Chapter 7: The Discovery
Harry's body was numb with pain. He was sprawled across the floor. Feeling like a hot iron had been tangled in his insides, he got up. His view was blurred and he noticed that his glasses had fallen off. Feeling extremely betrayed and like a tonne of bricks had fallen on him from a great height, he began to search for his glasses. He couldn't see a thing though, it was incredibly dark and his vision was even more blurred than usual at having hit his head on the cold hard floor as he landed. He felt around but a deafening sound filled his ears. It was only the sound of his glasses cracking, followed by a low heavy grunt, but when you need them to see, especially at night, it isn't the best thing that could happen.
"Who's there?" Harry asked quickly. It was bad enough that he was alone in the dark, but the fact that he couldn't see properly and that whoever was out there had just trodden on his glasses, made him fell very vulnerable. There was no reply but Harry heard a ruffling noise, which he soon guessed to be the mystery person leaving hastily. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw long black robes flapping in the wind. It was a man but who it was, Harry had no idea. He decided to get on all fours and search for his glasses in the hope of being able to fix them with a simple spell. Anything was worth a try. He finally found them, dug into his robes for his wand, took it out and said,
"Oculus repairo." It had worked. He put his glasses back on, and made his way back to the Gryffindor common room, where Hermione and Ron had given up on chess and were just sitting by the blazing and inviting looking fire, talking.
"Finally, we were starting to get really worried. Oh my god!" A look of complete horror filled Ron's face. "I'm starting to sound like my mum." Harry would have laughed, only his entire body ached so badly and worst of all, he'd just experienced one of the Unforgivable Curses set upon him by a friend, and his face obviously demonstrated this.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"Er, I-I don't think, your going to believe this." He stammered.
"What? What is it?" Ron said as though the suspense was killing him.
"Well, I was sitting on a step and I saw Cho. And then she, er, came over and she…"
"Yes?"
"She performed the Cruciatus curse on me."
"WHAT?" Ron blurted out
"She can't have." Hermione added.
"I know, you don't think I've been all through this in my head." Harry replied.
"Harry, was there anything strange that you noticed in the way that Cho was acting? Anything different?" Hermione asked nervously. Harry thought about how her eyes looked different. Should he tell them this though or would Ron tease him for noticing her eyes so much and tell him that he still really liked her? Did he still really like her? He hesitated and then added,
"Well, she seemed a lot sterner than she normally is. Her voice had a more bitter tone to it, and her eyes were quite wide too." Harry said. Hermione's eyes instantly went wider.
"Yeah that's it, just like that." Harry added, but Hermione had turned quickly and was half way up the spiral staircase leading to the girl's dormitories. Ron glanced at Harry with a confused look filling his face, which made Harry feel glad that he wasn't the only one that didn't understand! But less than 30 seconds later, Hermione returned looking completely flushed, carry her trade mark pile of books.
"Now what are you doing?" Ron moaned.
"Sssshhhhh." Hermione snapped, "I think I remember reading something…" she trailed off. Ron rolled his eyes at Harry who shrugged back.
"Yes! Here, look." She held up her book titled 'The Bewildered and The Bewitched By Mildred Muddle' which Harry remembered seeing her reading at the beginning of the year in the Great Hall. She passed them the book and they read:
'Strange though it may seem, there are actually only a few simple features that may occur when a person's mind has been bewitched. These consist of:
A dazed look in the eyes
Eyes that appear wider than normal and
In some severe cases, obsessive rolling of the eyes.
Harry looked up, Hermione looked worried and Ron was simply silent. No-one spoke and Harry re-read the passage not sure if he could take it all in.
"Are you trying to say that someone's bewitching Cho's mind?" Ron said breaking the silence.
"Well, as much as I hate to admit it, yes. It would explain a lot of things though. Controlling the Snitch, performing the curse on Harry, having to hurry off all the time. We never see her lately either." Hermione said.
"But, but who would be bewitching her mind?" Harry asked, half guessing what the answer would be.
"I don't know." Hermione replied trying to think desperately. Harry and Ron exchanged dark looks and both knew that the other was thinking the same thing.
Harry's body was numb with pain. He was sprawled across the floor. Feeling like a hot iron had been tangled in his insides, he got up. His view was blurred and he noticed that his glasses had fallen off. Feeling extremely betrayed and like a tonne of bricks had fallen on him from a great height, he began to search for his glasses. He couldn't see a thing though, it was incredibly dark and his vision was even more blurred than usual at having hit his head on the cold hard floor as he landed. He felt around but a deafening sound filled his ears. It was only the sound of his glasses cracking, followed by a low heavy grunt, but when you need them to see, especially at night, it isn't the best thing that could happen.
"Who's there?" Harry asked quickly. It was bad enough that he was alone in the dark, but the fact that he couldn't see properly and that whoever was out there had just trodden on his glasses, made him fell very vulnerable. There was no reply but Harry heard a ruffling noise, which he soon guessed to be the mystery person leaving hastily. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw long black robes flapping in the wind. It was a man but who it was, Harry had no idea. He decided to get on all fours and search for his glasses in the hope of being able to fix them with a simple spell. Anything was worth a try. He finally found them, dug into his robes for his wand, took it out and said,
"Oculus repairo." It had worked. He put his glasses back on, and made his way back to the Gryffindor common room, where Hermione and Ron had given up on chess and were just sitting by the blazing and inviting looking fire, talking.
"Finally, we were starting to get really worried. Oh my god!" A look of complete horror filled Ron's face. "I'm starting to sound like my mum." Harry would have laughed, only his entire body ached so badly and worst of all, he'd just experienced one of the Unforgivable Curses set upon him by a friend, and his face obviously demonstrated this.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"Er, I-I don't think, your going to believe this." He stammered.
"What? What is it?" Ron said as though the suspense was killing him.
"Well, I was sitting on a step and I saw Cho. And then she, er, came over and she…"
"Yes?"
"She performed the Cruciatus curse on me."
"WHAT?" Ron blurted out
"She can't have." Hermione added.
"I know, you don't think I've been all through this in my head." Harry replied.
"Harry, was there anything strange that you noticed in the way that Cho was acting? Anything different?" Hermione asked nervously. Harry thought about how her eyes looked different. Should he tell them this though or would Ron tease him for noticing her eyes so much and tell him that he still really liked her? Did he still really like her? He hesitated and then added,
"Well, she seemed a lot sterner than she normally is. Her voice had a more bitter tone to it, and her eyes were quite wide too." Harry said. Hermione's eyes instantly went wider.
"Yeah that's it, just like that." Harry added, but Hermione had turned quickly and was half way up the spiral staircase leading to the girl's dormitories. Ron glanced at Harry with a confused look filling his face, which made Harry feel glad that he wasn't the only one that didn't understand! But less than 30 seconds later, Hermione returned looking completely flushed, carry her trade mark pile of books.
"Now what are you doing?" Ron moaned.
"Sssshhhhh." Hermione snapped, "I think I remember reading something…" she trailed off. Ron rolled his eyes at Harry who shrugged back.
"Yes! Here, look." She held up her book titled 'The Bewildered and The Bewitched By Mildred Muddle' which Harry remembered seeing her reading at the beginning of the year in the Great Hall. She passed them the book and they read:
'Strange though it may seem, there are actually only a few simple features that may occur when a person's mind has been bewitched. These consist of:
A dazed look in the eyes
Eyes that appear wider than normal and
In some severe cases, obsessive rolling of the eyes.
Harry looked up, Hermione looked worried and Ron was simply silent. No-one spoke and Harry re-read the passage not sure if he could take it all in.
"Are you trying to say that someone's bewitching Cho's mind?" Ron said breaking the silence.
"Well, as much as I hate to admit it, yes. It would explain a lot of things though. Controlling the Snitch, performing the curse on Harry, having to hurry off all the time. We never see her lately either." Hermione said.
"But, but who would be bewitching her mind?" Harry asked, half guessing what the answer would be.
"I don't know." Hermione replied trying to think desperately. Harry and Ron exchanged dark looks and both knew that the other was thinking the same thing.