Book of Shadows
Chapter 26 – A serious thought
…
"I hated seeing her like that. Always expected her to just wake up and start pestering me about my homework. Dreamed about it sometimes. Sounds stupid, doesn't it?"
"Not really."
Second year had been a hard year all around, but the hardest part had been losing Hermione to the basilisk. If what they feared was true, the Spell eater would prove far fouler than the ancient serpent. All it could do was kill you.
"We don't know if he got to her book," Neville said, trying to be optimistic.
It was a testament to his character that he could be after they'd told him what Pomphrey told them.
"Yeah," said Ron, "that would be just like her, wouldn't it, clinging to a book like that."
"It doesn't matter," said Harry, staring darkly into the fireplace. "We knew he was dangerous."
"Yeah, dangerous," said Ron. "Doesn't look dangerous though. Kinda hard to take him seriously."
The scowl deepened on Harry's face; the fire dimmed as if frightened. "That's not exactly a new problem, is it?"
"What do you mean Harry?" asked Neville when Ron hesitated.
"Taking it seriously, I mean," he said. "That's been my problem since I came here. We saved Hermione from a troll. Think about that, a troll. You realize just how lucky we were?"
"Yeah," Ron said softly, "I know."
"And that basilisk, you saw how big it was. That was slithering around the halls all year."
"But we didn't know about that though," said Neville, "and the troll, that was just an accident."
It wasn't, but he didn't need it to be, he had stronger arguments. "Third year, I thought a psychotic murder was after me and the castle was surrounded by soul sucking demi-demons with a Harry Potter fetish. It took me nearly half the bloody year to do anything about that. And the tournament, I didn't start seriously training for that till after the second task. How did I even survive, I ask you?"
"Somebody likes you," Ron quipped, trying to lighten the mood.
"Likes to see me suffer you mean," said Harry, bringing it right back down.
"What are you saying Harry? I don't understand," said Neville.
"My life has been in danger since I got here, and I haven't taken it seriously. All the threats, all the danger, none of it. I just assumed someone else would take care of it, someone else would protect me. Why? Why did I think that? It was never true before I came to Hogwarts. Did learning I was a wizard just turn my brain to pudding!"
He was pacing now, pacing in front of the fire which continued to shy away like a timid child.
"We were just kids Harry," said Ron. "No one expected us to…"
"It's not about what other people expected Ron! How many times did we go behind the teachers backs when we thought we knew better? Hmm? We knowingly put ourselves in even more danger yet what did we do to protect ourselves?"
Nothing was the answer, but his pride prevented Ron from saying so out loud.
"So, what do we do?" asked Neville.
"We finish what Hermione started," said Harry. "She was working on a magic barrier that could stop the Spell eater from escaping. Well, now it's our turn. We finish it, we find him, and we put him away."
"It won't work," said Neville, surprising the other two. "Didn't you hear what Lavender said."
"Couldn't make out most of it," said Ron, "she was babbling a bit—you know…"
"Incoherently," said Harry.
"And you make fun a me using big words."
Lavender, being the only one conscious when Neville brought them in, had been questioned, to what little use it was. She'd been, as Harry said, incoherent, talking in circles, several of them, which she jumped to randomly. Extraordinarily little had been learned from the conversation, by Harry and Ron at least.
"They gave up on the magic barrier idea," said Neville, "since they figured the Spell eater would just be able to eat a magical barrier."
Two palms connecting to faces echoed through the common room, an exclamation of "DUH!" in stereo soon following.
"Of course he would."
"Seems obvious when you say it out loud."
Flopping back into his chair, "Well great, now what do we do?"
"Well," said Neville, "If a magic barrier doesn't work, what about a physical one."
"Seems obvious when you say it out loud."
Harry glared at the ginger who replied with a cheeky grin, "Alright. How then? Transfiguration?"
"Are we fast enough?" said Ron.
"I'm not," said Neville.
"I don't know if I am either," said Harry. "If we had time to practice, maybe. But we've waited too long already. Every day that goes by we risk more people losing years of work to this bastard."
"What if we could make something that just opened up when you pushed a button. Like a portable trap."
"You know how to make something like that?"
"I bet Fred and George could do it. They've been experimenting with a lot of stuff."
As Harry well knew. He'd seen some of it; not so subtle hints had been made of others.
"Alright, that's one option, others?"
"What about the shadow beasts?" said Neville. "Those two last time weren't fast enough to catch him, what about others? Harry?"
"Neville, you may have just hit the nail right on the head," said Harry, his grin near manic. "Ron, do you remember that black slime thing?"
"The one that melted Malfoys clothes," he recalled with mixed feelings.
"Remember how that gook we took off him became its own addition to the book? Tar trap."
His eyes went wide, "Cor! You think we could use that."
"Maybe, but I was actually thinking of something else. If it worked once, why not again?"
"You lost me a bit."
"We want to keep him from escaping. Which means we need a barrier. So, why don't we find a shadow that can make us one?"
"You had one in mind Harry?" said Neville.
Harry nodded, "A big one. Ron's not gonna like it but I bet we could make it work."
"Why am I not gonna—oh, oh no. Harry. You can't mean?"
"But I do," said Harry, as Ron began to look physically ill. "A big pest calls for a big trap. And who makes a bigger trap than a really big spider."
"You have a big spider?" Neville asked.
"Two, actually. Found those out in the forest."
"You don't need me for that bit, do you?" Ron asked piteously.
Harry ignored the question, "There's one other thing I want before we do this. I think those students with the weapons have the right idea. Once we got him, we're still gonna have to fight him. You know he won't go easy."
"You want a weapon?" said Neville.
"Not just any weapon," said Harry. "We'll have to go to Dumbledore for this one. Because I want, The Sword of Gryffindor."