Not long after, Fred and George arrived in the hospital wing, which surprised Bryt. When they came over, Bryt gave a very brief explanation while George put a wrapped box on the bedside table.
"So all in all, not one of Ron's better birthdays?" Fred asked. Bryt rolled her eyes. That was an understatement.
"This isn't how we imagined handing over our present," George went on.
"Yeah, when we pictured the scene, he was conscious."
"There we were in Hogsmeade, waiting to surprise him—"
"Sofí didn't tell you visits were canceled?" Bryt asked, confused. She had written to Sofí about that the week before and she was sure Sofí would have complained about not visiting her friends to almost anyone.
"We haven't exactly gotten to talk to her much," George said, "Too busy with the shop."
"Though visiting Hogsmeade wasn't just for Ron," Fred added, "We were thinking of buying Zonko's. A Hogsmeade branch, you know, but a fat lot of good it'll do us if you lot aren't allowed out at weekends to buy our stuff anymore...But never mind that now. How exactly did it happen, Harry?"
Bryt glanced at Fred and George as Harry started retelling the story again. She noticed the twins staring at Ron and couldn't help but think of how strange that they actually looked worried. Fred and George had always reminded her of Sofí, the types who were always joking and happy. She'd only ever seen them worried one other time, and that had been in their second year when Ginny had disappeared into the Chamber of Secrets.
"...and then I got the bezoar down his throat and his breathing eased up a bit," Harry finished, "Slughorn ran for help, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey turned up, and they brought Ron up here. They reckon he'll be all right. Madam Pomfrey says he'll have to stay here a week or so...keep taking essence of rue..."
"Blimey, it was lucky you thought of a bezoar," George said weakly.
"Lucky there was one in the room," Harry replied.
Bryt tightened her grip around Ron's hand momentarily. She tried to push away the thoughts trying to creep into her head. Ron was fine. There was no reason to allow herself to think of what might have happened.
"Do Mum and Dad know?" Fred asked.
"They've already seen him, they arrived about an hour ago," Ginny replied, "They're in Dumbledore's office now, but they'll be back soon."
"So the poison was in the drink?" Fred asked, his voice still quiet.
"Yeah," Bryt said weakly, "Slughorn gave it to us—"
"Would he have been able to slip it into Ron's glass without you seeing?"
"Probably," Harry said, "But why would Slughorn want to poison Ron?"
"No idea...You don't think he could have mixed up the glasses by mistake? Meaning to get you?"
"Why would Slughorn want to poison Harry?" Ginny asked.
"I don't think he would," Bryt said, wanting desperately to follow this conversation. She wanted to know why Ron was poisoned and who was behind it. "The poison could have been meant for Slughorn. Dumbledore did say that Voldemort isn't too happy with Slughorn, he's been in hiding ever since Voldemort came back."
"But Harry said Slughorn had been planning to give that bottle to Dumbledore for Christmas," Ginny said, "So the poison could just as easily have been after Dumbledore."
"Then the poisoner didn't know Slughorn very well," Hermione spoke up, "Anyone who knew Slughorn would have known there was a good chance he'd keep something that tasty for himself."
The doors opened and Bryt looked up to see Hagrid coming in, soaked from the rain and carrying his crossbow.
"Bin in the forest all day!" Hagrid said, making his way over, "Aragog's worse, I bin readin' to him—didn' get up ter dinner till jus' now an' then Professor Sprout told me abou' Ron! How is he?"
"Madam Pomfrey says he'll be fine in a few days," Bryt said.
"I don' believe this," Hagrid said, shaking his head, though he looked relieved, "Jus' don' believe it...Look at him lyin' there...Who'd want ter hurt him, eh?"
Bryt glanced back at Ron for a second, frowning. More than anything, she wanted him to wake up. She wanted to talk with him, tell jokes...Hell, she'd even taking arguing with him at the moment.
"That's just what we were discussing," Harry said to Hagrid, "We don't know."
"Someone couldn' have a grudge against the Gryffindor Quidditch team, could they?" Hagrid asked, "Firs' Katie, now Ron..."
"I can't see anyone trying to bump off a Quidditch team," George said.
"Wood might've done the Slytherins if he couldn't gotten away with it," Fred replied.
"And they knew Ron would just happen to swallow love potion and end up in Slughorn's office?" Bryt asked, finding the idea insane.
"I don't think it's Quidditch, but there's definitely a connection between the attacks," Hermione spoke up.
"How do you know?" Bryt asked.
"Well, for one thing, they both ought to have been fatal and weren't, although that was pure luck."
"I don't need the reminder," Bryt muttered, staring at Ron, trying to ignore the memory of him twitching horribly on the floor of Slughorn's office.
"And for another," Hermione went on, but Bryt noticed her giving her a worried look, "Neither the poison nor the necklace seems to have reached the person who was supposed to be killed. Of course, that makes the person behind this even more dangerous in a way, because they don't seem to care how many people they finish off before they actually reach their victim."
Bryt glared in front of her, about to say that once she found out who was behind this, she would strangle them, but doors opened again and Bryt turned to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hurrying over to the group. Bryt couldn't blame them. They had stayed just barely long enough to be told that Ron would recover before they headed for Dumbledore's office earlier. Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry into a hug the second she reached him.
"Dumbledore's told us how you saved him with the bezoar," Mrs. Weasley said through sobs, "Oh, Harry, what can we say? You saved Ginny...You saved Arthur...now you've saved Ron..."
"Don't be...I didn't..." Harry muttered, looking like he desperately wanted to disappear.
"Half our family does seem to owe you their lives, now I stop and think about it," Mr. Weasley said, "Well, all I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Harry."
Harry looked dumbfounded and was spared having to say anything as Madam Pomfrey hurried over, telling everyone that only six were allowed to visit at a time. Bryt wanted to stay, she wanted to wait for when Ron finally woke up, but Hermione convinced her that the Weasleys should be alone at the moment. Unwillingly, Bryt rose to her feet and followed the others out of the room. As she walked, she felt light-headed and weak, as if her legs were made of jelly. For the first time, she realized she hadn't eaten anything since dinner the night before. She was just about to check if she had any butterscotch candy sticks left in her mini-backpack when Hagrid spoke up again.
"It's terrible," Hagrid said, his voice sounding like a growl deep in his throat, "All this new security, an' kids are still gettin' hurt...Dumbledore's worried sick...He don' say much, but I can tell..."
"Hasn't he got any ideas, Hagrid?" Hermione asked.
"I 'spect he's got hundreds of ideas, brain like his," Hagrid said, "But he doesn' know who sent that necklace nor put poison in that wine, or they'd've bin caught, wouldn' they?" Hagrid glanced around and dropped his voice to a whisper as a ghost drifted by—Bryt instinctively stepped so her friends were between her and the ghost. "Wha' worries me is how long Hogwarts can stay open if kids are bein' attacked. Chamber o' Secrets all over again, isn' it? There'll be panic, more parents takin' their kids outta school, an' nex' thing yeh know the board o' governors'll be talkin' about shuttin' us up fer good."
Bryt frowned, thinking back to how worried her mother got about the dangers going on. She was a Muggle, but she still knew something was wrong. She knew the dangers, but she let Bryt, Mike, and Drew come to Hogwarts because she thought it was safe. If she knew how dangerous things were getting even here...
"Gotta see it from their point o' view," Hagrid went on, "I mean, it's always bin a bit of a risk sendin' a kid ter Hogwarts, hasn' it? Yer expect accidents, don' yeh, with hundreds of underage wizards all locked up tergether, but attempted murder, tha's diff'rent. 'S'no wonder Dumbledore's angry with Sn—"
Hagrid suddenly cut himself off, stopping in the middle of the hall and looking as if he just realized how much he had said. Bryt was more curious than ever now. What was going on with Snape?
"What?" Harry asked, obviously catching the slip as well, "Dumbledore's angry with Snape?"
"I never said tha'," Hagrid said quickly, looking as if he wanted to get away as quickly as possible, "Look at the time, it's gettin' on fer midnight, I need ter—"
"What's Snape done?" Bryt asked, stepping forward.
"I dunno, I shouldn'ta heard it at all!" Hagrid said, though he looked as if he didn't want to admit any of this—he probably knew the others wouldn't let up until he spilled, "I—well, I was comin' outta the forest the other evenin' an' I overheard 'em talking—well, arguin'. Didn't like ter draw attention to meself, so I sorta skulked an' tried not ter listen, but it was a—well, a heated discussion an' it wasn' easy ter block it out."
"Well?" Harry and Bryt asked together. Hagrid looked even more uncomfortable.
"Well—I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he—Snape—didn' want ter do it anymore—"
"Do what?" Harry asked.
"I dunno, Harry, it sounded like Snape was feelin' a bit overworked, tha's all—anyway, Dumbledore told him flat out he'd agreed ter do it an' that was all there was to it. Pretty firm with him. An' then he said summat abou' Snape makin' investigations in his House, in Slytherin."
Bryt glanced over at Harry and Hermione, it clear they were thinking the same thing she was. Dumbledore thought someone in Slytherin was up to something.
"Well, there's nothin' strange about that!" Hagrid said, "All the Heads o' Houses were asked ter look inter that necklace business—"
"Yeah, but Dumbledore's not having rows with the rest of them, is he?" Harry asked.
"Look," Hagrid said, "I know what yeh're like abou' Snape, Harry, an' I don' want yeh ter go readin' more inter this than there is."
"Look out," Hermione hissed.
Bryt followed her friend's gaze to see Filch nearby, looking almost beside himself with glee.
"Oho! Out of bed so late, this'll mean detention!"
"No it won', Filch," Hagrid said, "They're with me, aren' they?"
"And what difference does that make?"
"I'm a ruddy teacher, aren' I, yeh sneakin' Squib!"
Filch seemed to puff up angrily as his cat, Mrs. Norris, let out a nasty-sounding hiss. Hagrid told the others to get going quickly and none of them argued. Bryt, Harry, and Hermione broke into a run as Hagrid and Filch began yelling at each other. They passed Peeved at one point, who looked delighted at the trouble and determined to add to it.
When they reached the Gryffindor common room, Bryt was relieved to see it was empty. The news about Ron hadn't gotten out yet so no one was there to start asking questions. Hermione headed on up to bed, but Bryt was still restless. She and Harry remained in the common room, making their way over to the fireplace. Harry looked lost in thought and Bryt could tell he was thinking about what Hagrid had told them about. Dumbledore and Snape had been arguing. Snape wasn't wanting to do something...but what?
"There you are, Potter!"
Bryt and Harry both jumped to their feet, reaching for their wands. Behind them, McLaggen started to get up from a nearby armchair, seeming to ignore the fact that Harry and Bryt had their wands aimed at him, "Must've fallen asleep. Look, I saw them take Weasley up to the hospital wing earlier. Didn't look like he'll be fit for next week's match."
"What is wrong with you?" Bryt snapped, gripping her wand tightly, "Ron's in the hospital wing, an' all yeh care 'bout is playin' Quidditch?"
"Well, he's okay now, isn't he?" McLaggen replied, "So will he play Saturday or not?"
"Y'selfish bastard!" Bryt snapped, starting forward, but was suddenly jerked backwards as Harry grabbed her arms from behind.
"Bryt, calm down," Harry hissed and Bryt responded by stomping on his foot. Harry yelped, but kept his grip and yanked Bryt towards the stairs to the girls' dormitories. He pushed Bryt into the doorway, then stood there, blocking the path. Bryt saw McLaggen nearby, his arms crossed over his chest and staring at Bryt as if he thought she was insane.
"Move, Harry," Bryt hissed.
"No," Harry replied, "Listen, he's an idiot, but you don't need to end up in detention—"
"It'll be worth it."
"Just let me deal with him, okay?" Harry asked with a sigh. Bryt glared at McLaggen, then looked at Harry, who seemed to be almost begging her. Finally, she sighed.
"Fine," she said sharply, "But I'm warnin' you, if he ends up on the team, it ain't gonna turn out good."
Bryt spun around with that and stomped up the stairs, leaving Harry standing in the doorway behind her.