Welcome, everyone, to the next chapter of HP: The Path of Trials! Not much to add except...
Disclaimer: No ownership of HP, save for OC's. That's odd, I swear I've heard this song and dance before somewhere...
With that, here's...
Chapter 26: Natural Learning
Enjoy!
Marcus was looking forward to his Second Task training with his renewed determination so much, he completely forget about the detention he was supposed to do that night until he ran into Professor McGonagall at dinner, reminding him to not be late for it.
"Of all things, Marcus, a detention?" said Lorelei while they were eating dinner. "You know you have to make use of every minute you can get your hands on!"
"I know, I know," said a guilty Marcus. "I'm hoping it doesn't take that long, honestly. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll be back in time for tonight's betterment training."
"I'm not sure," Lorelei stated. "I heard that the last student who did detention with her was at it all night."
"Eh?! Seriously?!"
"That's just what I heard, anyway."
"But I can't be spending all night doing detention!" Marcus exclaimed.
"Should've thought of that before running your mouth off at Professor Grubbly-Plank, then," said Hermione, who joined Marcus and Lorelei at the Gryffindor table alongside Harry and Ron.
"What's done is done," said Marcus, who just finished off his meal. "Lorelei, go ahead and tell Cedric about the circumstances. I'll see what I can do about tonight."
"Right," said Lorelei as Marcus got up from the table and left the Great Hall.
Sure enough, at sunset, Marcus was standing outside the greenhouses, waiting on Professor Sprout.
"I just simply can't resist looking at the sunset...even if it's cold," Marcus thought as he gave off a bit of a shiver.
Just then, he heard, "Ah, Williams, there you are!"
He turned to see Professor Sprout emerging from greenhouse three with a smile on her face.
"Ah, hello, Professor," said Marcus.
"Good to see that you're here," she stated with her continued smile. "Come now, let's not delay! This is supposed to be your detention, after all. Follow me, please."
"Um, right," he stated as the two of them made their way into greenhouse three.
"Um, what exactly am I doing?" he asked.
"You'll be moving these bags of high grade fertilizer I've just received the other day," she stated, gesturing to the numerous bags against a wall of the greenhouse. "I need them to be in greenhouse one, but I simply don't have the strength to move them on my own."
Baffled by the simplicity of the task, he looked at the bags and remarked, "Well, it can't be that hard. They're not even that big."
"Don't let the size fool you, Williams," she stated.
Shrugging her statement, he took a bag and picked it up. As he was doing so, he noticed something exteremly shocking.
"What the -?! It's like trying to pick up a boulder!"
"I told you," said Professor Sprout. "I was worried I'd never be able to move them, but then I heard you were available."
"How nice of Professor McGonagall," he sarcastically remarked as he struggled to put it on his shoulders.
"I can't even move them by magic," she stated. "The properties of the fertilizer doesn't allow outside magic to work properly, but I couldn't have asked for better fertilizer. Should last me for the rest of the school year, this lot."
He went to greenhouse one, put the fertilizer in the box off in a corner, went back to greenhouse three, and said, "Well, one down. How many to go?"
"About 119," she stated with a smile.
"WHAT THE SHIT?!" he thought, his jaw nearly dropping to the ground. "Ugh, this will end up taking all night!"
For the longest time, Professor Sprout monitored Marcus moving the bags, as he was informed that the bags used to contain the fertilizer were also fragile.
However, she eventually said, "By the way, Williams, how are you faring along with the next task of the tournament?"
"Fairly well," he panted, having just placed his sixty-fourth bag of fertilizer in greenhouse one. Beads of sweat running down his face, he continued, "I'll just need a bit more time to perfect my strategy."
"I'm glad to hear it," said Professor Sprout. "Cedric's always talking highly of you, you know."
"I'm sure it's greatly exaggerated."
He was about to pick up the next bag of fertilizer when he looked back at the Herbology Professor and asked, "Professor, what made you want to go into Herbology?"
She sighed and responded, "It was my father."
"Your father?"
"Oh, yes," she stated. "He was always fascinated with nature, took joy in knowing how things were able to grow and so on and so forth. He often took me on his travels, explaining all that he could, until I developed the very same fascination with nature."
"He must've been an interesting wizard."
"Oh, he was a Muggle," she stated. "My mother was the witch."
"Huh?!"
"He studied nature as his way of making a living," she stated. "Oh, what did he call it? Ah, yes. 'Geological Scientist', he called himself.
Unable to suppress his curiosity, he asked, "What kind of things did he tell you?"
"Oh, all sorts of things," said Professor Sprout. "For example, he told me the makeup of air and water share a similiar composition."
This caught Marcus' attention.
"How so?" he asked with an edge of eagerness.
"He told me that, at a level that can't be viewed with the human eye, lies these things called 'atoms'," she explained, getting into her element as a teacher. "And the atoms that both water and air share is 'oxygen'. The same component of the air that we breath can also be found in water. Isn't that simply amazing?"
"Yeah, it is," said Marcus, who was suddenly throwing himself into deep thought.
"Also -" she started to say, but then looked down at the time and said, "Oh, goodness, what am I doing? You're supposed to be serving your detention! Chop chop!"
"Damn it all," thought Marcus as he proceeded to continue with the bags of fertilizer.
Four hours later...
"Oh-my-God," said Marcus, panting. "That was torturous!"
"Well, you've really been ever so helpful, Mr. Williams," said Professor Sprout with a smile. "Now, what have we learned from all of this?"
"Pay teachers the proper respect," stated Marcus, aching all over.
"Glad to hear it," she said. "This concludes your detention, Mr. Williams. Good luck in your next tournament task!"
As he was walking to the front doors, he was constantly thinking about what Professor Sprout said to him and he found himself looking at the Black Lake.
"Perhaps I can take a slight detour," he thought.
He made sure to cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself before proceeding to the edge of the Black Lake upon which he released the charm he placed on himself.
It looked quite ominous in the middle of the night, looking more like a dark portal than anything else. However, he skimmed the surface of the lake with his hand, feeling the rather icy touch to his skin, the ripples skimming around it, going further and further out.
"If, indeed, the air and water share similar structural properties, then perhaps I could use this to my advantage," he thought, continuing to skim the surface with his hand. "If I take the structural properties of the water and contribute that to the 'Wind Propulsion Technique', it might even enhance it that much more."
He enhanced his vision and thought, "Well, time to put it to the test."
With that, he put both hands into the water and concentrated on attempting to draw from the power of the water to enhance the technique.
The results were immediate: an explosive amount of energy was gathering quickly to the palms of his hands and, just as quickly, released it, causing his hands to rocket out of the water to the point of nearly making him flip head over heels.
However, he stopped himself in time, keeping himself to his feet, staring at his hands in awe.
"This," he thought, continuing to stare at his hands, "this will be the advantage I need to do well in the Second Task! All I need to do is master this technique and refine my navigation in the water with it, and I'll ace this!"
Feeling a small victory on his side, he went to the castle in high spirits, despite still feeling sore from his detention with Professor Sprout. He was such in high spirits that it caught him off guard to hear a most unwanted voice say, "And just what do you think you're doing at this hour, Mr. Williams?"
He focused on the source of the voice to find Professor Snape, standing near the dungeon entrance with what appeared to be a victorious smile on his face.
"Good evening, Professor Snape," Marcus stated, trying to be as polite as possible.
As Snape proceeded to make his way to Marcus, he stated, "Not even I would think that you'd be so bold as to sneak around in the open, Mr. Williams. Perhaps you've gotten overconfident with yourself."
"I'm merely returning to Gryffindor Tower from my detention, Professor," stated Marcus, trying his best to keep an even tone.
"Such an obvious lie, Mr. Williams," Snape sneered. "I would think you'd come up with something more believable than that."
"Then perhaps you'd like to ask Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout. They are the ones who set up my detention. Regardless, I have no reason to sneak around, so I'd best be on my way back to Gryffindor Tower."
He started to make his way to the staircase when he heard Snape say, "Not...so fast, Mr. Williams."
He turned to face Snape, who took a bottle of potion from his robes and dangled it a bit.
"Recognize this?"
Without missing a beat, Marcus stated, "That's Veritaserum. It forces the drinker to tell nothing but the truth from just a few drops."
"Exactly," said Snape. "Keep in mind, Mr. Williams, if you continue to lie to me in the future, I may just accidently...slip...some into your morning pumpkin juice."
"Until then, however, have a good rest of the night," stated Marcus.
Up and up the stairs he went, hardly paying any mind to Snape's threat. Perhaps it was good that Snape didn't know about his intolerance to potions unless tested by his blood, but he also knew that Snape wouldn't dare try to do something to that degree with so many watchful eyes around him, most notably Professor Moody.
Eventually, he was able to return to Gryffindor Tower, giving the Fat Lady the password, and made his way into the common room to find Lorelei sitting on the couch nearest to the fireplace, keeping Twink occupied.
Upon his entrance, however, Twink floated to see who came in and, seeing that it was Marcus, flew straight to him, landing on his left shoulder and rocking in joy.
"Marcus, you've returned," said Lorelei, getting up from the couch. "How was it?"
"Challenging," he responded. "She had me move bags of fertilizers that weighed like boulders. My whole body's sore. One good thing did come out of it."
"What's that?"
"I've nearly perfected my 'Wind Propulsion Technique.'"
"Already?!"
Marcus looked around to ensure he wasn't being overheard before continuing, "Yep, now I need to start using it in the water for my strategy to come together. I don't want to wait, but I'm not even sure I can do any training with this sore body."
Lorelei cupped her hand to her chin, deep in thought, before saying, "Let's meet at the lake anyway. I may have a solution for your sore body."
"If you say so, I believe you," said Marcus with a smile.
Her cheeks took on a rosy color, but she said, "In the meantime, you should get some sleep. We'll be waking up early and every hour counts."
"Right," said Marcus. "Goodnight, Lorelei."
"Good night, Marcus."
He then turned to make his way up to the dormitory. With each step up to the dormitory, the only thing he could keep his mind on was how well the results of his Second Task training would turn out.
Early next morning, he made his way to the edge of the Black Lake before sunrise, looking at the lake, with only the Second Task on his mind.
"Good morning, Marcus!"
Marcus saw that Cedric and Lorelei were approaching behind them, in casual clothing.
"Good morning," he said back.
"Your body still sore from last night?" Cedric asked.
"Unfortunately," stated Marcus. "I fear it'll be sore for at least a few more days."
"About that," said Lorelei, who raised a bottle of what appeared to be a sort of smoothie, "I've put this together for you. It's a - er - homemade recipe. It should speed up your muscular recovery."
"Really?!" Marcus said, looking at the concotion in the bottle. He gently took it from Lorelei, uncorked it, and said, "Well, bottoms up."
Marcus made sure to drink every single drop of the concotion smoothie, which tasted unbelievably delicious. It was like every vegetable he could think of came together and formed this smoothie.
Once he finished, something amazing happened.
Not only could he rapidly feel the soreness go away, but he also felt revitalized to the point of having almost excess energy.
"Oh my goodness, I feel great!" Marcus stated, handing the bottle back to Lorelei. "I'm all ready for training! Thank you so much, Lorelei!"
"You're - You're welcome," said Lorelei, who look quite startled.
As he was ready for the lake, wearing a black shirt and black swimming trunks, he said with his battle grin, "All right, then, let's do it!"
Applying his previous knowledge, his training, and what he learned last night, he blasted off the ground to get himself twenty feet in the air.
Summoning his wand, he pointed to his head and said, "Caput Bullae!"
The upside down fishbowl of a bubble quickly formed and, as quickly as he shot himself up, he rocketed back down, shooting himself into the water.
His "Wind Propulsion Technique" only got stronger as he started to rapidly go down into the Black Lake.
"Shoot, this is too deep right now!" thought Marcus. "How do I make myself go back up?!"
He had to mess around with the direction of his palms, but eventually, he made himself rocket back up until he found himself leaping out of the water.
"All right!" thought Marcus. "Let's keep going!"
As they saw Marcus going back under the surface of the Lake, Cedric said, "You did say that your homemade recipe was only to alleviate his soreness, right?"
"That's exactly what it's supposed to do," said Lorelei, looking between the bottle and the lake. "But for him to get instantly better...it's just - just -?"
"Absolutely astounding," said Cedric, smiling. "Just when I think that I've figured him out, he turns around and takes me by surprise. If I may be so bold, he'll go on to do amazing things so long as he has his head on straight."
"Yeah," said Lorelei, clearly worried. "That makes me glad...and scared."
"Scared?" said Cedric, looking at her.
"Yes, I'm confident that Marcus is going to do amazing things," stated Lorelei. "However, what's in store for him - rather, against him - is capable of such feats and more."
"Oh," said Cedric. He then truly realized Lorelei's words and said in a darker tone, "Oh, right. I nearly forgot."
They then stood on the snowy ground near the lake in silence, watching Marcus occasionally rocket from the surface and just as quickly go back under.
It was a half hour later that Marcus returned to the edge of the lake, looking quite cold, but otherwise very happy.
"I think I'm getting the hang of my overall strategy, guys," said Marcus, giving off a little bit of a shiver. He then looked confused as he said, "Guys?"
Cedric and Lorelei still had looks of concern on their faces. When jarred by Marcus' voice, they smiled and Lorelei said, "Your strategy is really coming together!"
"I'm excited to see the results come late February," said Cedric.
"I'll still need time to perfect my underwater manuevering," stated Marcus. "But, for the first time, I'm pretty excited. However -" he then huddled himself, his shivering increased "- it's getting incredibly cold. Let's go back inside the castle and get warmed up."
The next four days made for some great progress, not only in training for the tournament, but in the classroom and personal betterment, as well. Whether was it due to his rising self-confidence or knowing he had a great support system in Lorelei and Cedric, his spirits were in a place that he hadn't felt since getting sucked into the tournament.
In fact, late Thursday night, enroute to the Gryffindor Tower, he thought, "Oh, man, I really didn't think I'd be this prepared already! And I still have another month to refine my strategy! This'll be -?!"
He then heard a familiar voice growl, "On the contrary, it is very important. Who'd want to break into your office?"
He then gave an almost silent gasp as he thought, "Crap, I didn't realize how late it was! Better put myself under the Disillusionment Charm!"
As he blankted by invisibility, he heard the voice of Snape respond, "A student, I daresay. It has happened before. Potion ingredients have gone missing from my private store cupboard...students attempting illicit mixtures, no doubt..."
"Reckon they were after potion ingredients, eh?" said Moody. "Not hiding anything else in your office, are you?"
Marcus was hiding behind a nearby statue, craning his neck just enough to see Snape's sallow face turning a rather nasty brick color, the vein in his temple pulsing more rapidly.
"You know I'm hiding nothing, Moody," he said in a soft and dangerous voice, "as you've searched my office pretty thoroughly yourself."
Marcus could also see Moody's face twisting into a smile as he said, "Auror's privilege, Snape. Dumbledore told me to keep an eye -"
"Dumbledore happens to trust me," said Snape through clenched teeth. "I refuse to believe that he gave you orders to search my office!"
"'Course Dumbledore trusts you," growled Moody. "He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me - I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?"
Snape suddenly seized his left forearm convulsively with his right hand, as though something on it had hurt him.
"Wait a minute," thought Marcus. "Why would Snape grab his left arm like that, especially after Moody's comment? Hold on...people that would have any sort of markings on their left arm would be -?!"
Marcus had to quietly clasp his hands over his mouth to conceal his surprise as Moody laughed.
"Get back to bed, Snape."
"You don't have the authority to send me anywhere!" Snape hissed, letting go of his arm as though angry with himself. "I have as much right to prowl this school after dark as you do!"
"Prowl away," said Moody, but his voice was full of menace. "I look forward to meeting you in a dark corridor some time...You've dropped something, by the way..."
Marcus looked to where Moody was pointing and, to his horror, recognized the parchment lying on the nearby staircase to be the Marauder's Map.
"That's Harry's map!" Marcus thought, enhancing his vision. "That means he's around here somewhere!"
He looked until until he found the aura of Harry, sunken into the staircase with the Invisibility Cloak over him.
"That's quite the predicament he's put himself in," thought Marcus. "And I obviously can't help him, not with all these figures around."
He saw Snape reaching out for the parchment, a horrible expression of dawning comprehension on his face -
"Accio Parchment!"
The map flew up into the air, slipped through Snape's outstreched fingers, and soared down the stairs into Moody's hand.
"My mistake," Moody said calmly "It's mine - must've dropped it earlier -"
He then saw Snape's black eyes darting from a place Marcus couldn't see to the map in Moody's hands, and he seemed to be putting the pieces together.
"Potter," Snape said quietly.
"What's that?" said Moody calmly, folding up the map and pocketing it.
"Potter!" Snape snarled, and he suddenly looked to the staircase, as if he knew exactly where Harry was. "That egg is Potter's egg. That piece of parchment belongs to Potter. I have seen it before, I recognize it! Potter is here! Potter, in his Invisibility Cloak!"
Snape stretched out his hands like a blind man and began to move up the stairs. Marcus saw that he was getting closer until his outstretching hand was merely inches away from Harry -
"There's nothing there, Snape!" barked Moody, "but I'll be happy to tell the headmaster how quickly your mind jumped to Harry Potter!"
"Meaning what?" Snape turned again to look at Moody, his hands still outstretched, still inches away from Harry.
"Meaning that Dumbledore's very interested to know who's got it in for that boy!" said Moody, limping nearer still to the foot of the stairs. "Him and Williams. So am I, for that matter, Snape...very interested..."
The torchlight flickered across his mangled face, so that the scars, and the chunk missing from his nose, looked deeper and darker than ever.
Snape was looking down at Moody, and Marcus could see that he was greatly hesitant. No one did anything for a moment. Eventually, Snape slowly lowered his hands.
"I merely thought," said Snape, in a voice of forced calm, "that if Potter was wandering around after hours again...it's an unfortunate habit of his...Williams as well. They should be stopped. For - for their own safety."
"Ah, I see," said Moody softly. "Got Potter's and Williams' best interests at heart, have you?"
There was a pause. Snape and Moody were still staring at each other. Marcus heard Mrs. Norris giving out a loud meow, which made him realize that Filch must've been in the area he couldn't see.
"I think I will go back to bed," Snape said curtly.
"Best idea you've had all night," said Moody. "Now, Filch, if you'll just give me that egg -"
"No!" said Filch. "Professor Moody, this is evidence of Peeves' treachery!"
"It's the property of the champion he stole it from," said Moody. "Hand it over, now."
Marcus made sure to keep himself absolutely still as he saw Snape sweeping downstairs, passing by Moody without another word. Filch made a chirruping noise to Mrs. Norris, who stared blankly at Harry for a few seconds before turning and following her master. As Snape was whisking away out of sight, Filch handed Moody the egg and disappeard from view too, muttering to Mrs. Norris. "Never mind, my sweet...we'll see Dumbledore in the morning...tell him what Peeves was up to..."
A door slammed. Marcus was left looking between Harry and Moody, who placed his staff on the bottommost stair and started to climb laboriously toward him, a dull clunk on every other step.
"Close shave, Potter," Marcus heard Moody mutter.
"Yeah...I - er...thanks," said Harry weakly.
"What is this thing?" said Moody, drawing the Marauder's Map out of his pocket and unfolding it.
"Map of Hogwarts," said Harry.
"Merlin's beard," Moody whispered, staring at the map, no doubt his magical eye going haywire. "This...this is some map, Potter!"
"Yeah, it's...quite useful," Harry said. His eyes were starting to water. "Er - Professor Moody, d'you think you could help me -?"
"What? Oh! Yes...yes, of course..."
He then looked over in Marcus' direction and said, "Williams, mind giving me a hand?"
Marcus sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get past him, released the Disillusionment Charm and made his way over to them. The both of them grabbed Harry's arms and pulled, Harry's leg becoming free of the trick step, and he climbed onto the one above it. Moody was still gazing at the map.
"How come you're out, Marcus?" Harry asked.
"Oh, you know, midnight stroll, couldn't sleep," said Marcus, not willing to tell him the truth just yet.
"Potter..." Moody said slowly, "you didn't happen, by any chance, to see who broke into Snape's office, did you? On this map, I mean?"
"Er...yeah, I did..." Harry admitted. "It was Mr. Crouch."
While Moody's magical eye whizzed over the entire surface of the map, Marcus looked at Harry with wide eyes.
"Crouch?! Of all people?!" Marcus asked.
"You're - you're sure, Potter?"
Marcus looked at Moody, who suddenly looked alarmed, but for what reason, Marcus didn't know.
"Positive," said Harry.
"Well, he's not here anymore," said Moody, his eye still whizzing over the map. "Crouch...that's very - very interesting..."
Marcus studied Moody's face while the teacher remained silent, still staring at the map. This bit of news Harry revealed meant a great deal to Moody, though the kind of face the teacher was making did not sit well with Marcus. Much of his facial contortion was of focus, but there was also a bit of worry and perhaps an ever-so-slight facet of fear.
"There's nothing for Professor Moody to be afraid of," thought Marcus. "Nevertheless, he's on edge."
"Professor," Marcus said, "Why do you suppose Mr. Crouch would want to look around Snape's office?"
Moody's magical eye left the map and fixed, quivering, upon Marcus. It was a penetrating stare, and Marcus had the distinct impression that Moody was sizing him up, wondering whether to answer or not, or how much to tell him. Marcus kept his determined face, not letting up.
"Put it this way, Williams," Moody muttered finally, "they say old Mad-Eye's obsessed with catching Dark wizards...but I'm nothing - nothing - compared to Barty Crouch."
"That's not anything new," Marcus thought. "At least, not to me. I've heard plenty of stories on Mr. Crouch from Dad."
"Professor Moody," Harry said this time. "D'you think...could this have anything to do with...maybe Mr. Crouch thinks there's something going on..."
"Like what?" said Moody sharply.
"I don't know," Harry muttered, "odd stuff's been happening lately, hasn't it? It's been in the Daily Prophet...the Dark Mark at the World Cup, and the Death Eaters and everything..."
"And with the tournament debacle, as well," stated Marcus. "Perhaps Crouch is trying to dig up any information he can to tie it all together."
Both of Moody's mismatched eyes widened.
"You're sharp boys, all right," he said. His magical eye roved back to the Marauder's Map. "It's just as Williams said, Crouch could be thinking along those lines," he said slowly. "Very possible...there have been some funny rumors flying around lately - helped along by Rita Skeeter, of course. It's making a lot of people nervous, I reckon." A grim smile twisted his lopsided mouth. "Oh if there's one thing I hate," he muttered, more to himself than to them, and his magical eye was fixed on the left-hand corner of the map, "it's a Death Eater who walked free..."
This statement made Marcus' eyes narrow dangerously. There was no doubt in Marcus' mind that there was more behind that statement than what could be revealed on the surface and he made a mental note to investigate this later.
"And now I want to ask you a question, Potter," said Moody in a more businesslike tone.
Marcus' heart dropped. It was most definitely going to be about the Marauder's Map, which was in itself a dubious object, as was the story of how it fell into Harry's hands. That map incriminated not only Harry, but their fathers, Fred and George Weasley, and Uncle Remus, their last Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Moody waved the map in front of Harry -
"Can I borrow this?"
"Oh!" said Harry. "Yeah, okay."
"Good boy," growled Moody. "I can make good use of this...this might be exactly what I've been looking for...Right, bed, boys, come on, now..."
They climbed to the top of the stairs together, Moody still examining the map as though it was a treasure the like of which he had never seen before. They walked in silence to the door of Moody's office, where he stopped and looked up at Harry and Marcus.
"You ever thought of a career as Aurors, boys?"
"Can't think of anything else I'd want to do," Marcus stated with confidence.
"No," said Harry, who sounded taken aback.
"You want to consider it, Potter," said Moody, nodding and looking at Harry thoughtfully. "Yes, indeed...and incidentally...I'm guessing you two weren't just out on a nighttime stroll, right?"
"You could say that," said Marcus, slightly smirking.
"Er - no," said Harry, grinning. "I've been working out the clue."
Moody winked at them, his magical eye going haywire again.
"Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas, Potter...See you two in the morning, boys..."
He went back into his office, staring down at the Marauder's Map again, and closed the door behind him.
Marcus and Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower in silence. Tonight had proven to be a treasure trove of information and mystery. Between the sudden appearance of Mr. Crouch on the Marauder's Map despite his frequent no-shows and Snape's consistent suspicious activity around Professor Moody, they only seemed to make things more confusing. However, it was Professor Moody that weighed heaviest on his mind. The man was already laden with his own set of mysteries, but what disturbed him the most was the teacher's subtle actions. For someone who was supposed to be innocent in all of this, his subtle actions certainly didn't come across that way.
Even when he was laying on his four-poster bed ten minutes later, ensuring Twink's comfortable position on his bed, he wondered just what other mysteries Professor Moody was concealing...
And this concludes this chapter of HP: The Path of Trials! Please feel free to leave a review, as they will improve on my skills as a writer! Also, if you have any questions you'd like to ask me, feel free to leave me a PM and, I promise, I will answer your question(s) to the best of my ability. Otherwise, keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter of HP: The Path of Trials!
