Harry and Sirius talked for nearly an hour. Harry, who was very happy
to finally be able to speak to his godfather alone, told him all about his
summer with the Dursleys, Percy's wedding, and classes. As he spoke, he
noticed that Sirius looked very well--much better than he had last year. He wasn't as gaunt, and he seemed happier. But then, Harry thought, this
year Sirius wasn't living in a cave and eating rats.
Sirius, in turn, told Harry that Dumbledore was working with Mrs. Figg
and Professor Lupin to try to find out where Voldemort was and what he
was doing.
"Dumbledore's got me taking messages to Remus for him. Owl post is
usually reliable, but ... there are some communications he'd rather not
send by owl. So I deliver them personally."
"Have you found out anything?" Harry asked.
Sirius shook his head. "Not a word. And Remus has contacts--being a
werewolf does make it easy to infiltrate certain circles. But he's found
out nothing."
Sirius stood up and began to pace back and forth in front of Professor
Green's desk. "You know, this might be even worse than knowing
something terrible is going to happen--this not knowing what to expect."
Harry agreed. The silence was unnerving.
Finally, Harry left Sirius, went down to the Great Hall for a quick
breakfast, and then back up to Gryffindor Tower to change for Divination
class.
The week passed quickly. Harry filled Ron and Hermione in on his
discussion with Sirius, but they were all so busy with classes and, in
Harry and Ron's case, Quidditch practice, that they barely had time to
discuss Voldemort.
On Friday, Harry noticed that the Slytherins arrived to Potions class on time. Unfortunately, however, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle slipped into class just before the bell rang and were forced to take the only available seats -right behind Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
Snape explained the proper way
to brew a Mind-Blocking Potion--"an effective defense against mind
reading Dark wizards". (Harry noted that almost all of his classes this
year focused on defending oneself against Dark magic.) As soon as Snape
finished speaking and began prowling about from desk to desk, Malfoy
started to grumble.
"--didn't even listen!"
"And you told him about the note and all?" Goyle grunted.
"Yes, of course I did, you moron! He didn't care! 'Professor Green has
been trained to identify deception, Malfoy.'" Malfoy paused and began
chopping his ginger root fiercely. "I had to do my detention last night,
feeding that stupid Streeler of Hagrid's. Disgusting thing. Stepped in its
slime trail and accidentally ruined my new shoes!"
Ron snickered. Harry and Hermione tried to stifle their laughter, but
Malfoy could see them tittering.
"Of course you think it's funny, Weasley," Malfoy fumed quietly. They didn't look back at him. He paused for a moment, and when he spoke
next, his voice had regained its usual infuriating smugness. "You like that
idiot witch and her smelly dog, don't you? I bet it's a huge step up for the
Weasleys--to be related to a family as well-respected as the
Clearwaters." So Malfoy had heard about Percy's wedding, and knew that
Penelope was Professor Green's sister. He continued, "but if it were me,
I'd be mortified. She was married to an Envoy, imagine! I'd rather
die than be related to a Mudblood-loving fool like tha--"
"MALFOY!" a voice roared behind them. Malfoy had been so carried away
insulting Ron and Professor Green that he hadn't heard Snape walk up
behind him, Crabbe, and Goyle.
"Sir?"
Harry noted with satisfaction that Malfoy's voice now had a distinctive
tremble to it. He listened intently, though he didn't dare turn around.
"I will not have you speaking that way about your teachers in this
class! Ten points from Slytherin!" hissed Snape, infuriated.
Everyone in the class immediately stopped what they were doing. Whispers ceased in mid-syllable; knives were suddenly rendered immobile
in mid-chop. Everyone, even Harry, Ron, and Hermione, turned and looked
at Snape. Never in the duration of their academic careers at Hogwarts had
any of them witnessed Snape taking points from his own house.
Malfoy was speechless, and even paler than usual. "S-sir?" he
sputtered feebly.
"You heard me, Malfoy!" Snape's voice was lowered almost to a
whisper, but the classroom was now so quiet that everyone heard him
clearly. He leaned closer to Malfoy. "I will not tolerate that kind of
disrespect towards faculty members at this school. Not even from you. If
I ever hear you speaking that way about a teacher again, I will ensure that
you receive detention. Is that clear?"
Malfoy just nodded, speechless.
Snape looked up at the classroom full of gaping students. At once, they
made concerted efforts to look as busy as possible, so as to avoid Snape's
wrath themselves.
But Snape punished no one else for the remainder of the class period. Granted, the class was unusually well-behaved after his outburst at
Malfoy. But, as Ron noted while they made their way up the dungeon
stairs, good behavior had never prevented Snape taking points away before.
"And what was all that about disrespecting teachers?" Ron added. "Doesn't he remember Lupin? When he substituted for him, all Snape
talked about was how bad a teacher he was."
"Maybe it's Malfoy," Harry answered. "You remember at the end of last
term, when I mentioned Lucius Malfoy's name as one of the Death Eaters? Snape was surprised. Maybe he doesn't like Malfoy anymore now that he
knows his dad's a Death Eater."
"Hmmm." Hermione didn't look convinced. "Malfoy was saying
something about Professor Green, wasn't he?"
"So?" Ron shrugged.
"Haven't you ever noticed," she said quietly, looking around, "that
Snape acts kind of--differently--around her?"
Harry and Ron exchanged puzzled looks. Harry remembered the night of
the feast, and how Snape had looked away when Professor Green had
looked at him.
"Well, she's an Auror, isn't she? I reckon he's afraid of her, just like
he was of Mad-Eye Moody."
Hermione shook her head. "Don't you ever notice them talking in the
corridors? He doesn't usually talk to anyone, does he?"
Ron appeared to take her meaning, then become incredibly nauseous. "What--are you saying--you think he--likes her, or something?"
Hermione just shrugged, smiling. "How should I know? But it is
suspicious, isn't it?"
"Hermione!" Ron cried so loudly that Hermione had to shush him. "Please! I don't want to lose my lunch, after all."
All three of them laughed.
They had reached the top of the stairs and were about to cross the
entrance hall, when they noticed a crowd gathered in front of the doors to
the Great Hall. Because Harry was rather shorter than average, he had a
difficult time seeing, but it sounded like--
"A fight!" Ron exclaimed.
Hermione frowned, and instantly cut a path to the center of the crowd. The students parted to let her through, and Harry could see a girl, who he
recognized from the night of the Sorting as a Slytherin first-year,
standing next to two Gryffindor second-years. Three wands lay on the
floor, along with books, strands of hair, and pieces torn from the left arm
of the first-year girl's dress robes.
"She started it!" one of the Gryffindor girls shouted at Hermione as she
approached. The first-year was bleeding from a cut just below her left
eye.
"I did not!" The first-year scowled, though she was on the verge of
tears. "They attacked me!"
"Don't try to play innocent, you slimy Slytherin," snarled the other
Gryffindor girl.
Harry was taken aback; he had never seen a fight in the corridors at
school, not even in his second year, when tensions against Slytherin House
ran at an all-time high because nearly the entire school had blamed
Slytherin House for the basilisk attacks.
"Come on, let's go, all of you," Hermione ordered the three girls. They
followed her up the stairs and, Harry supposed, to the hospital wing.
"Probably deserved it," muttered a Ravenclaw third-year on Harry's
left.
Harry and Ron walked past the crowd and up to the Gryffindor common
room.
