The street outside the Honeydukes was not very busy. The harsh cold wind and sleet discouraged stepping out doors for anyone. Nobody was lingering to chat, just hurrying toward their destinations, including Harry, Hermione and Ron. The exceptions were two men a little ahead of them, standing just outside the Three Broomsticks. One was very tall and thin; squinting through his rain-washed glasses Harry recognized the barman who worked in the other Hogsmeade pub, the Hog's Head. As Harry, Ron, and Hermione drew closer, the barman drew his cloak more tightly around his neck and walked away, leaving the shorter man to fumble with something in his arms. They were barely feet from him when Harry realized who the man was.
"Mundungus!"
The squat, bandy-legged man with long, straggly, ginger hair jumped and dropped an ancient suitcase, which burst open, releasing what looked like the entire contents of a junk shop window.
"Oh, 'ello, 'Arry," said Mundungus Fletcher, with a most unconvincing stab at airiness. "Well, don't let me keep ya."
And he began scrabbling on the ground to retrieve the contents of his suitcase with every appearance of a man eager to be gone.
"Are you selling this stuff?" asked Harry, watching Mundungus grab an assortment of grubby-looking objects from the ground.
"Oh, well, gotta scrape a living," said Mundungus. "Gimme that!"
Ron had stooped down and picked up something silver.
"Hang on," Ron said slowly. "This looks familiar —"
"Thank you!" said Mundungus, snatching the goblet out of Ron's hand and stuffing it back into the case. "Well, I'll see you all — OUCH!"
Harry had pinned Mundungus against the wall of the pub by the throat. Holding him fast with one hand, he pulled out his wand and stuck it underneath his jaw.
"Harry!" squealed Hermione.
"You took that from Sirius's house," said Harry, who was almost nose to nose with Mundungus. "That had the Black family crest on it."
"I — no — what —?" spluttered Mundungus, who was slowly turning purple but Harry squeezed a little harder anyway.
"What did you do, go back the night he died and strip the place?" snarled Harry. "I — no —"
"Give it to me!"
"Harry, you mustn't!" shrieked Hermione, as Mundungus started to turn blue.
"KREACHER"
There was a pop as Kreacher appeared. As soon as he saw Mundungus his eyes grew wide as rage flooded him.
"The House of Black has been robbed by this thief. Retrieve the stolen belongings any way you see fit," Harry said with a cold voice as his eyes glowed with power as he let a little air reach Mundungus's throat.
"Yes, Master."
There was a bang, and Harry felt his hands fly off Mundungus's throat. Gasping and spluttering, Mundungus seized his fallen case as did Kreacher, then — CRACK — they both Disapparated.
Harry suddenly pointed his wand at the wall next to him.
"Give me one good reason why I should not kill you where you stand"
Tonks suddenly appeared out of nowhere, her mousy hair wet with sleet. "I'm an Auror protecting you?"
"No. You were protecting a thief. A thief who stole from Sirius. A thief who STOLE FROM ME!" Harry roared.
"You should get out of the cold" Tonks said as Hermione headed into the Three Broomsticks.
"Tell your mother what you've done today. Next time I see you, an apology should be the first thing out of your mouth." Harry hissed to Tonks as he passed her.
Hermione silently went to buy butterbeers while Ron and Harry headed to a booth.
Harry was unnaturally quiet but his white-knuckled grip on his wand did not relax as Hermione returned with the drinks.
"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked. Before Harry could answer she continued, "Ron, what are you staring at?"
"Nothing," said Ron, hastily looking away from the bar, but Harry knew he was trying to catch the eye of the curvy and attractive barmaid, Madam Rosmerta, for whom he had long nursed a soft spot.
"I expect 'nothing's' in the back getting more firewhisky," said Hermione waspishly.
Ron ignored this jibe, sipping his drink in what he evidently considered to be a dignified silence. Harry meanwhile stewed at the thoughts of what he would do to Mundungus once he got his hands on him. Hermione drummed her fingers on the table, her eyes flickering between Ron and the bar. The moment Harry drained the last drops in his bottle she said, "Shall we call it a day and go back to school, then?"
The other two nodded; it had not been a fun trip and the weather was getting worse the longer they stayed. Once again, they drew their cloaks tightly around them, rearranged their scarves, pulled on their gloves, then followed Katie Bell and a friend out of the pub and back up the High Street. Harry's thoughts strayed between the Order's motivations and Mundungus as they trudged their way to Hogwarts through the frozen sludge. Scowling, he bowed his head against the swirling sleet and trudged on.
It was a little while before Harry became aware that the voices of Katie Bell and her friend, which were being carried back to him on the wind, had become shriller and louder. Harry squinted at their indistinct figures. The two girls were having an argument about something Katie was holding in her hand. "It's nothing to do with you, Leanne!" Harry heard Katie say.
They rounded a corner in the lane, sleet coming thick and fast, blurring Harry's glasses. Just as he raised a gloved hand to wipe them, Leanne made to grab hold of the package Katie was holding; Katie tugged it back and the package fell to the ground.
At once, Katie rose into the air, not as Ron had done, suspended comically by the ankle when he accidentally cast Levicorpus at him, but gracefully, her arms outstretched, as though she was about to fly. Yet there was something wrong, something eerie… Her hair was whipped around her by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed and her face was quite empty of expression. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Leanne had all halted in their tracks, watching.
Then, six feet above the ground, Katie let out a terrible unholy scream. Her eyes flew open but whatever she could see, or whatever she was feeling, was clearly causing her terrible anguish. She screamed and screamed; Leanne started to scream too and seized Katie's ankles, trying to tug her back to the ground. Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed forward to help, but even as they grabbed Katie's legs, she fell on top of them; Harry and Ron managed to catch her but she was writhing so much they could hardly hold her. Instead, they lowered her to the ground where she thrashed and screamed, apparently unable to recognize any of them. Harry looked around; the landscape seemed deserted.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM" he shouted as Prongs appeared. "Find an adult and tell them a student has been attacked by a cursed artifact"
Prongs galloped off at a great speed as everyone was still shocked.
"What's happening to her!" sobbed Leanne. "I don't know what —"
"It's Leanne, right? I need you to calm down and tell me what happened," Harry's voice had suddenly gone from frigidly authoritative to calm and soothing in a flash.
"It was when that package tore," sobbed Leanne, pointing at the now sodden brown-paper package on the ground, which had split open to reveal a greenish glitter. Ron bent down, his hand outstretched, but Harry roared, "Don't touch it!"
Ron reflexively jumped back as Hagrid suddenly appeared.
"Harry!" said Hagrid, who had sleet trapped in his eyebrows and beard, and was wearing his great, shaggy beaver skin coat. "Wha happen'? Who's bin cursed — Ron? Hermione?"
"No, it's not them, it's Katie Bell — here. Her pulse is really weak and she needs to get to the hospital wing right away. Tell Madam Pomfrey it's from a cursed artifact. I'll bring it to her for examination after she stabilizes Katie."
Hagrid stared at Katie for a second, then without a word, bent down, scooped her into his arms, and ran off toward the castle with her. Within seconds, Katie's piercing screams had died away and the only sound was the roar of the wind.
Hermione hurried over to Katie's wailing friend and put an arm around her. Harry moved towards the package. He crouched down. An ornate opal necklace was visible, poking out of the paper.
"I've seen that before," said Harry, staring at the thing. "It was on display in Borgin and Burkes ages ago. The label said it was cursed. Katie must have touched it." He looked up at Leanne, who had started to shake uncontrollably. "How did Katie get hold of this?"
"Well, that's why we were arguing. She came back from the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks holding it, said it was a surprise for somebody at Hogwarts and she had to deliver it. She looked all funny when she said it… Oh no, oh no, I bet she'd been Imperiused and I didn't realize!"
Leanne shook with renewed sobs. Hermione patted her shoulder gently.
"She didn't say who'd given it to her, Leanne?"
"No… she wouldn't tell me… and I said she was being stupid and not to take it up to school, but she just wouldn't listen and… and then I tried to grab it from her… and — and —"
Leanne let out a wail of despair.
"We'd better get up to school," said Hermione, her arm still around Leanne. "We'll be able to find out how she is. Come on…"
Harry hesitated for a moment, then pulled his scarf from around his face and, ignoring Ron's gasp, carefully covered the necklace in it and picked it up.
As they followed Hermione and Leanne up the road, Harry was thinking furiously. They had just entered the grounds when he spoke, unable to keep his thoughts to himself any longer.
"Malfoy knows about this necklace. It was in a case at Borgin and Burkes four years ago, I saw him having a good look at it while I was hiding from him and his dad. This is what he was buying that day when we followed him! He remembered it and he went back for it!"
"I — I dunno, Harry," said Ron hesitantly. "Loads of people go to Borgin and Burkes… and didn't that girl say Katie got it in the girls' bathroom?"
"She said she came back from the bathroom with it, she didn't necessarily get it in the bathroom itself—"
"McGonagall!" said Ron warningly.
Harry looked up. Sure enough, Professor McGonagall was hurrying down the stone steps through swirling sleet to meet them. "Hagrid says you four saw what happened to Katie Bell — upstairs to my office at once, please!
What's that you're holding, Potter?"
"It's the thing she touched," said Harry.
"Good lord," said Professor McGonagall, looking alarmed as she took the necklace from Harry.
"No, no, Filch, they're with me!" she added hastily, as Filch came shuffling eagerly across the entrance hall holding his Secrecy Sensor aloft. "Take this necklace to Professor Snape at once, but be sure not to touch it, keep it wrapped in the scarf!"
Harry and the others followed Professor McGonagall upstairs and into her office. The sleet-spattered windows were rattling in their frames, and the room was chilly despite the fire crackling in the grate. Professor McGonagall closed the door and swept around her desk to face Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the still sobbing Leanne.
"Well?" she said sharply. "What happened?"
Haltingly, and with many pauses while she attempted to control her crying, Leanne told Professor McGonagall how Katie had gone to the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks and returned holding the unmarked package, how Katie had seemed a little odd, and how they had argued about the advisability of agreeing to deliver unknown objects, the argument culminating in the tussle over the parcel, which tore open. At this point, Leanne was so overcome, there was no getting another word out of her.
"All right," said Professor McGonagall, not unkindly, "go up to the hospital wing, please, Leanne, and get Madam Pomfrey to give you something for shock."
When she had left the room, Professor McGonagall turned back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Why is it, when something happens, it is always you three?" Professor McGonagall sighed.
"Believe me, Professor, I've been asking myself the same question for six years," Ron said with a smile.
"What happened when Katie touched the necklace?" she asked.
"She rose up in the air, about 15-20 feet," said Harry, before either Ron or Hermione could speak, "and then began to scream, and collapsed. Professor, has Professor Dumbledore been informed?"
"The headmaster is away until Monday, Potter," said Professor McGonagall, looking surprised.
"Away?" Harry repeated stonily.
"Yes, Potter, away!" said Professor McGonagall tartly. "But anything you have to say about this horrible business can be said to me, I'm sure!"
For a split second, Harry hesitated. Professor McGonagall did not invite confidences; Dumbledore, though in many ways more intimidating, still seemed less likely to scorn a theory, however wild. This was a life-and-death matter, though, and no moment to worry about being laughed at.
"With all due respect professor, the last time I brought a potential crime to you before it occurred, you told me it was none of my concern."
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed as Ron's jaw dropped.
"Forgive me, Potter, I did not take an eleven-year-old seriously when he told me Professor Snape was going to steal something I knew he was protecting," Professor McGonagall said frostily.
Harry held up his left fist and pointed it towards Professor McGonagall. The scarred words 'I must not tell lies' stood clearly across his skin. "And neither did you take a fifteen-year-old seriously when he was being tortured on a nightly basis for months at a stretch. I remember very vividly you telling me to keep my head down and when I kept getting detentions, you told me it was my own fault for not keeping my head down and took points off for it."
Harry's voice had gotten strained as he finished speaking. Hermione and Professor McGonagall had gone deathly pale and Ron refused to look up from the floor. He desperately wished he was anywhere but there at that moment.
"I know that Malfoy was responsible for this attack on Katie." He told her about following Malfoy to Borgin and Burkes and the conversation they had overheard between him and Mr. Borgin.
"Before you ask me for proof, I have none. Neither did I in the first year and I ended up killing Quirrel as an eleven-year-old."
Hermione shuffled as though quite keen to put a distance between herself and Harry. The fire crackled as the silence dragged on. Harry saw McGonagall prepare to poke holes in his theory when he made a snap decision, "You know what. I'm done. I resign as Quidditch Captain."
"WHAT?" both McGonagall and Ron roared.
"WHY?" Ron asked.
"Because the adults don't seem to have an interest in cleaning up their messes. As usual, I am going to have to step in and I end up screwing things up because I'm not prepared. I need to train and Quidditch is a waste of time when my survival is at stake. I'll have my badge on your desk by dinner."
Harry turned around and left.
Neither Hermione, Ron, or Professor McGonagall knew what to say.
"Inform Mister Potter that Mister Malfoy was not in Hogsmead today since he was serving detention with me. I need to check up on Ms. Bell and inform her parents. Good day to you all," she said in a daze as she held the door open for them.
Ron and Hermione had no choice but to file past her without a word.
"What just happened," Ron asked.
"Goodness only knows. But only one person can tell us." Hermione said as she began climbing stairs two at a time.
"Dilligrout," said Hermione firmly as they reached the Fat Lady.
The portrait swung open to admit them to the common room. It was quite full and smelled of damp clothing; many people seemed to have returned from Hogsmeade early because of the bad weather. There was no buzz of fear or speculation, however: Clearly, the news of Katie's fate had not yet spread.
"It wasn't a very slick attack, really, when you stop and think about it," said Ron, casually turfing a first year out of one of the good armchairs by the fire so that he could sit down. "The curse didn't even make it into the castle. Not what you'd call foolproof."
"You're right," said Hermione, prodding Ron out of the chair with her foot and offering it to the first year again. "It wasn't very well thought-out at all. I'm worried about Harry though. What did he mean the adults not being interested in cleaning up their messes?"
"That can wait. Why did he have to quit? I don't understand what Quidditch had to do with anything?" Ron said
Their conversation was interrupted when Harry suddenly entered the common room. He'd changed into fresh dry clothes and had his Quidditch Captain badge in hand.
"YOU'RE SERIOUS!?" Ron roared and stood up. The first years promptly huddled together and braced themselves to make a run for it.
"Sit down," Harry said calmly.
Ron obeyed the command without realizing what he had done. "Why would you do this to us, Harry? What does Katie getting cursed have to do with Quidditch?" He asked heatedly.
"The war has begun. And I mean to live to the end of it."
"What do you mean Harry?" Hermione asked. She had a worried frown on her face.
"Katie was given a cursed necklace and told to deliver it to someone. Which means an assassination attempt. Who could be the target? Dumbledore? The Death Eaters would love to get rid of him, he must be one of their top targets. Or Slughorn — Dumbledore reckons Voldemort really wanted him and they can't be pleased that he's sided with Dumbledore. Or —"
"Or you," said Hermione, looking troubled.
"Couldn't have been," said Harry, "or Katie would've just turned around in the lane and given it to me, wouldn't she? I was behind her all the way out of the Three Broomsticks. It would have made much more sense to deliver the parcel outside Hogwarts, what with Filch searching everyone who goes in and out. I wonder why Malfoy told her to take it into the castle?"
"Harry, Malfoy wasn't in Hogsmeade!" said Hermione, actually stamping her foot in frustration.
"He must have used an accomplice, then," said Harry. "Crabbe or Goyle — or, come to think of it, another Death Eater, he'll have loads better cronies than Crabbe and Goyle now he's joined up —"
Ron and Hermione exchanged looks that plainly said There's no point arguing with him.
"Why quit Quidditch though?" Ron asked insistently
"How do you think this war ends? Voldemort and I are going to have to end it. Face to face. From what I saw in the Atrium of the Ministry, I am nowhere close to either Dumbledore or Voldemort. I need to catch up. I cannot do that if I have quidditch practice to distract me."
"Harry, they have almost half a century of magical studies at least on you. How could you possibly catch up?" Hermione asked him with a frown.
"With the power he knows not."
"How is love supposed to help you catch up on all that research and practice Harry? Even I am not prepared for anything past the next 3 months' curriculum. Let alone something like the NEWTS," Hermione said exasperatedly.
"Here's a thought. Maybe, Dumbledore doesn't always have the right answers, Hermione. Anyway. I gotta go drop this off at McGonagall's."
Harry left the common room and Hermione frowned at his back in deep thought. Ron interrupted those when he exclaimed, "I still don't get why he resigned Quidditch!"
Hermione couldn't help but sigh.
Outside the Common Room, Harry called for Kreacher. As the elf popped in, he asked "Did you find him?"
"Yes, filthy Half-blood master. Kreacher found the stolen wares but the thief escaped."
"How much did you recover?"
"Almost all of the stolen items, filthy Half-blood master"
"Listen to me Kreacher. I'm ordering you to do whatever it takes to find and capture Mundungus Fletcher. Extract any useful information from him about his criminal ventures. Use a dictaquill and send me a report when you can. Do whatever it takes but do not kill him. I do not care if he is maimed or hurt. Keep his tongue, and head uninjured so he can talk. Give him food enough for a 12-year-old child but not a grown man. Let him sleep only once every 3 days. I'll come to Grimmauld for Christmas and deal with him personally. Am I understood?"
Kreacher was silent for a moment before he stood up straight. "As my Master commands"
He snapped his fingers and popped away. Harry was surprised at not hearing an insult but he shook his head and headed to McGonagall's office.