"Why does Ness want to speak with me…?" Harry wondered, rubbing his eyes as he walked down to the Great Hall. Thankful that today was Sunday since he had ended up sleeping in. Despite being accustomed to sneaking around the castle at inhuman hours and waking up with barely three hours of sleep, yesterday's talk had clearly taken a lot out of him.
Plus…it didn't help that he might have laid in bed for a while. Trying to untangle the knots concerning Nagini's message, how to confront Ron and informing Hermione about Sirius's advice before confronting Ron. He really wanted to tackle Ness and Nagini first, but he didn't trust himself not to 'conveniently' forget to complete his other tasks that were much more... volatile than meeting with Ness.
"Over here, Harry!" Then again, he might not have a choice to 'forget' his other tasks since Hermione was waving him over to the almost empty breakfast table. He was a little surprised to see that Ron was missing but took it as Fate's small gift as he quickly sat down and loaded his plate with eggs and sausage.
"How was it?" Hermione asked, looking a little nervous but eager as Harry glanced at the teacher's table, where Professor Sliver and Mackerson were talking with Umbridge about something.
"It was…good, we talked about a lot of things and…I'm going to be able to move in with him after the school year is done." Harry replied, a bubble of warmth settling in his chest as Hermione covered her mouth with her hands to muffle an excited outburst.
"That's wonderful Harry! Is he getting any progress with his er, legal troubles?"
"No…we might have made it harder for him since the Ministry now has to double down on their mistake." Hermione grimaced but relaxed when Harry quickly added, "But Lupin's been working to roll back some of the laws Umbridge put in place to make life harder for those who aren't pure blooded wizards."
"Someone allowed Umbridge to make a law? Several of them?" Hermione asked, "Good lord…just how much control does she have over the Ministry?"
"Dunno…but um…I need to confront Ron about something."
Hermione froze then glanced around the table for eavesdroppers before lowering her voice, "About…?"
Harry steeled himself, feeling sick at the very idea of repeating Sirius's truthful but heavy hitting advice. "His…behavior. Sirius…he told me that sometimes, being a good friend means pointing out that they were a jerk. Even if it means losing them as a friend. And Ron…it's understandable that he's hurt but he shouldn't be lashing out at everyone and practically assaulting someone."
Hermione made a soft noise but didn't interrupt him, "He…he wanted me to start off with the panic attack…Then explain why we kept him in the dark about it. B-but not before I spoke to Ness and apologize for my behavior towards him."
"Behavior—Harry what did you do?" Hermione hissed her eyes hardening then softening as Harry squirmed and glanced around before whispering, "M…maybe we should talk somewhere more private."
"Such as…?" Hermione pressed, pursing her lips when Harry gestured to the DA badge peeking out of his bag before he nudged it back under a scroll.
"Fine." Hermione huffed, turning back to her plate as Harry ate his breakfast in silence. Feeling sick as the quiet buzz from the heavy sleepers eager to take advantage of their last free day before resuming exam studying washed over them.
When breakfast was finished, he and Hermione started to make their way to the Room of Requirements only to be stopped by Luna who looked wide awake and completely focused for once.
"Did you need something, Luna?" Hermione asked, glancing at Harry for a possible explanation as to why Luna looked so focused, but he could only give a small shrug as he glanced around the room. Hoping that no one would notice the Ravenclaw interacting with a pair of Gryffindors. Of course, no one was paying them any attention since they were rushing off to enjoy the oddly warm weather.
"Just Harry." Luna bluntly stated, her gaze never leaving Harry's as he felt his stomach flip-flop. "Is…is this about the message?" Harry asked feeling sick when Luna gave a curt nod, "It's very important."
"Why is it so important?" Hermione asked, fixing Luna with a small glare, "What happened?"
Luna looked at Hermione, mentally weighing her options before slowly saying, "…Ness got a lead on the spy." And making a follow me gesture before she turned and walked out of the Great Hall at a brisk pace.
"Spy?" Hermione repeated looking at Harry in disbelief as he remembered he'd never told Hermione and Ron what had happened that night. He had been too distracted by his talk with Kale and then the sudden whiplash of Umbridge's return to mention it to them.
"Yea...Someone was spying on my private lessons." Harry murmured, "I meant to tell you and Ron about it, but then I wrote to Snuffles about it and Umbridge came back with more drama."
"Anything else I should know about?" Hermione asked, giving him an annoyed look as they casually chased after Luna. "Um, I blackmailed Ness into attending Occlumency classes with somewhat malicious intent?"
"…Harry."
"It backfired immediately though!" Harry protested, shying away from Hermione's firm glare before she broke it off and shook her head. Grumbling something about needing to keep a closer eye on him and Ron as they reached the Room of Requirements. The door already summoned and Luna casually leaning against it, her hand on the doorknob.
"Don't scream." Luna warned before she opened it and disappeared inside, Harry and Hermione hot on her tail as they found themselves in a cozy room that could have been a bedroom for a young teenager.
There were beanbags, a bookcase filled with comic books, a table with board games and scrolls and a—
"Snake!" Hermione yelped moving to grab her wand when Ness called from the other side of the room, "It's okay! She won't attack you!" and pulled himself out of a pile of beanbags that had been stacked in a corner.
"Why is there a snake in Hogwarts?!" Hermione demanded, flinching when Nagini sat up and studied her, verbally hissing, "Sssso loud…ssso annoying."
"Because I accidentally tamed her and gave her teleportation powers?" Ness offered, looking at Harry with those empty eyes as he gave a small frown, "You…never told her?"
"It never occurred to me to tell her." Harry answered, hesitating before adding, "Plus, she would have contacted an adult or told Ron."
Ness's eyes seemed to harden as he murmured a soft, "Ah." And focused on Hermione, "So, during Harry and I's out of body experience at the Ministry. I attacked Nagini and did something to her since she follows me around and acts as my mailman."
"Does…does she remember anything about Voldemort?" Hermione asked, warily eyeing Nagini as the snake tilted her head, "Why are people sssso afraid of thisss Voldemort?"
"As far I can tell, she doesn't remember anything about Voldemort." Ness replied, fiddling with his hat as he added, "But I don't really ask her about Voldemort. I was trying to steer clear of him and—wait. Nagini was Voldemort's snake!?"
"Yea, she's his faithful companion or something." Harry glanced at Nagini who was looking very confused, "Voldemort can speak parseltongue, like I can and often spoke with her in the few dreams I had of her and Voldemort."
"Well…looks like Ness broke that bond since Nagini acts like a sassy snake." Luna hummed looking at Nagini in a new light as the snake hissed, "I am very confused. Why doesss everyone think I worked with thisss Voldemort fellow? Nagini ssservesss Ness!"
"Maybe that's what that scar means…" Ness murmured before he focused on them, his eyes sharpening. "But that's not what we're here to talk about. Harry, last night the spy broke into Gryffindor tower."
"They did what?!" Hermione exclaimed, "How? Nevile hasn't lost his password paper at all this year!"
"Umbridge no doubt." Luna explained, a small frown appearing on her face as she fiddled with a purple stone, "She probably forced the spy to lurk closely around a Gryffindor or hang around Gryffindor tower to gain the password and slip inside."
"Did you see who it was?" Harry asked, his heart skipping a beat as Ness shook his head no. "Nagini and Cloak caught a glimpse of them, but I only felt them trying to tamper with my mind."
"Merlin's beard…Umbridge is truly serious on getting some dirt on you two." Hermione breathed.
"Well, it's going to backfire since Nagini bite the spy and poisoned her."
"What?!" Harry exclaimed looking at Nagini in horror, "So they spy is going to die?!"
"No!" Ness yelped, flushing as a low hum of rock n roll filled the room, "No, they aren't going to die. Nagini used Poison Alpha instead of her actual poison. So, the spy is just going to be sick and a little on the weak side unless we find them, or they get medical attention."
"Which Selvis doubts since he's been lurking around the medical wing for most of breakfast." Luna murmured, glancing at the stone before she pocketed it and turned to Ness, "Ginny says she's keeping an eye on Ron but he's busy researching something in the library."
"Ron?" Harry echoed, smothering the urge laugh as Hermione gave a horrified whisper of, "He's researching? Of his own free will? Merlin's beard what happened?!"
"She doesn't know, but Ginny thinks it's about Edgecombe." Luna answered looking at Ness who murmured, "So she might be our spy."
Edgecombe? Ron's girlfriend? The spy? "You…you seriously think Edgecombe is the spy?" Harry asked, feeling a little faint as Luna and Ness nodded.
"Think about it, the only people we told about our 'lessons' were those in our friend groups. And we made a point to explain the bare bones of it unless we thought we were in secure locations." Ness started, "And yet, on the night that we realized we had a spy, Sweepy-,"
"Who?" Hermione interrupted, jumping when a broom leaning against a wall suddenly stood up.
"The broom." Ness clarified before he continued, "Stated that he caught a glimpse of the spy and saw that they were a girl. Selvis reported that Ron's girlfriend and a few Slytherin girls were missing that night.
"Plus, I got warned about being followed and uh, a cryptic riddle from the Twisted Painting—don't ask I don't understand it either—about a blackened liar changing their colors."
"A blackened liar…changing colors?" Harry repeated as Luna nodded, "We've figured out some of the other riddles, A lion with feathers~ come now untethered~ Wishing to solve the wrongs and right the rights. Means something involving Hermione since a lot of Ravenclaws complain about how the brainless Gryffindors got such a smart witch—they're words not mine." Luna quickly added when Harry opened his mouth to protest against Gryffindors being 'brainless'.
"So," Luna continued, "The blackened liar must be going against their house symbols and status to complete their role as a spy. So, not the Slytherins since sneaking around and pulling underhanded tricks to gain information is one of their key skills."
"Which points to Edgecombe as suspect number 1 since she started dating Ron who is a key informant and no doubt has parents in the Ministry." Hermione grimly concluded.
"A suspect who knows that Harry wasn't in his bed last night." Ness added, glancing at Harry with an almost worried look. "Nagini was complaining about it after she sent the spy running with a bitten wrist and I sent her to warn you. If the spy went to your dormitory first then she probably took note of it."
"But why would she go for me first?" Harry started since logically heading to Ness first then him last made a lot more sense given how Ness was a year below him.
But he stopped himself as he remembered the argument, he had with Snape during their last Occlumency class and how he had all but stated that Ness was leaps and bounds ahead of Harry in terms of protecting his mind.
"Judging by your horrified expression, I'm going to guess you figured out that you were the weakest link and probably the easiest one to get information from." Ness stated.
"Merlin's beard…" Harry whispered as Hermione looked between them with annoyance, "What do you mean, 'weakest link'? I know Harry's been slacking on his Occlumency homework but surely he would have some protection against the spy!"
"Maybe he would have, maybe he wouldn't. But if he was busy trying to hunt down secrets in the Ministry then he probably would have ignored any sense of probing. No matter how sloppy it was."
Harry felt his cheeks redden in shame at the idea, since he probably would—no, definitely would allow the spy to observe if it meant getting closer to Ness's silhouette and what Voldemort was after.
"Your right." Harry managed, but he went unheard as Ness continued, "I only realized something was amiss when the spy was trying to direct my Magicant into a certain location."
"…Magicant?" Hermione repeated, looking at Harry who could only shrug his shoulders. Was Magicant a PSI word for the mind?
"Oh uh…it's sort of my subconscious, but it reflects my mental health and past memories. It's…really weird to explain." Ness tried, looking a little sheepish as the two wizards exchanged a look then looked at Luna who was holding Nagini and trying to cox her into sitting onto her head.
"But it's pretty hard to get anything from it since it has its own defenses. Honestly, it's a good thing Nagini attacked the spy since they might have something much worse than a snake bite."
"What's worse than a snake bite?" Harry asked, although he sensed that he already knew the answer given how Luna stiffened and Ness grimaced but bluntly stated, "A broken mind or the inability to use magic."
A brief silence filled the room as he and Hermione processed the horrifying reminder that PSI was unknown and seemingly limitless in what it can and couldn't do.
"We should probably inform Ron about Nagini." Ness said, breaking the silence into a thousand shards as Harry choked on his breath.
"W-what? Are you sure?" Harry asked, trying to wrap his head around why they would want to fill Ron in when the puzzle piece clicked and angrily glared at him. Ron needed to know about Nagini so they could check Edgecombe's wrist. They needed to confirm if she is the spy or not before they could work on getting rid of Umbridge's power over her.
"I'll tell him," Ness was saying with a lazy shrug, "He already hates me as it is. So, I'll drop the bad news and you two can play devil's advocate."
"Ness…" Luna gently chided, giving him a firm look and seeing something they couldn't as Ness pointedly glanced away from her, "What? I'm right."
"Yes, but we'll tell Ron about Nagini." Hermione stated, picking up on Luna's sudden parental attitude as Harry glanced at her, "Harry and I already have something we want to say to him. So, we might as well add that to the list."
Ness blinked, looking a little caught off guard by Hermione's stance on the matter but slowly nodded, "Alright, once you're done spilling the bad news tell Ginny and we'll try and meet up-," he stopped, his eyes suddenly widening before he grabbed Luna and Nagini and his robe made a sharp gesture and they vanished with a soft electronic whoosh.
Harry blinked, a lump of panic forming as he realized he never got a chance to apologize when the door behind them suddenly burst open and slammed shut.
"Harry!" Ron yelled, his hair frazzled and his expression a crisscross between worry and anger.
"R-ron?" Harry exclaimed, wondering how had Ness somehow sensed him. Did one of those living objects sense him and warn him?
"Ron, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, giving his arm a tight squeeze before stepping forward. Acting as a small barrier as Harry realized with dread that this would be the best time to confront Ron about his behavior.
"I-it's Marietta!" Ron blurted out, "She got attacked by Earthbound's pet snake!"
"What?" Harry exclaimed, feeling lightheaded as he realized with dread that Edgecombe was the spy. Where could they go from here? Play along with Ron's worry and placate him or just drop the bombshell?
"Maybe running is a better option." Harry's mind offered as Hermione took over, calmly asking, "Ron, why is she so sure that it's Earthbound's snake?"
"She didn't know. But she told me it had some weird tattoo on its side that looked like the earth." Ron explained, quickly adding with a harsh, "Yes! I know it's crazy and outlandish to blame him, but I know this is PSI magic or whatever it's called!" when he saw their disbelieving looks.
"How? We barely understand anything about it." Harry pointed out, "And Ness isn't going to tell us." And frankly, Harry didn't want Ness to explain any more than he had to. Ignorance was bliss and Harry would happily stay ignorant to avoid more paranoia and trouble that wasn't connected to him. For once.
"She's been having trouble performing simple spells, every time she tries, she has to stop and clutch her wrist." Ron explained, "She said, "It feels like the snake venom is trying to prevent me from being a witch" and who do we know has the power to break wizards?!"
"Ness." Harry answered, feeling sick as he tried to figure out a logical rebuttal that wouldn't get Ron accusing them of working with Ness. Then again, Ron didn't seem to enjoy thinking when he was angry.
"But where was she when she got attacked?" Harry asked, "I mean, sure it probably was his snake, but we haven't seen hide or hair of anything else under his control."
Unless you counted the broom hiding in plain sight. But who in their right mind would suspect a broom of being evil? He wouldn't, that was for sure.
"He has a point." Hermione agreed, looking a little relived at his quick thinking. Ron thankfully didn't notice the silent exchange between them as he yelled, "She was walking back from the library to turn in for the night when it attacked her and vanished!"
"You think it was a direct assault?" Hermione asked, "Ron, why would Ness attack Edgecombe when you're the person trying to light a fire under him for no reason?"
"I-I don't know! Maybe was trying to be sneaky or—wait, I'm not lighting a fire under him for no reason!" Ron protested, "He's a menace!"
"He's trying to keep his head down and his outbursts next to none, Ron." Hermione deadpanned, looking a little frustrated. "And if he seriously was out for revenge then why not go after Harry? The person who blackmailed him into attending Occlumency!"
"Blackmail?" Ron repeated, his anger vanishing as he looked at Harry in slight awe and disbelief. "You blackmailed Earthbound into going? Over what mate?"
Harry hesitated, heavily weighing his options as something thick and slime formed in his chest. Did he lie and simply resume swallowing his worry for Ron and his outbursts? Or did he rip the band aid and just get it over with?
"If I keep lying…then it'll only be a matter of time before I stop being friends with Ron and keep him out of the loop. But if I tell the truth…then something much worse could happen."
With a shaky breath, Harry opened his mouth. "Over Nagini. Ness somehow took control of Nagini after he tried to stop her—me from attacking Mr. Weasley and she's been acting as his mail-snake since Christmas."
The room seemed to freeze, the warm and cozy atmosphere Ness had created suddenly suffocating and empty as Ron looked at him, his smile frozen as his eyes slowly widened in realization.
A soft, betrayed croak of, "You knew?" slipping out of the redhead as Harry answered with a curt nod, trying to keep his expression neutral as Hermione gave his hand a soft squeeze. Encouraging him to keep going.
"I spotted her a week after Christmas and confronted Ness about it before using it to blackmail him into going out of spite." Harry explained, "I didn't tell Hermione about this until today. And I purposely kept you in the dark because of how you act towards Ness."
"What?" Ron managed, his smile finally slipping into a twisted line of disbelief and anger, but before he could yell his defense.
Harry found himself snapping, "Yes! Because anything related to Ness just gets you ranting and raving and looking like you're going to attack him out of the blue! You don't listen to us when we mention Ness, you just twist it and try and see what horrible thing he's done next!"
"I do not-," Ron tried when Hermione interrupted, "Panic attack."
"What?"
"Harry," Hermione slowly started, "Had a panic attack on the bridge. When you had your date with Edgecombe."
"He—mate is she-," Ron started, looking between them in disbelief as Harry nodded. "I had a dream the night before Hogsmeade, about Ness. So, I was trying to figure out what it meant and remembered the graveyard event. Hermione had to snap me out of it and try to get it through my thick head that I needed help before I brushed her off to try and find him before the meeting."
"Meeting?" Ron echoed.
"Yes, meeting. Ginny and I arranged a secret meeting to dethrone Umbridge from Hogwarts and get the truth out there." Hermione explained, "Another thing we hid from you since we figured you would just accuse him of lying."
"I wouldn't." Ron protested, but even he knew it was a weak rebuttal as he remembered just how often he would go off at the mere sight of Ness.
"You did." Hermione reinforced, "And it's gotten to the point where your lashing out is doing you more harm than good!"
"What? What do you mean? I haven't hurt anyone expect for that spat on the train platform!" Ron argued his anger returning then vanishing as Harry softly stated, "Me, you've hurt me."
Feeling sick to his stomach as Harry pressed on, "I spent the entire second half of the school year tip-toeing around you and your anger to avoid losing you as a friend again. I didn't want a repeat of the Tri-Wizard cup. Especially when it was so easy just to nod my head and offer half comments about Ness when you worked yourself up into a tizzy. It almost convinced me to keep quiet about the real reason why Edgecombe got bitten."
"You knew?" Ron asked, the anger trying to return when Harry stopped it with a harsh, "Yea, I know because Ness pulled me aside to tell me that the spy who followed us to Occlumency broke into Gryffindor tower last night to try and read our minds! Nagini attacked her to protect Ness's mind while I lucked out thanks to going to visiting Snuffles!"
"Barely lucked out of, since now Umbridge knows you were sneaking around last night." Hermione reminded him.
"W-wait, you think Edgecombe is the spy?! She wouldn't do that!" Ron argued.
"She would if Umbridge threatened her parents' position in the Ministry." Hermione countered.
"Think about it, Ron. She's dating you which means she has a key informant about what's going on, she broke into Gryffindor tower despite only being close with you a fellow Gryffindor and Ness's weird helpers stated that on the night that he and Harry realized they had a spy that the person following them was a girl and Selvis did a headcount. Only a few Slytherin girls and Edgecombe missing that night."
"Yea! Because I wasn't feeling well! So, she walked me back to Gryffindor tower and I turned in for the night!" Ron snapped.
"Ness stated that he suspected we were being followed on our way to Occlumency, so depending on what time you two left she might have had enough time to rush back to the staircase that leads to the Great Hall and follow us." Harry retorted, "And given how Ness always leaves first, she could have just followed me since I leave ten minutes after Ness leaves."
"That doesn't prove that she did it! Besides! How could she rush back downstairs to reach the dungeons in such a short time window?" Ron argued, "There was no way she knew what time you were going to leave the Great Hall! And we left ages before you guys did!"
"Which gives her an even bigger window of time to get into position, especially if she managed to wheedle some information from you without you realizing it!" Hermione retorted, "Besides, she was bitten on the wrist! Just like the spy who tried to search Ness's mind!"
"Well—Edgecombe wouldn't-!" Ron spluttered, trying desperately to defend his girlfriend but unable to find anything that would help his argument .
Harry could only watch as Ron's flame of anger flickered and died, replaced by sheer stubbornness as the redhead roared, "Edgecombe isn't the spy! Your gits are just playing into Earthbound's hands!" and stormed off, slamming the door behind him with a thunderous bang.
"Well…that went…well." Harry managed, feeling sick as Hermione huffed, "Better than I expected. At least he listened for once."
"What do we do now? Do we…confront Edgecombe? Stop Ron from telling-," Harry stopped and gasped, "Ron! He might tell Edgecombe that we're onto her!"
Hermione moved to retort that Ron wasn't that dumb but stopped and paled, "He will tell her! We have to stop him! Where's he going on the Marauder's map?"
"Right, right." With trembling fingers Harry pulled the map out of his pocket and activated it, feverishly scanning for it and paling as he saw Ron rapidly approaching the library. "I can't find Edgecombe! She isn't showing up on the map!"
"What?! How can she not show up on the map!?" Hermione demanded, looking over his shoulder and gawking as Ron stopped in the library for some reason before turning and leaving, bumping into Selvis on the way out.
"I guess Nagini's snake bite did something to hide her on the map." Harry guessed, feeling sick as he wiped the map clean and looked at Hermione, "We may be too late."
"Then…we'll have to confront her sooner than later." Hermione exclaimed, grabbing Harry's arm and leading him out of the Room of Requirements and towards the library.
Harry rushed to keep up, keeping his eyes peeled for Edgecombe as they speed walked around the few clumps of students lingering in the halls.
"I think that's her!" Harry started pointing toward the hallway that lead to the fourth floor when a sickening clearing of the throat prompted them to freeze. "Miss Granger, Professor Sliver and I need to borrow Potter for a moment." Umbridge sweetly requested. But her eyes glowed with pure malice and Hermione looked at Harry in disbelief.
"Dear Fate. I don't like you." Harry bitterly thought slowly turning around and looking at Professor Sliver, "Professor, is something wrong?" he asked pointedly ignoring Umbridge who's smile dimmed in annoyance.
"Well, Umbridge is convinced that she saw you sneaking around last night." Professor Sliver replied, her cold eyes bearing into his head as Harry fought the lump building in his throat and forced a casual response, "She must have seen someone else Professor. I was in my dormitory."
"And your friends can prove this?" Professor Sliver asked, her gaze sliding over to Umbridge in annoyance.
"I can't Professor, but I know I saw him before I went to bed." Hermione answered, "Ron can confirm this though."
The unspoken, "Hopefully" echoed loudly between them as Professor Sliver nodded, "I'll check in with him then." And turned to leave, only pausing to give Umbridge a scathing glare before she disappeared around the corner.
"Is that all?" Harry asked, not bothering to hide his annoyance as he and Hermione moved out of her way. Very aware of the few students watching them as Umbridge's smile twitched, "Sadly no, for some reason someone sent you a letter, but the owl dropped it off with Professor McGonagall. I'd recommend that you pick it up immediately."
"Right," Harry bite out, hating the silent 'Or else' that lingered in the air as he moved past her with Hermione to resume rushing to the library.
"He told." Ginny simply stated, casually leaving with her face buried in a book as Harry opened his mouth to ask his already answered question.
"Did you see where they went?" Hermione asked looking around as Ginny lowered her book. "No, but I have my eye on them. Especially Edgecombe since she made the mistake of leaving her bag unattended."
"You figured out a way to spy on people?" Hermione asked, looking appalled but also intrigued.
"Sorry, trade secret courtesy of Selvis." Ginny informed them, closing the book with a small snap and walking past them as Harry leaned against the wall. Praying that Ron wouldn't throw them into the fire with his rash decision.
3 of 12!
Don't worry Harry! Ron won't throw you into the fire! He'll just fuss until someone chucks a bucket of calming water on his head. Which is coming veeeerrrry soon.
