Aha!

Harry woke up very early. It was just dawning and Lil slept soundly. Harry didn't feel any pain, rose up, and tried to stand. There was no problem, he could stand upon his foot again with all the weight of his body. He sat down on a chair at the table and put on his shoes. Then he thought he wouldn't have to wake Lil, he might just write a short note for her that he's feeling a lot better, and then he could vanish before Ron would knock on the door. Lil's stationary was laying on the table and he pulled the parchments towards him. He only needed a piece of empty parchment to tear off. His glance fell on the written words. Spells. Quite usual. Or not? Wait a moment – these were all spells for beginners. Even the most simple charms, already known by many students before enrollment, had been written down and explained. Then again formulas for advanced students, everything topsy-turvy. He looked at the books on the table: What is Magic?, The Magical World: An Introduction for Muggle Parents of Witches and Wizards, The History of Hogwarts and How You Can Hide You Are a Squib. Harry was puzzled and stared at the things on the table with his mouth open.

Muggle Parents, Squibs? Of what use were these books for a witch in traineeship? And why had she written down spells even a Squib would know off backwards? Hastily he looked through the other parchments – all were filled with the same hotchpotch of spells. Suddenly Lil turned towards him; the rustle of the parchments had woken her and made it perfectly clear where she was, so today she could see the room right away.

She looked at Harry with sleepy eyes. "Hi, how are you?" she asked.

"My ankle is o.k., if it's that what you mean. I'm just quite ruffled. Lil, are you a Muggle?"

He had asked the question very quietly but there had been a shiver in his voice. Lil set up, looked at Harry sternly, and kept silent. Harry stood aghast and watched Lil disbelievingly.

"So I'm right, yes? How did you come here?"

"With the Hogwarts Express, as you know."

"That's not what I meant. How could you enter the school building?"

"What can I say? It just worked."

"How did you manage it all right with the teachers?"

"I'm not allowed to tell you about it."

"So, Ene is also a Muggle and you never attened this school in the Hindukush?"

"I don't even know if there is any school for wizardry."

"You were lying all the time?"

"No, but I didn't tell the truth continuously. What else should I do?"

"Now, come on, what other lies did you tell?"

"What do you want? You mean something in peculiar?"

"Oh, for example, when you told me, you like me – was that a lie, too?"

"No, that was an understatement at the most."

Harry stopped. "Understatement?" he asked after a pause. "What does that mean?"

Lil didn't manage to answer because steps could be heard in the hallway. Then a timid knock on the door, and Ron asked: "Awake already? Let me in!"

Harry unlocked the door and let Ron enter.

Ron was amazed: "Wow, you feel a whole lot better, don't you? Still wanna go to the hospital wing?"

"Yes," Harry said sourly, "I like that better. Some things are really fishy here."

The two guys left the room and Lil let herself sink down on her pillow – but she couldn't fall asleep again.

When Lil was almost ready to go for breakfast, it knocked again on her door. She opened.

Harry stood in front of her and only said: "I have to talk with you. Now."

Lil let him enter, sat down, and started to pin up her hair.

"Take a seat," she offered to Harry, but he just declined.

"No, thanks, I'm a little nervous, you know? Now, spit it out: What are two Muggles up to here in Hogwarts and how could you get the teachers round to agree to this?"

Lil moaned. "Harry, really, I'm not permitted to tell you anything about it, I had to promise. Go to the teachers and tell them, or ask them what you wanna know, but I'm duty-bound to secrecy."

Harry thought about it for a while, now and again he ran his hands wildly through his hair; he breathed haltingly.

"No, not so fast!" he spat out. "I can neither make head nor tail of it now, and as long as I'm still groping in the dark I'm not going to spread it abroad. Who knows what's at the bottom of it. And you're not willing to shed light upon this matter."

Lil looked at him entreatingly. "Harry, please! I promised. Would you think better of me if I'd send a given promise down the drain?"

Now Harry was tearing his hair and walked to and fro. "Damn, I can't think of anything! It's driving me crazy! Too much is happening. You could be here by special order, good or bad. Maybe even the Ministry of Magic has sent you as spys, who knows? They come to the most strange decisions, there. On the other hand you could be a real danger for the whole school. If only I knew..."

Lil had stood up and seized his shoulder. "Harry, we're definitely no danger for the school, this is something I should be allowed to tell you. Don't rack your brains about it. Ene and me, we're totally harmless, trust me."

Harry shook his head. "Often enough I misjudged people here. Sirius, Peter Pettigrew, and so on. Before I reach a decision concerning Ene and you; I want to think it all over intensely. I'll keep the secret for the moment but I don't feel comfortable with it. When I notice something odd with you and Ene which might prove menacing, you're up against the wall. Get me?"

Lil nodded. Harry nodded, too, and then went out without another word.

Soon behind, Ene went in. "What monster had bitten Harry? He didn't even say ‚Good Morning'."

Lil blew out breath from the depths of her lungs: "He found out we're Muggles."