Chapter 19
A Discovery
With 2 days left till Christmas, teachers were already getting names from people who were staying for Christmas. Of course, Harry signed up at once, returning to Private Drive would be such a pain. Hermione and Ron decided to stay too. Scientists already moved their equipment to the Potion's classroom, which left the rest of the castle free. Kids chatted happily, for they were very glad they were back in the castle, not cooped up in cabins outside. Harry, Hermione, and Ron haven't heard from Malfoy or his cousin Ivy for a while, till this morning. Draco was boasting on how his father's taking him and Ivy on a trip to Hawaii. It annoyed Ron so much; Ron almost flung his plate full of bacon and sausages at him. But Hermione and Harry stopped him in time. Later that day, Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat in the common room in front of the roaring fire. As much as they were glad to be back, they still had the Crystal in mind. They have continuously argued on whether to tell the scientists about the Crystal or not. It was mainly a fight between Ron and Hermione. "I thought you guys like each other"? Harry exclaimed, trying to break up the fight. "Me? Like Him? You've got to be joking"! Hermione said in disgust. "Why would I like HER? When there are OTHER better-looking girls at Hogwarts. Even if I do like her, which I don't, I would never like a girl with too much of a brain then her-", Ron was cut off by Hermione. "At least I have a brain, unlike you"! Hermione spat out. Ron's face flushed with anger. He slammed his fist on the table and stormed up to his room without another word. Harry and Hermione could hear Ron slam the door. Hermione sighed deeply and covered her face with her hands. "Hermione", Harry did not know what to say. "You okay"? "He's just so.so complicated"! Hermione said while looking up. "If he wasn't so stubborn about everything. He just doesn't get it does he"? "Ron's just being himself, there's nothing we can change", Harry said. "He's always saying the exact opposite of what I say. It's so annoying"! "You guys just need to cool down", Harry suggested. "I don't need cooling down, HE does", Hermione glared at the boy's dorm. "Anyways, about the Crystal. What do you think we should do? I really want to tell the scientist, at least give them a tiny hint. But Mr. I-don't- agree-on-anything doesn't want to". "Let's just talk about this later. We got Charms right now", Harry said looking at his watch. Harry and Hermione agreed to meet each other in Charms. Harry quickly went up to the boy's dorm and knocked, for the door was locked. Ron must have locked it, Harry thought. Ron opened the door, still red with anger. "What"? Ron mumbled. "We have Charms, we better get going", Harry explained. They grabbed their bags and stuffed their Charm's textbooks and wand in it, then rushed off towards Charms. When they got there, Hermione was already standing near the doorway waiting for them. Ron and Hermione were glaring at each other, but gave each other a nod instead of saying "hi". As always, whenever Ron and Hermione were mad at each other, Harry sat in the middle, with Ron and Hermione on either side of him. They learned a spell, which can conjure up fire darts whenever they needed them. As soon as you shoot the darts at someone, that person will become the dart's target forever, until the dart gets him or her. The dart mean while will shoot large fireballs at its target. After class, they set off towards lunch. Hermione and Ron hardly touched their food, for they were sitting across from each other, and was still glaring. Harry sighed knowing nothing he does, will stop Hermione and Ron's argument. Harry glanced at the Ravenclaw table seeing Cho Chang and her friend's laugh at something, a 7th year guy said. Harry felt himself blush as he watched Cho laugh. How he wished he were there right now. "Harry.Harry, HARRY"! Harry turned around noticed both Ron and Hermione staring at him. "We were calling your name, didn't you hear us"? Ron said. "Are you feeling okay"? Hermione asked. "Yeah, I'm feeling fine. So, what were you guys saying"? Harry asked, trying to change the subject. Hermione didn't seem too convinced but told Harry what they were talking about. "What do you think we should do about the Crystal"? She said lowering a voice a bit. "I seriously think we should give the scientists a hint or something". "Aren't scientists supposed to be smart"? Ron asked. Hermione and Harry nodded. "Then let them figure it out on their own", Ron muttered. After 15 minutes of talking, the three decided to go check out the Crystal themselves, and see how far the scientists have gotten so far. They finished their lunch quickly and headed towards the Potion's room. As they arrive, they see loads of scientists running around with all sorts of equipment, diagrams and charts in their hands, muttering to themselves as they studied it. There was one extremely tall scientist, who had a large book in his hand, reading, and taking down notes. Hermione got very excited as soon as she saw the book. They continued looking around until someone called their name. "Harry, Ron, Hermione"! The three turned around seeing Tim Becker and two other scientists. One short and fat, with hardly any hair, and one very skinny with brown hair flopped all over the place. They both had small spectacles, and were talking very fast in another language. "What brings you here"? Tim asked. "Oh, we were just looking around", Hermione said. "Did you find anything else about the Crystal"? "Nothing yet.I would show you the dug out place, but I can't. It's a mess, and there are large instruments all over the place, it's very dangerous". "We'll be very careful"! Hermione said. "Nope, sorry I can't", Tim said. "Hey Tim, take a look at this diagram, what do you think"? A man with spiked up long hair came running towards Tim, shoving the diagram under his nose. "Oh sorry you three, I'll talk to you guys some other time", Tim said hurrying away with the scientist, talking very quietly about the diagram. Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked away knowing that was no use. So far, the scientists had no clue about the key or the chest. They were supposed to be at Potion's right now, but Potion's class was cancelled, so kids got the period off. Gryffindor's and Slytherin's were running around everywhere, discussing their homework or talking about Quidditch. "I'm going to the library to see if I can find anything else about the Crystal", Hermione said while swinging her bag over her shoulder, she gave the two boys a quick bye and left. Ron and Harry went up to their common rooms with nothing to do. Fred and George left a game of Wizard chess out, so Ron and Harry started to play. "Knight to A4", Ron said smirking. Harry studied the game hard, not knowing what to do next; he finally realized something he never thought about before. A lot of things Hermione have said lately, all came true. He told this to Ron, who just snorted and laughed. "It's not that funny", Harry mumbled. "Oh come on! It's just a coincidence that Hermione said those stuff and they actually happened. We don't need another Professor Trewlawney predicting your death now do we Harry"? Ron laughed. "Well, let's just talk to Hermione. Maybe she's noticed it to", Harry suggested. Ron agreed to ask. Harry and Ron left the common room again and went to the library. Only stopping when Harry accidentally bumped into Ginny, who just blushed and walked away. They found Hermione at the back of the library looking at the restricted section. "Hermione", Ron said out of breath. Hermione turned around startled. "Hermione, we HAVE to talk to you", Harry said. "About you"! Ron butted in. "What about me? I'm perfectly fine"! Hermione exclaimed. "Just come with us", Harry said. They went over to one of the tables and sat down. Having Hermione sit across from them. "We.well, I noticed some strange things", Harry explained. Hermione gave them a confused look. "What kind of strange things"? "Well, don't you notice that everything you say actually came true"? Ron asked. "Give me an example"! Hermione said, unconvinced. "Didn't you say that you had a feeling that we were going to get caught? You know, when we went to Knockturn Alley. And we did get caught, by Snape"! Harry said. "That was just a coincidence, besides, he saw us leaving didn't he"? Hermione said. "What do you feel right now"? Harry asked. "What"? Hermione said still confused. "Very confused, listen, whatever you guys are trying to pull, it's not working. I want to go find some books about the Crystal". "No, Hermione listen! Tell me, what do you think is going to happen next"? Harry repeated himself angrily again. "I think that I'm going to go over to the shelves and look for more books", Hermione said. "HERMIONE, JUST TELL ME"! Harry yelled. Hermione sighed and said "fine". "I have a feeling.that.Neville's going to come running in. He will have his arms full of books, and he's going to crash into one of the shelves. Madame Pince is going to get very angry at him, and demand that he cleans the mess up, and forbids him to sign out any more books", Hermione said, after thinking for a while. "Thank you, now, we'll see if it actually happens", Harry said. "Can I just go look for-"? "NO! Your going to stay here and watch for yourself, what you just said is going to happen". Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat there, staring blankly at the entrance to the library. Finally, they heard someone struggle to walk. Seeing that it's Neville, Harry and Ron got excited. Neville did exactly what Hermione said he would do, and Madame Pince forbid Neville to sign out any more books. Ron, wide-eyed, looked at Hermione, while Hermione just shrugged. "That was just nonsense! I'm leaving"! Hermione said standing up and walked away. But Harry was too fast and caught her as soon as they were outside of the library. "I'm going to take you to Professor Trewlawney, I don't care how much you hate her, we all hate her. I want to see if she can see anything about you. It's obvious you have some sort of power", Harry said. "There is no way am I going to the Divination asking that freak for help", Hermione muttered while shaking her head. "Hermione, just for 5 minutes, please"? Ron finally spoke up. Hermione gave them both a glaring look, but it faded away for she finally gave up. They walked to Divination, which took forever again. Finally, reaching their destination, they entered the classroom seeing Professor Trewlawney in her seat looking into her Crystal ball. "I see you three are troubled, now what is-", Professor Trewlawney stopped herself short as soon as she saw Hermione. She gave her a nasty look, which Hermione returned. "This is stupid, I'm leaving", Hermione said climbing back down, but Harry and Ron caught her by her arm and pulled her back up. "Professor Trewlawney, we need to ask you about something", Harry said, while Professor Trewlawney plainly just nodded. "Well, we were wonderin-", Harry was cut off for Professor Trewlawney, who was looking at Hermione, gave out a short gasp. "What"? Hermione asked. "I can tell.you hold.some powers. I can feel it, it's around you", Professor Trewlawney said. "Tell me what your thinking". "I think this stuff is all rubbish, it's a joke"! Hermione said shrilly. Professor Trewlawney repeated her question again. Leaving Hermione no choice, but to answer. Hermione starred at the ceiling and finally, after 3 minutes, she answered. "Neville's on his way up here to get extra help on his homework". Professor Trewlawney nodded, paying close attention to the entrance to the classroom. Next second, Neville is wheezing as he climbed up the steps and enters. "I need help on my homework Professor, I don't understand a thing about this stuff", Neville said, out of breath. Professor Trewlawney nodded and told Neville to wait outside. "Hermione"? Professor Trewlawney said looking at Hermione with admiration. Hermione just starred back with a bored look in her eyes. "You're psychic".
With 2 days left till Christmas, teachers were already getting names from people who were staying for Christmas. Of course, Harry signed up at once, returning to Private Drive would be such a pain. Hermione and Ron decided to stay too. Scientists already moved their equipment to the Potion's classroom, which left the rest of the castle free. Kids chatted happily, for they were very glad they were back in the castle, not cooped up in cabins outside. Harry, Hermione, and Ron haven't heard from Malfoy or his cousin Ivy for a while, till this morning. Draco was boasting on how his father's taking him and Ivy on a trip to Hawaii. It annoyed Ron so much; Ron almost flung his plate full of bacon and sausages at him. But Hermione and Harry stopped him in time. Later that day, Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat in the common room in front of the roaring fire. As much as they were glad to be back, they still had the Crystal in mind. They have continuously argued on whether to tell the scientists about the Crystal or not. It was mainly a fight between Ron and Hermione. "I thought you guys like each other"? Harry exclaimed, trying to break up the fight. "Me? Like Him? You've got to be joking"! Hermione said in disgust. "Why would I like HER? When there are OTHER better-looking girls at Hogwarts. Even if I do like her, which I don't, I would never like a girl with too much of a brain then her-", Ron was cut off by Hermione. "At least I have a brain, unlike you"! Hermione spat out. Ron's face flushed with anger. He slammed his fist on the table and stormed up to his room without another word. Harry and Hermione could hear Ron slam the door. Hermione sighed deeply and covered her face with her hands. "Hermione", Harry did not know what to say. "You okay"? "He's just so.so complicated"! Hermione said while looking up. "If he wasn't so stubborn about everything. He just doesn't get it does he"? "Ron's just being himself, there's nothing we can change", Harry said. "He's always saying the exact opposite of what I say. It's so annoying"! "You guys just need to cool down", Harry suggested. "I don't need cooling down, HE does", Hermione glared at the boy's dorm. "Anyways, about the Crystal. What do you think we should do? I really want to tell the scientist, at least give them a tiny hint. But Mr. I-don't- agree-on-anything doesn't want to". "Let's just talk about this later. We got Charms right now", Harry said looking at his watch. Harry and Hermione agreed to meet each other in Charms. Harry quickly went up to the boy's dorm and knocked, for the door was locked. Ron must have locked it, Harry thought. Ron opened the door, still red with anger. "What"? Ron mumbled. "We have Charms, we better get going", Harry explained. They grabbed their bags and stuffed their Charm's textbooks and wand in it, then rushed off towards Charms. When they got there, Hermione was already standing near the doorway waiting for them. Ron and Hermione were glaring at each other, but gave each other a nod instead of saying "hi". As always, whenever Ron and Hermione were mad at each other, Harry sat in the middle, with Ron and Hermione on either side of him. They learned a spell, which can conjure up fire darts whenever they needed them. As soon as you shoot the darts at someone, that person will become the dart's target forever, until the dart gets him or her. The dart mean while will shoot large fireballs at its target. After class, they set off towards lunch. Hermione and Ron hardly touched their food, for they were sitting across from each other, and was still glaring. Harry sighed knowing nothing he does, will stop Hermione and Ron's argument. Harry glanced at the Ravenclaw table seeing Cho Chang and her friend's laugh at something, a 7th year guy said. Harry felt himself blush as he watched Cho laugh. How he wished he were there right now. "Harry.Harry, HARRY"! Harry turned around noticed both Ron and Hermione staring at him. "We were calling your name, didn't you hear us"? Ron said. "Are you feeling okay"? Hermione asked. "Yeah, I'm feeling fine. So, what were you guys saying"? Harry asked, trying to change the subject. Hermione didn't seem too convinced but told Harry what they were talking about. "What do you think we should do about the Crystal"? She said lowering a voice a bit. "I seriously think we should give the scientists a hint or something". "Aren't scientists supposed to be smart"? Ron asked. Hermione and Harry nodded. "Then let them figure it out on their own", Ron muttered. After 15 minutes of talking, the three decided to go check out the Crystal themselves, and see how far the scientists have gotten so far. They finished their lunch quickly and headed towards the Potion's room. As they arrive, they see loads of scientists running around with all sorts of equipment, diagrams and charts in their hands, muttering to themselves as they studied it. There was one extremely tall scientist, who had a large book in his hand, reading, and taking down notes. Hermione got very excited as soon as she saw the book. They continued looking around until someone called their name. "Harry, Ron, Hermione"! The three turned around seeing Tim Becker and two other scientists. One short and fat, with hardly any hair, and one very skinny with brown hair flopped all over the place. They both had small spectacles, and were talking very fast in another language. "What brings you here"? Tim asked. "Oh, we were just looking around", Hermione said. "Did you find anything else about the Crystal"? "Nothing yet.I would show you the dug out place, but I can't. It's a mess, and there are large instruments all over the place, it's very dangerous". "We'll be very careful"! Hermione said. "Nope, sorry I can't", Tim said. "Hey Tim, take a look at this diagram, what do you think"? A man with spiked up long hair came running towards Tim, shoving the diagram under his nose. "Oh sorry you three, I'll talk to you guys some other time", Tim said hurrying away with the scientist, talking very quietly about the diagram. Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked away knowing that was no use. So far, the scientists had no clue about the key or the chest. They were supposed to be at Potion's right now, but Potion's class was cancelled, so kids got the period off. Gryffindor's and Slytherin's were running around everywhere, discussing their homework or talking about Quidditch. "I'm going to the library to see if I can find anything else about the Crystal", Hermione said while swinging her bag over her shoulder, she gave the two boys a quick bye and left. Ron and Harry went up to their common rooms with nothing to do. Fred and George left a game of Wizard chess out, so Ron and Harry started to play. "Knight to A4", Ron said smirking. Harry studied the game hard, not knowing what to do next; he finally realized something he never thought about before. A lot of things Hermione have said lately, all came true. He told this to Ron, who just snorted and laughed. "It's not that funny", Harry mumbled. "Oh come on! It's just a coincidence that Hermione said those stuff and they actually happened. We don't need another Professor Trewlawney predicting your death now do we Harry"? Ron laughed. "Well, let's just talk to Hermione. Maybe she's noticed it to", Harry suggested. Ron agreed to ask. Harry and Ron left the common room again and went to the library. Only stopping when Harry accidentally bumped into Ginny, who just blushed and walked away. They found Hermione at the back of the library looking at the restricted section. "Hermione", Ron said out of breath. Hermione turned around startled. "Hermione, we HAVE to talk to you", Harry said. "About you"! Ron butted in. "What about me? I'm perfectly fine"! Hermione exclaimed. "Just come with us", Harry said. They went over to one of the tables and sat down. Having Hermione sit across from them. "We.well, I noticed some strange things", Harry explained. Hermione gave them a confused look. "What kind of strange things"? "Well, don't you notice that everything you say actually came true"? Ron asked. "Give me an example"! Hermione said, unconvinced. "Didn't you say that you had a feeling that we were going to get caught? You know, when we went to Knockturn Alley. And we did get caught, by Snape"! Harry said. "That was just a coincidence, besides, he saw us leaving didn't he"? Hermione said. "What do you feel right now"? Harry asked. "What"? Hermione said still confused. "Very confused, listen, whatever you guys are trying to pull, it's not working. I want to go find some books about the Crystal". "No, Hermione listen! Tell me, what do you think is going to happen next"? Harry repeated himself angrily again. "I think that I'm going to go over to the shelves and look for more books", Hermione said. "HERMIONE, JUST TELL ME"! Harry yelled. Hermione sighed and said "fine". "I have a feeling.that.Neville's going to come running in. He will have his arms full of books, and he's going to crash into one of the shelves. Madame Pince is going to get very angry at him, and demand that he cleans the mess up, and forbids him to sign out any more books", Hermione said, after thinking for a while. "Thank you, now, we'll see if it actually happens", Harry said. "Can I just go look for-"? "NO! Your going to stay here and watch for yourself, what you just said is going to happen". Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat there, staring blankly at the entrance to the library. Finally, they heard someone struggle to walk. Seeing that it's Neville, Harry and Ron got excited. Neville did exactly what Hermione said he would do, and Madame Pince forbid Neville to sign out any more books. Ron, wide-eyed, looked at Hermione, while Hermione just shrugged. "That was just nonsense! I'm leaving"! Hermione said standing up and walked away. But Harry was too fast and caught her as soon as they were outside of the library. "I'm going to take you to Professor Trewlawney, I don't care how much you hate her, we all hate her. I want to see if she can see anything about you. It's obvious you have some sort of power", Harry said. "There is no way am I going to the Divination asking that freak for help", Hermione muttered while shaking her head. "Hermione, just for 5 minutes, please"? Ron finally spoke up. Hermione gave them both a glaring look, but it faded away for she finally gave up. They walked to Divination, which took forever again. Finally, reaching their destination, they entered the classroom seeing Professor Trewlawney in her seat looking into her Crystal ball. "I see you three are troubled, now what is-", Professor Trewlawney stopped herself short as soon as she saw Hermione. She gave her a nasty look, which Hermione returned. "This is stupid, I'm leaving", Hermione said climbing back down, but Harry and Ron caught her by her arm and pulled her back up. "Professor Trewlawney, we need to ask you about something", Harry said, while Professor Trewlawney plainly just nodded. "Well, we were wonderin-", Harry was cut off for Professor Trewlawney, who was looking at Hermione, gave out a short gasp. "What"? Hermione asked. "I can tell.you hold.some powers. I can feel it, it's around you", Professor Trewlawney said. "Tell me what your thinking". "I think this stuff is all rubbish, it's a joke"! Hermione said shrilly. Professor Trewlawney repeated her question again. Leaving Hermione no choice, but to answer. Hermione starred at the ceiling and finally, after 3 minutes, she answered. "Neville's on his way up here to get extra help on his homework". Professor Trewlawney nodded, paying close attention to the entrance to the classroom. Next second, Neville is wheezing as he climbed up the steps and enters. "I need help on my homework Professor, I don't understand a thing about this stuff", Neville said, out of breath. Professor Trewlawney nodded and told Neville to wait outside. "Hermione"? Professor Trewlawney said looking at Hermione with admiration. Hermione just starred back with a bored look in her eyes. "You're psychic".