching the egg for the map.
Harry covered them with the Invisibility Cloak and they checked the map one more time. The dots belonging to Filch and his cat were in his office...nothing else seemed to be moving apart from Peeves, though he was bouncing around the trophy room on he floor above...They both had taken a step toward the Gryffindor Tower when something else on the map caught their eyes...something distinctly odd.
Peeves was not the only thing moving. A single dot was flitting around a room in the bottom left-hand corner—Snape's office. But the dot wasn't labeled "Severus Snape"...it was the Doctor.
Claire stared at the dot and looked at Harry who was also staring at the dot. Why is dad in Snape's office again? Claire felt there was something off about it.
"Claire, your dad—"
"I know Harry." Claire said.
"Should we check it out?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, let's go." They walked out of the bathroom and in the opposite direction from Gryffindor Tower to find the nearest staircase. They quietly went down the staircase and crept along the corridor below. Claire pushed aside a tapestry halfway along, and the two of them proceeded down a narrower staircase, a shortcut that would take them down two floors.
"It seems out of character for your dad to be doing something like this." Harry whispered to her.
Claire remained quiet, looking at the dot that belonged to her father on the Marauder's Map. At one point she would've thought the same thing, but her dreams said otherwise. The more she thought about her father, the more she realized she didn't really know him as well as she thought. She didn't even meet him until last year. He'd was barely around during summer vacation— he was always working on the TARDIS. Or was he? Could her father have been sneaking off to help Voldemort when he was supposedly "remodeling the TARDIS"? The thought made her blood boil. Claire was interrupted from her thoughts as she heard Harry curse—his leg had sank through the trick step. He had let the egg slip from his hands as he wobbled to gain his balance. Claire tried to catch it, but she was too late—not only did she fail to catch the egg, but the Marauder's Map had slipped from her hands landing six steps away from them. The egg rolled down the long staircase and as it hit each step Claire winced from the loud noise that echoed off the stone walls. She prayed to whatever higher power there was that no one would hear it, but then once the egg bounced off the last step it hit the floor, bursting open and wailing loudly in the corridor. Claire and Harry looked at one another, their eyes screwed up in fear...and, almost immediately—
"PEEVES!"
It was the unmistakable hunting cry of Filch the caretaker. They could hear his rapid, shuffling footsteps coming closer, his wheezy voice raised in fury as he ran down the corridor.
"What's this racket? Wake up the whole castle, will you? I'll have you, Peeves, I'll have you, you'll...and what's this?"
Filch had come into view, his footsteps halting. He shut the egg and the wailing ceased. Harry grabbed onto Claire's arm to keep balance. Claire tried to help him pull his leg out of the step, but their efforts were futile. Claire hoped that Filch wouldn't see the Marauder's Map that showed "Claire Smith" and "Harry Potter" standing under an Invisibility Cloak only stairs above him.
"Egg?" Filch said quietly at the foot of the stairs. "My sweet!"—Mrs. Norris had appeared next to her owner—"This is a Triwizard clue! This belongs to a school champion!"
Harry felt sick; his heart was hamming very fast—
"PEEVES!" Filch roared gleefully. "You've been stealing! Where are you hiding, Peeves? I'm coming to get you...You've gone and stolen a Triwizard clue...Dumbledore'll have you out of here for this, you filthy, pilfering poltergeist..."
Claire held her breath as Filch started to climb the stairs, his cat following him. Claire tried to help Harry pull his leg out of the step again, but it was still stuck. They were goners! Any moment Filch would see the map or walk right into them. Things couldn't get any worse.
"Filch? What's going on?"
Filch stopped a few steps below Harry and turned. At the foot of the stairs stood the only person who could make their situation worst: Snape. This is just great. Claire thought to herself sarcastically.
"It's Peeves, Professor," Filch whispered malevolently. "He threw this egg down the stairs."
Snape climbed up the stairs quickly and stopped beside Filch.
"Peeves?" Snape said softly, staring at the egg in Filch's hands. "But Peeves couldn't get into my office..."
"This egg was in your office, Professor?"
"Of course not," Snape snapped. "I heard banging and wailing—"
"Yes, Professor, that was the egg—"
"—I was coming to investigate—"
"—Peeves threw it, Professor—"
"—and when I passed my office, I saw that the torches were lit and a cupboard door was ajar! Somebody has been searching it!"
"But Peeves couldn't—"
"I know he couldn't, Filch!" Snape snapped again. "I seal my office with a spell none but a wizard could break! I want you to come and help me search for the intruder, Filch."
"I—yes, Professor—but—"
Filch looked yearningly up the stairs, right through Claire and Harry, who looked very reluctant to ignore the chance of catching Peeves.
"The thing is, Professor," Filch said plaintively, "the headmaster will have to listen to me this time. Peeves has been stealing from a student, it might be my chance to get him thrown out of the castle once and for all—"
"Filch, I don't give a damn about that wretched poltergeist; it's my office that's—"
Snape stopped talking abruptly as a familiar 'clunking' noise echoed of the stone walls from the corridor. He and Filch both looked down at the foot of the stairs. Mad-Eye Moody limped into sight. Moody was wearing his old traveling coat over his nightshirt and leaning on his staff as usual.
"Pajama party, is it?" he growled up the stairs.
"Professor Snape and I heard noises, Professor," Filch said at once. "Peeves the Poltergeist, throwing things around as usual—and then Professor Snape discovered that someone had broken into his off—"
"Shut up!" Snape hissed at Filch.
Claire furrowed her eyebrows. Why didn't Snape want Moody to know someone had broken into his office? Moody took a step closer to the foot of the stairs. His magical eye travelled over Snape, and then, unmistakably, onto Claire and Harry.
Claire's breath caught her throat. She'd forgotten that Moody could see through the invisibility cloak. What if he thought she and Harry were the culprits to sneak into Snape's office? Moody's lopsided gash of a mouth opened in surprise. For a few seconds, they stared at each other. Any moment, Claire expected Moody to rat them out, but surprisingly he didn't. Moody closed his mouth and turned his blue eye upon Snape again.
"Did I hear that correctly, Snape?" he asked slowly. "Someone broke into your office?"
"It is unimportant," Snape said coldly.
"On the contrary," Moody growled, "it is very important. Who'd want to break into your office?"
"A student, I daresay," Snape said. "It has happened before, Potion ingredients have gone missing from my private store cupboard...students attempting illicit mixtures, no doubt..."
"Reckon they were after potion ingredients, eh?" Moody said. "Not hiding anything else in your office, are you?"
"You know I'm hiding nothing, Moody," he said in a soft and dangerous voice, "as you've searched my office pretty thoroughly yourself."
That's odd. Why would Moody need to look through Snape's office? Claire thought to herself.
Moody's face twisted into a smile. "Auror's privilege, Snape. Dumbledore told me to keep an eye—"
"Dumbledore happens to trust me," Snape said through clenched teeth. "I refuse to believe that he gave you orders to search my office!"
"'Course Dumbledore trusts you," Moody growled. "He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me—I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?"
Snape suddenly did something very strange. He seized his left forearm convulsively with his right hand, as though something on it had hurt him.
Moody laughed. "Get back to bed, Snape. And maybe you should think of a changing your protection spell to something stronger. If the culprit knows the current spell, it won't stop them from doing it again."
"You don't have the authority to send me anywhere!" Snape hissed, letting go of his arm as though angry with himself. "I have as much right to prowl this school after dark as you do!"
"Prowl away," Moody said, but his voice was full of menace. "I look forward to meeting you in a dark corridor some time...You've dropped something, by the way..."
Claire and Harry's eyes widened as Moody pointed at the Marauder's Map, still lying on the staircase six steps below him. As Snape and Filch both turned to look at it, they threw caution to the winds; they raised their arms under the cloak and waved furiously at Moody to attract his attention, mouthing "It's ours! Ours!"
Snape had reached out for it, a horrible expression of dawning comprehension on his face—
"Accio Parchment!"
Claire breathed in relief as the map flew up into the air, slipping through Snape's outstretched fingers, and soared down the stairs into Moody's hand.
"My mistake," Moody said calmly. "It's mine—must've dropped it earlier—"
But Snape's black eyes were darting from the egg in Filch's arms to the map in Moody's hand. Claire and Harry could tell he was putting two and two together, as only Snape could...
"Potter," he said quietly.
"What's that?" Moody said calmly, folding up the map and pocketing it.
"Potter!" Snape snarled, and he actually turned his head and stared right at the place where Harry and Claire were. as though he could suddenly see them. "That egg is Potter's egg. That piece of parchment belongs to Potter. I have seen it before, I recognize it! Potter is here! And I'm more than sure that little girlfriend of his Smith is with him too! The two are never seen without one another just like Potter's foolish father and Smith's unprincipled uncle. Potter and Smith, under an Invisibility Cloak!"
Snape stretched out his hands like a blind man and began to move up the stairs. Claire tried to pull Harry out from the trick step again, but it was useless. Snape would catch them any moment now—
"There's nothing there, Snape!" Moody barked, "but I'll be happy to tell the headmaster how quickly your mind jumped to Harry Potter and Claire Smith!"
"Meaning what?" Snape turned again to look at Moody, his hands still outstretched, inches from the Harry's chest.
"Meaning that Dumbledore's very interested to know who's got it in for the boy and the girl after all that's happened!" Moody said, limping nearer still to the foot of the stairs. "And so am I, Snape...very interested..." The torchlight flickered across his face, making his scars more pronounced and menacing.
Snape looked down at Moody with no emotion. There was a moment when no one talked; the only thing disturbing this silence was the slight crackle of fire from the fire-lit torches hung on the wall. Then Snape slowly lowered his hands.
"I merely thought," Snape said, in a voice of forced calm, "that if Potter and Smith were wandering around after hours again...it's an unfortunate habit for both of them...they should be stopped. For—for their own safety."
"Ah, I see," Moody said softly. "Got Potter and Smith's best interests at heart, have you?"
There was a pause. Snape and Moody were still staring at each other. Mrs. Norris gave a loud meow, still peering around Filch's legs, looking where Harry and Claire were.
"I think I will go back to bed," Snape said curtly.
"Best idea you've had all night," Moody said. "Now, Filch, if you'll just give me that egg—"
"No!" Filch said, clutching the egg. "Professor Moody, this is evidence of Peeves' treachery!"
"It's the property of the champion he stole it from," Moody said. "Hand it over, now."
Snape swept downstairs and passed Moody without another word, disappearing down the corridor. Filch reluctantly handed over the egg to Moody and muttered to Mrs. Norris as they disappeared from sight. "Never mind, my sweet...we'll see Dumbledore in the morning...tell him what Peeves was up to..."
A door slammed. Claire and Harry were left staring down at Moody, who placed his staff on the bottommost stair and started to climb laboriously toward them, a dull clunk on every other step.
"Close shave, Potter, Smith," he muttered.
"I'll say," Claire breathed in relief.
"Yeah...I—er...thanks," Harry said weakly.
"What is this thing?" Moody said, drawing the Marauder's Map out of his pocket and unfolding it.
"Map of Hogwarts," Claire said, hoping Moody would help her pull Harry's leg from the stair.
"Merlin's beard," Moody whispered, staring at the map, his magical eye going haywire. "This...this is some map, Smith!"
"Yeah, it's quite useful." Claire said quickly. "But Professor Moody, d'you think you could help me—?"
Claire motioned to Harry whose eyes were beginning to water from the pain of his leg being squished.
"What? Oh! Yes...yes, of course..."
Moody took hold of Harry's other arm and pulled; Harry's leg finally came free from the trick step, and he climbed onto the one above it, next to Claire. Claire watched as Moody still gazed at the map. A sickening feeling began in her stomach.
"Potter, Smith..." Moody said slowly, "you didn't happen, by any chance, to see who broke into Snape's office, did you? On this map, I mean?"
Harry glanced at Claire. "Er...yeah, we did..."
"It was my dad." Claire admitted.
Moody's magical eye whizzed over the entire surface of the map. He looked suddenly alarmed.
"Your father?" he said. "You're—you're sure, Smith?"
Claire swallowed. "Unfortunately."
"Well, according to his map he's in his office now," Moody said, his eye still whizzing over the map. "The Doctor...that's very—very interesting...Did you see anything else out of the ordinary on this map this evening? Any other people who shouldn't have been where they were?"
The sickening feeling returned in Claire's stomach. Something was off, but she wasn't sure what it was.
"No, Professor." Harry said. "Just that. Claire and I wanted to investigate it seeing as she saw her father in there earlier today."
"Did you now?" Moody looked at Claire. "What was he doing in there?"
"Er—he said he was walking down the corridor and saw Snape's classroom door opened. He thought he forgot to lock it." Claire said.
"I see..." There was a long pause. "It seems I'll have to keep a close eye on that father of yours, Miss Smith. And now I want to ask you both a question, Potter, Smith," Moody said in a more businesslike tone.
Claire and Harry's hearts sank as they waited for Moody to ask where they'd gotten the map.
"Can I borrow this?"
"Oh!" Harry said.
Relief coursed through both of them. They weren't going to have to explain how they'd gotten it incriminating Fred and George, their parents, and Professor Lupin. Harry looked at Claire for approval.
"Yeah, that'd be fine." Claire said.
"Good kids," Moody growled. "I can make good use of this...this might be exactly what I've been looking for...Right, bed, Potter, Smith, come on, now..."
They climbed the top of the stairs together, Moody was still examining the map as though it was a treasure the like of which he had never seen before. They walked in silence to the door of Moody's office, where he stopped and looked up at them.
"You ever thought of a career as an Auror, Potter?"
"No," Harry said, taken aback.
"What about you, Smith? Planning to follow in your mother's footsteps?" Moody questioned.
"Er—not really." Claire said uncertain.
"You both should consider it," Moody said, nodding and looking at them thoughtfully. "Yes, indeed...and incidentally...I'm guessing you both weren't just taking that egg for a walk tonight?"
"Er—no," Harry said, grinning. "We were working out the clue."
"Is that what you kids call it nowadays?" Moody questioned.
Claire and Harry blushed at what he was implying.
"No, Professor, we really were trying to figure out the clue to the egg." Claire said.
"I see...Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas, Potter, Smith...See you in the morning...Oh, and happy birthday, Miss Smith..."
Moody winked at them before going back into his office, staring down at the Marauder's Map again, and closed the door behind him.
Claire and Harry walked slowly back to the Gryffindor Tower, both lost in thought about Snape, and the Doctor, and what it all meant...Why was the Doctor sneaking into Snape's office? What was Snape hiding in there that he didn't want anyone to find? What did Moody think it was that Snape was hiding? Something was going on and Claire had a feeling they weren't going to know what for a while...
Hey, everyone I'm not dead! I'm alive and busy! Today was my last day of high school! The past four months have been jammed packed with senior stuff, chorus, harp, and testing! Also this chapter was deleted from my computer and I had to reconstruct it from the beginning from memory. But now it's finished! Thank you for your patience you're all AWESOME! I've already started the next chapter. It's the second task! I'm really excited for the next chapter. This chapter really builds up the plot line for the end of the book. This chapter was almost a filler, but it's an important filler. Anyway, let me know your thoughts on the chapter in the review section. The next update probably won't be until July because graduation is coming up, finding a job, and college prepping. Thank you to the new followers: Poosa-ard, civilhow, kitusmi katon, Str.0314, Amara124, tinlawia, Xonthebeach, and Lost-Time-Traveller11.
Reply to Reviews:
Nerdfighter1309: Forget feeding Skeeter to the Skrewts. Throw her to the giant squid!
Alice Gone Madd: Interesting guesses. Hagrid's one of my favorite characters as well. He really is like a father-figure to Harry and he didn't deserve to be persecuted because he was half-giant.
Rainpelt the Doctor: Thank you!
NicoleR85: Thank you! That was favorite scene to write. I almost did have Claire punch Skeeter.
auknowntimelord: Possibly...
Natekleh: And your feeling might be right...
HELLO-A: Thank you!
Amara124: Aww, thanks! I'm glad you enjoy reading the series. Hopefully you'll continue to enjoy it!