I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
New Term
Classes passed fairly quickly and easily, even Potions. With Luna and himself constantly talking to one another, or Luna telling him stories of things he was doing just to give him something to listen to in Potions class, he found that he was much calmer than usual, rarely tugging at the collar of the sweater that he wore constantly, Mrs. Weasley having sent four more once Ginny explained why he loved it so much, that way he could cycle them through, and he had only gotten through one pack of cigarettes in the last four weeks since the holidays ended. As another added bonus, he got his chance to tag Malfoy with his gift the day after classes start. Before Potions, Malfoy had made a joke about Harry being afraid of Dementors as Alex was passing, and he'd patted Malfoy on the back with the tag, which passed through his clothes and stuck to his skin instantly, and sarcastically told him how great it was to have him back. The next day, after reporting his success to the twins, Malfoy was sitting at the Slytherin table with no one, including Crabbe and Goyle, inside of five feet from him, scowling horribly and hair still wet from his most recent shower.
Finally, a couple days before the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, Professor McGonagall had given Harry's broom back and Harry had agreed to make up with Hermione. Ron had also agreed, but had gone to put Harry's broom in their dormitory for them, only to then bring down a bloody sheet and a fist full of orange fur, shouting that Scabbers was gone. Hermione was livid, refusing to believe it was Crookshanks, telling him to look around for Scabbers. The one time Harry tried to point out that there was very convincing evidence to suggest Ron was right, Hermione had gotten so mad she'd told everyone to leave her alone, even Alex, who had said that h didn't think Crookshanks did it. So, after a while of being too angry to speak, Harry brought Ron to his final practice before the game to let him ride the Firebolt in order to cheer him up, and Alex came with him with Mouse, who began to zoom around the field a few inches high while Madam Hooch admired Harry's new broom for nearly fifteen minutes. She did however, laugh at Mouse. Finally, she scooped mouse up and walked over to the stands with Alex and Ron, allowing Mouse to fly around in circles over her lap while they watched the match, Alex stroking Snow's feathers in his own lap.
"Madam Hooch," Alex spoke up as the team practiced. "I don't mean to insult your skills or anything, but were you able to restore his broom's enchantments to their full strength after you removed them?"
"Oh, we didn't have to remove them to strip it down," Madam Hooch said. "Ever since the Nimbus Two Thousand, they've had a helpful feature that disables all the enchantments, allowing us to check the jinxes without weakening the broom's abilities. It flies just like it's supposed to."
Alex nodded and saw Ron visible relax a bit. The practice went beautifully. Harry was finally faster than a Bludger, and was able to cat the Snitch within seconds every time. After the match, he gave Ron and Alex both a turn on the broom and Alex loved it. It was different than the school brooms he'd ridden. It responded to the lightest touch, accelerated so fast that he'd had to double back to catch Snow, who'd fallen off his shoulder, leaving deep cuts and tearing his robes which he later fixed with the Mending Charm, and found that it spun on a dime. They went back late, well after sundown, and found Crookshanks on the way, Harry pointing out its eyes and Ron using a Wand-Lighting Charm to see what it was. The next morning, Wood had Harry display the Firebolt proudly along the middle of the table at breakfast and everyone in the other houses began to chatter excitedly.
"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?" Malfoy drawled from behind him and Alex, who was talking to Luna about how the broom flew when he tried it.
"Yeah, reckon so," Harry said casually.
"Got plenty of special features, hasn't it?" Malfoy said, eyes glinting maliciously. "Shame it doesn't include a parachute in case you get too near a dementor."
"Pity you can't attach extra arms to yours, Malfoy," Harry said, looking back at him. "Then it could catch the snitch for you."
The whole Gryffindor team roared with laughter, as did Alex, and Malfoy stalked away angrily to rejoin the Slytherins, no doubt reporting on the validity of it being a Firebolt. When it came to be time for the match, Alex gave Harry his forearm holster for his wand, Harry thanking him and walking to the Quidditch stadium with the rest of the team while Alex joined Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna on the way to the stands. The match was good. Harry was fastest, but Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker and the only female on the team, was good, and was able to keep up with him and cut him off several times.
"She's pretty," Luna said absently after a few moments, just as Harry dove for the Snitch, only to have to avoid a Bludger, courtesy of one of the Ravenclaw Beaters, who George sent a Bludger at a moment later.
"Eh," Alex shrugged noncommittally.
"It's alright, Alex," Ginny said whispered to him. "We know your eyes are elsewhere."
"I'm warning you," Alex hissed. "I will Draco Malfoy Harry right here in front of everyone."
Ginny's eyes narrowed instantly. "You wouldn't dare."
Alex began to raise his hand, not having any intention of actually doing it, but Luna set her hand on his, pushing it back down but neglecting to take her hand back, making Ginny grin victoriously.
Just then, there were several cries of surprise and fear. Alex looked around, and spotted three Dementors, tall, hooded, and moving onto the field. Harry whipped his wand out of his left sleeve, shouted "EXPECTO PETRONUM!" and sent a massive silver thing blasting into the three Dementors, knocking all three to the ground. Then, Harry continued after the Snitch like nothing had happened, catching it mere seconds later. The Gryffindor team mobbed him, the Gryffindors cheered, and Alex burst into a fit of laughter, pointing at the Dementors. Luna, Ginny, and Hermione all looked and also laughed, Hermione covering her mouth and trying to retrain herself. There, lying on the ground off to the side of where the Gryffindors were swarming Harry, along with both Hagrid and Professor Lupin, were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint still disoriented from being blasted by Harry. And standing over them, angrier than Alex had ever seen her, including Malfoy being found in his underwear, was Professor McGonagall.
"Serve them right!" Ginny said.
"No doubt!" Alex laughed. "And I didn't even need to do anything this time."
They headed back to the common room, Alex again walking Luna as close to hers as he could go first, and began to celebrate, the party lasting until one in the morning when Professor McGonagall told them to go to sleep. Throughout all of it, Hermione sat in a corner and worked, refusing to let Alex help her. However, around midnight, Ron had, very loudly, made a statement about how Scabbers would have loved one of the sweets Fred and George had nicked fro Honeydukes using a secret passage, and Hermione burst into tears and sprinted to her dormitory. Alex fell asleep as well, only for Ron to wake them up not even an hour later screaming. Alex asked him what had happened, and he began to scream that Sirius Black had been standing there with a knife, and pointed to his curtains, which had been slashed open. Alex all but flew across the room, throwing the door open and sprinting downstairs, only to find it deserted.
"Are you sure you didn't have a nightmare?" Harry asked him.
Ron snapped and began to scream at the top of his lungs that he knew what he saw. Percy arrived and demanded they go back to bed, blaming Alex, then denying the legitimacy of Ron's claims when he told Percy what happened. Then, Professor McGonagall returned, beginning to tell them off, only for Ron to say Sirius Black was there, and tell her to ask Sir Cadogan how he got in when she didn't believe him. She asked, and Sir Cadogan cheerfully announced that he had in fact, just allowed a man in, and that he'd had the entire week's passwords on a peace of paper. When Professor McGonagall asked who had been stupid enough to write the entire week's passwords down, Neville raised his hand. No one went back to sleep, waiting to find out if Black had escaped again. A couple hours after the attack, Luna asked Alex what was going on through their hearing aids, which Mouse brought him to let him know she was trying to talk to him. He filled her in and then continued to talk to her while they waited in order to help her stay calm. Finally, at dawn, Professor McGonagall told them he had escaped for a second time.
Over the next couple of days, security was increased. Professor Flitwick taught the front doors to recognize Sirius Black from a picture and to not admit him, Filch boarded up every crack and mouse hole, and Sir Cadogan was fired and replaced with the Fat Lady, who had only agreed to return under the protection of several surly trolls who lumbered up and down the corridor. Neville probably got the worst of it. He was barred from Hogsmeade, got a detention, wasn't allowed to know the password again and had to wait with the trolls until someone came along to let him in, and two days after the attack, he got a Howler from his grandmother. Luna was shaken by the fact that Black not only got into the castle and out again without being caught, but also that he was able to make it into a dormitory this time, but Alex managed to help her calm down by having her help him finish the first quarter of his chocolate frogs.
The same day Neville got the Howler, Hagrid invited them all, minus Hermione who still wasn't talking to anyone again, to tea. So, at six o' clock that evening, the four of them met Hagrid in the Entrance Hall. Once they reached Hagrid's hut, Alex and Luna went to pet Buckbeak, who was eating a small pile of dead ferrets. Buckbeak paused his meal to allow them to pet him, as well as to greet Snow when he jumped out of Alex's pocket to see the real Hippogriff and try to eat part of a ferret. After a moment of failing, Buckbeak ripped a chunk of flesh off and dropped it so the fur was down, allowing Snow to have the piece while Buckbeak ate the rest.
"I got somethin' ter discuss with you lot," Hagrid said, looking between the four of them, though mostly Harry, Ron, and Alex, uncharacteristically serious.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Hermione," Hagrid said.
"What about her?" Ron asked, frowning angrily already.
"She's in a righ' state, that's what," Hagrid said. "She's bin comin' down ter visit me a lot since Chris'mas. Bin feelin' lonely. Firs' yeh weren't talkin because o' the Firebolt, now yer not talkin' to her because her cat-"
"Ate Scabbers!" Ron interrupted angrily.
"Because her cat acted like cats do," Hagrid continued. "She's cried a fair few times, yeh know. Goin' through a rough time at the moment. Bitten off more'n she can chew, if yeh ask me, the work she's tryin ter do. Still found time ter help me with Buckbeak's case, mind...She's found some really good stuff fer me...Reckon he'll stand a good chance now."
"Hagrid, we should have helped as well," Harry said. "Sorry."
"I'm not blamin' yeh!" Hagrid said hastily. "Gawd knows yeh've had enough ter be gettin' on with. I've seen yeh practicin' Quidditch ev'ry hour o' the day an' night - but I gotta tell yeh, I thought you three'd value yer friend more'n broomsticks or rats. Tha's all."
"I've tried to talk to her, but every time I do she just runs off," Alex said. "I'm not angry with her. I agree with her that there's not enough proof to say for sure the cat killed Scabbers-shut up Ron-and that even if Croockshanks did, it's because he's a cat and Scabbers is a rat. But Hermione just won't talk to me."
Hagrid nodded. "Really upset she was when Black nearly stabbed yeh, Ron," Hagrid said. "She's got her heart in the right place, Hermione has, an' you two not talkin' to her-"
"If she'd just get rid of that cat I'd speak to her again!" Ron said angrily. "But she's still sticking up for it! It's a maniac, and she won't hear a word against it!"
"Ah, well, people can be a bit stupid abou' their pets," Hagrid said as Buckbeak spat a few ferret bones onto their pillow, then ate the piece of flesh Snow was apparently done with, since he flew back over to Alex, landing on his hand.
They spent another few hours talking with Hagrid about Gryffindor's improving chances of winning the Quidditch Cup, but Alex and Luna bowed out early to go visit the other Hippogriff, who was quite happy to play with the miniature one. When they returned to their common rooms a little before curfew, Alex found that a notice was announcing the next Hogsmeade trip, then found Hermione behind a stack of books.
"How're you feeling?" Alex asked, Hermione not answering. "I'm trying to talk some sense into Ron, but you know how stubborn he can be."
Hermione grit her teeth, and Alex sighed, wrapping an arm around her, pulling her into a hug, Hermione breaking down into tears.
"I'm sorry," Alex said. "I started all of this when I said the broom would be ruined, and I was wrong for doing it and wrong about it being ruined both. I'm so sorry."
Hermione shook her head, not trying to speak.
"They'll smarten up," Alex said. "They're boys. We're stubborn and refuse to admit we're wrong."
"But what if they're right?" Hermione asked. "I d-don't want to send Crookshanks away!"
"You won't have to," Alex said. "Crookshanks is a cat, Hermione. A very ugly, half-Kneazle..."His eyes widened slowly and he looked toward the portrait hole, remembering Filch boarding up mouse holes, then the sneakoscope in Harry's trunk. "Hermione, tell me about Kneazles."
Hermione sat up, frowning. "Why?"
"Humor me," Alex said. "I have a theory."
Hermione frowned even more but nodded, thinking for a moment. "They're very intelligent, and have been known to be aggressive at times. They're sometimes left to guard their owners homes because they have an uncanny ability to recognize suspicious or untrustworthy people."
"Wait here," Alex said. "And if Ron and Harry show up, apologize to Ron, whether you believe Crookshanks did it or not, apologize to him for not taking Crookshanks' attempts to kill Scabbers more seriously. What he's most angry about is that, in his eyes, you've been acting like you don't care about Scabbers and will never apologize."
Hermione nodded and Alex ran up to his dormitory, fishing the now silent sneakoscope out of Harry's trunk. He walked back down to the common room, arriving just as Ron was yelling at Hermione about getting Harry expelled and asking if she thought she'd done enough damage already. Before she could respond, Crookshanks hopped up into her lap, hissing at Ron, and Ron's glare grew even more foul. Alex set a hand on her shoulder before she could run off.
"Look," he said, holding out the sneakoscope.
"Is that mine?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Alex said. "Sorry for getting into your trunk without your permission, but there's a theory I need to run by Hermione, and I needed this for it."
"What does this have to do with Crookshanks being part Kneazle?" Hermione asked.
"When was the last time you saw this, and what was it doing?" Alex asked.
"It was going off, and it was Christmas, when Crookshanks tried to attack Scabbers and Ron tried to kick him," Hermione said, glaring pointedly at Ron for a moment.
"Right, so it was Crookshanks who set it off!" Ron said angrily.
"Was it?" Alex asked, holding the silent object beside the cat.
"Well he's not trying to attack Scabbers now, is he?" Ron asked.
"No," Alex said. "But maybe he didn't set it off at all. I think Scabbers did."
"What!?" Ron asked. "Why would Scabbers set it off?"
"Because I think Scabbers is an Animagus," Alex said quietly.
"A rat that can do magic?" Ron scoffed.
"No, Ron, an Animagus who turned into a rat," Alex said. "How long did the woman at the pet store say they normally live? Three years? And you've had Scabbers how long?"
"I don't know," Ron frowned. "Twelve or so. But that doesn't make him an Animagus!"
"It would explain it," Hermione said. "And Crookshanks is part Kneazle. They can tell if someone's untrustworthy, even a transformed Animagus. But how did you even think of this?"
"Filch boarded up mouse holes to stop a full-grown man from getting into the castle," Alex said. "I thought the teachers might suspect Black is an unregistered Animagus. But that didn't even occur to me that Scabbers might be one until I brought up Crookshanks being part Kneazle."
"What does it matter?" Ron asked. "Scabbers is dead now anyway!"
"Maybe not," Alex said. "Injured, probably, but maybe not dead. And it matters, Ron, because if your rat is an unregistered Animagus, who is it?"
Ron fell silent for a long few moments before shaking his head. "No. This is ridiculous. My dead rat's not an Animagus. You're just trying to make up the most absurd story you can to try and defend that bloody cat. well, guess what, Hermione. I don't accept your apology. Not until you get rid of that little monster!"
Hermione burst into tears, grabbing her book and sprinting up to the girls' dormitory. Alex shook his head, sighing heavily and walking over to the window, opening it for his pets, who both flew out of it instantly, and put his hearing aid in.
"You there?" Alex asked.
"Always," Luna said. "How are they?"
"Not good," Alex said. "I convinced Hermione to try and apologize just to make Ron understand she still wants to be friends, but he refused her apology, and I came up with a theory that Scabbers is an Animagus in disguise, based on his twelve years of being with Ron's family and Crookshanks being half Kneazle, which can recognize untrustworthy people even if they're a wizard who transformed into an animal. The theory explains a lot, but it's a bit far-fetched, so Ron refuses to believe it."
"I see," Luna said. "Well, there's no way to prove it, right?"
"Not right now, no," Alex said. "Especially if Scabbers really is dead. Somehow, I doubt it."
They talked for a little while before both saying goodnight and heading to bed.
Alex sighed as he tilted his chair back, his legs up on the table to keep him from falling in either direction. Beside him, Luna was working on homework while Fred and George were on the other side, filling out paperwork together. Alex tossed a chocolate frog into the air, catching it in his mouth as it fell, and glanced at the twins.
"What are you two working on?" Alex asked.
"Paperwork for owners rights on our two way communicators," Fred said. "We're gonna give Zonko's, Gambol and Japes, and Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment to sell them for a percentage. At least for now."
"Nice," Alex said. "You'll be rolling in Galleons in no time. Especially once Hogwarts students that go to Zonko's find out you made it."
"And it's all thanks to you," Fred said. "We're giving you ten percent of profits too. It'll be about twenty five percent of profits gone, but it's still plenty."
Alex nodded, smiling. "Thank you."
"Feet off the table!" Madam Pince snapped as she walked past.
Alex set his chair's legs on the floor and put his feet back down, returning his attention to his own homework. However, just as he did, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all ran into the room, Hermione's face soaked with tears.
"What's up?" Alex asked.
"Hagrid sent me a letter," Hermione said, voice trembling. "Buckbeak's been convicted!"
Alex and Luna both stood instantly, hurrying over to her and hugging her. She began to sob instantly, and they remained there for a few minutes before she managed to calm herself and they headed back to the common room, Luna and Alex both putting in their hearing aids on the way. Alex read the letter aloud so that Luna could hear it before they sat around the fire discussing the likelihood of the death sentence getting changed. After a while, they headed to bed, deciding to try and visit Hagrid as soon as they could. However, thanks to the new security measures, they couldn't leave the castle to see him. Their first chance to see him was Care of Magical Creatures. When they saw him, he seemed numb with shock.
S'my fault," Hagrid said. "Got all tongue-tied. They was all sittin' there in their black robes an' I kep' droppin' me notes an' and forgettin' all them dates yeh looked up fer me, Hermione. An' then Lucius Malfoy stood up an' said his bit, and the Committee jus' did what he told 'em."
"There's still the appeal!" Ron said fiercely. "Don't give up yet, we're working on it!"
Ahead of them, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were glancing back and laughing.
"S'no good, Ron," Hagrid said miserably. "The Committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. I'm jus' gonna make sure the rest o' Beaky's time is the best he's ever had. I owe him that."
Hagrid turned at the door and ran back toward his castle, face buried in his handkerchief. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle burst out laughing.
"Look at him blubber!" Malfoy laughed. "Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic? And he's supposed to be our teacher!"
Alex, Harry, and Ron all moved to beat him to within an inch of his life, only for Hermione to step past them, slapping him across the face, hard. Malfoy staggered backward. Everyone stared at her as she lifted her hand again.
"Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul...you evil..."
"Hermione!" Ron squeaked, catching her arm as she moved to smack him again.
"Get off Ron!" Hermione shrieked, shoving his hand off and whipped her wand out.
Hermione!" Alex hissed, gripping her wrist and allowing the three Slytherins to flee. "Trust me, I sympathize, but you need to keep a cool head. Now come on. We're due for Charms."
Hermione nodded stiffly, putting her wand away as the four of them ran for their next class. However, Hermione seemed to vanish just as they entered the room. She also didn't show up for lunch. They found her afterward in the common room, fast asleep. Alex shook his head, grabbing Mouse and Snow and took them to Ancient Runes with him.
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