Soon, they were on their third day in the hospital wing. They were
beginning to get restless. Madame Pomfrey was making them stay another day,
despite the fact that they both insisted they were fine.
"Oh no you're not," Madame Pomfrey would say, "They found out what that thing was. A vampire under Polyjuice Potion! Really, now, I've seen people nearly die from looking at vampires!"
Harry was reminded of his second year when he, Ron, and Hermione had drunk Polyjuice Potion. It changed Harry and Ron in to living replicas of Draco's friends, Crabbe and Goyle, so they could get in to the Slytherin Common Room. He shuddered, remembering the awful taste. He thought privately that if any vampire had taken Polyjuice Potion, it must have been force-fed.
The next day, they left the hospital wing together. By the time Madame Pomfrey had let them go, it was nearly dinner. Jessica walked silently beside Harry, turning their ideas over in her head. During their stay at the hospital wing, they had come up with many possible reasons for why they would want to kill her. But the most likely was that she had been given some kind of power in that dream, and the death eaters certainly did not want their enemy to have powers. Not paying attention, she turned a corner, Harry was a few paces ahead of her. Had she been listening, she would have realized that the sound of his footsteps had disappeared, as he stopped dead. She bumped in to Harry as she turned.
"Harry! What are you…" but the words got lost in her throat. She was still standing behind him, and she could feel him shaking with anger, his fists clenched in to little balls at his side. Curious, she peered around his shoulder.
Draco Malfoy stood halfway down the passageway with his trollish friends, Crabbe and Goyle. He was grinning maliciously and clutching a piece of paper. It had writing on it, but at this distance, Jessica couldn't discern what it said. She moved to stand beside Harry.
"Oh hello there, Muggle. I've just being sharing something with your boyfriend here," he grinned at Harry.
"We're not dating," she said firmly. It was amazing, Harry thought, how much she can seem like Dumbledore in a crisis. She was radiating such a sense of power, that he saw Draco's smile falter, but he regained it quickly.
"Oh is that so?" he said deviously, "Well this little bit of parchment here begs to differ," he waved the paper annoyingly, "but I suppose you wouldn't know that would you?" All three of them began to laugh. Their hideous laugh filled the corridor and rang throughout the empty classrooms.
Harry remained shaking, Jessica could see him clenching and unclenching his fists. "You wouldn't dare," he hissed.
"Oh wouldn't I, Potter?" he said, his smile fading. "We'll just see about that. Oh, here, by the way, you may want to have a look at that, Muggle," he said tossing her the paper.
She caught it deftly, still wondering what they could be talking about. Looking down, she realized that it was an article cut out of the Daily Prophet newspaper. She leaned in closer to read it. A Muggle Maniac is Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the title. She gave Draco a questioning look, but here merely grinned and nodded. She looked at Harry, and saw that he had turned ashen colored. His eyes filled with some kind of emotion. She couldn't recognize which one. Pity? Anger? Sorrow? Trying to shrug off this odd look, she turned back to the parchment. As reported by Rita Skeeter… Yes, I thought we had seen the end of the odd occurrences at this prestigious school with the hiring of a werewolf. But apparently, we have all been very much mistaken. Mere days ago, this was a perfectly normal school, however a strange visitor has arrived. A Muggle that claims to be of the name Jessica, has dropped from nowhere and is now attending the school. Apparently, Dumbledore sees no problem with this situation. Perhaps the most shocking news, is that of her new boyfriend. Our very own Harry Potter, whom this reporter has had the pleasure of meeting in person, has fallen for this mysterious stranger. They could be seen working together in Charms on the first day of their classes together, and have also been seen spending much of their free time together. How can Dumbledore put such a shady creature alongside Harry Potter in classes, you may ask yourself. But the most extraordinary element is that she is currently staying in Gryffindor Tower, with Harry's own house. Should this Muggle ever get the idea to harm Harry, she will have the perfect opportunity laid out for her. Perhaps we should ask ourselves whether Albus Dumbledore is still the best man for the job of Headmaster at Hogwarts. It then went on to list the many different uses for a niffler. She looked up from the article. She realized her mouth was hanging open, and shut it quickly. Turning to glare at Malfoy, she slammed the article down on the corridor floor.
Harry caught the look on her face, and was suddenly worried that she was going to do something drastic. Malfoy was still grinning, even wider than before, if that was possible. She reached inside her robes, and for one wild moment, Harry thought she was going to pull out her wand.
Malfoy saw this too, and said quietly, "What are you gonna do now, Muggle?"
Her eyes flashed and she started to walk forward. She pulled herself up to an inch from Malfoy's face and said, "Was there ever a time when you weren't so damn cocky?"
He looked shocked. "What are you talking about? You win, Crabbe, she is as dumb as she is ugly," he said venomously. Once again, the corridor rang with their laughter.
She made no move, she remained close to his face. Jessica had to force herself to stand her ground. His breath was so putrid, she thought she might keel over. "I seem to remember a time," she whispered, "When you weren't quite so sure of yourself." Then, she drew out what she had her hand on inside her robe. Harry watched, puzzled, as what little color Malfoy had in his face disappeared.
"You wouldn't," he said. And Harry was very surprised to hear a tone of panic in his voice.
Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him, looking around for instructions. It was obvious that they were trying to see what was on that paper, but she wasn't showing it.
"Wouldn't I?" she hissed, "Perhaps you'd like to ask Dumbledore about that?" She wasn't shouting, and her voice was steady with rage. It was almost as though she was taunting him, daring him to say something.
"Whatever," he said, his voice shaking. "I don't care what you do with that paper. Show it to the world if you want. But our side is going to win. You know it. And you and your boyfriend are going to die, just like his pathetic parents. The Dark Lord killed them fifteen years ago, and now he's come back to finish…"
But what exactly he was going to finish, Harry never found out. He had just started toward Malfoy, his hand reaching inside his robes for his wand, when Jessica grabbed him by the back of the head and thrust him in to the floor.
"Don't you dare. Don't you ever, ever insult Harry's parents. I don't care what you say about me, I hope the world reads that article, infact. But if I ever catch you trying to harm anyone on the right side, there are going to be problems between me and you. And we don't want that, now do we?" she said. Harry stood with his wand dangling numbly from his hand. She had forced Malfoy to his knees and had him by the hair. "Right," she said, almost teasingly, "You can go now." She let go of his head. Crabbe and Goyle stood staring at Jessica in amazement as Malfoy got shakily to his feet.
"My father…" Malfoy began through a bloody lip and a headache, but Jessica interrupted him.
"Your father what? Not even daddy dearest can save you from what I can reveal about you," she hissed so viciously that Malfoy took a step back.
He stood glaring at her for a full minute and finally muttered, rather resentfully, "Let's go." And he, Crabbe, and Goyle started off in the other direction.
"Oh no you're not," Madame Pomfrey would say, "They found out what that thing was. A vampire under Polyjuice Potion! Really, now, I've seen people nearly die from looking at vampires!"
Harry was reminded of his second year when he, Ron, and Hermione had drunk Polyjuice Potion. It changed Harry and Ron in to living replicas of Draco's friends, Crabbe and Goyle, so they could get in to the Slytherin Common Room. He shuddered, remembering the awful taste. He thought privately that if any vampire had taken Polyjuice Potion, it must have been force-fed.
The next day, they left the hospital wing together. By the time Madame Pomfrey had let them go, it was nearly dinner. Jessica walked silently beside Harry, turning their ideas over in her head. During their stay at the hospital wing, they had come up with many possible reasons for why they would want to kill her. But the most likely was that she had been given some kind of power in that dream, and the death eaters certainly did not want their enemy to have powers. Not paying attention, she turned a corner, Harry was a few paces ahead of her. Had she been listening, she would have realized that the sound of his footsteps had disappeared, as he stopped dead. She bumped in to Harry as she turned.
"Harry! What are you…" but the words got lost in her throat. She was still standing behind him, and she could feel him shaking with anger, his fists clenched in to little balls at his side. Curious, she peered around his shoulder.
Draco Malfoy stood halfway down the passageway with his trollish friends, Crabbe and Goyle. He was grinning maliciously and clutching a piece of paper. It had writing on it, but at this distance, Jessica couldn't discern what it said. She moved to stand beside Harry.
"Oh hello there, Muggle. I've just being sharing something with your boyfriend here," he grinned at Harry.
"We're not dating," she said firmly. It was amazing, Harry thought, how much she can seem like Dumbledore in a crisis. She was radiating such a sense of power, that he saw Draco's smile falter, but he regained it quickly.
"Oh is that so?" he said deviously, "Well this little bit of parchment here begs to differ," he waved the paper annoyingly, "but I suppose you wouldn't know that would you?" All three of them began to laugh. Their hideous laugh filled the corridor and rang throughout the empty classrooms.
Harry remained shaking, Jessica could see him clenching and unclenching his fists. "You wouldn't dare," he hissed.
"Oh wouldn't I, Potter?" he said, his smile fading. "We'll just see about that. Oh, here, by the way, you may want to have a look at that, Muggle," he said tossing her the paper.
She caught it deftly, still wondering what they could be talking about. Looking down, she realized that it was an article cut out of the Daily Prophet newspaper. She leaned in closer to read it. A Muggle Maniac is Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the title. She gave Draco a questioning look, but here merely grinned and nodded. She looked at Harry, and saw that he had turned ashen colored. His eyes filled with some kind of emotion. She couldn't recognize which one. Pity? Anger? Sorrow? Trying to shrug off this odd look, she turned back to the parchment. As reported by Rita Skeeter… Yes, I thought we had seen the end of the odd occurrences at this prestigious school with the hiring of a werewolf. But apparently, we have all been very much mistaken. Mere days ago, this was a perfectly normal school, however a strange visitor has arrived. A Muggle that claims to be of the name Jessica, has dropped from nowhere and is now attending the school. Apparently, Dumbledore sees no problem with this situation. Perhaps the most shocking news, is that of her new boyfriend. Our very own Harry Potter, whom this reporter has had the pleasure of meeting in person, has fallen for this mysterious stranger. They could be seen working together in Charms on the first day of their classes together, and have also been seen spending much of their free time together. How can Dumbledore put such a shady creature alongside Harry Potter in classes, you may ask yourself. But the most extraordinary element is that she is currently staying in Gryffindor Tower, with Harry's own house. Should this Muggle ever get the idea to harm Harry, she will have the perfect opportunity laid out for her. Perhaps we should ask ourselves whether Albus Dumbledore is still the best man for the job of Headmaster at Hogwarts. It then went on to list the many different uses for a niffler. She looked up from the article. She realized her mouth was hanging open, and shut it quickly. Turning to glare at Malfoy, she slammed the article down on the corridor floor.
Harry caught the look on her face, and was suddenly worried that she was going to do something drastic. Malfoy was still grinning, even wider than before, if that was possible. She reached inside her robes, and for one wild moment, Harry thought she was going to pull out her wand.
Malfoy saw this too, and said quietly, "What are you gonna do now, Muggle?"
Her eyes flashed and she started to walk forward. She pulled herself up to an inch from Malfoy's face and said, "Was there ever a time when you weren't so damn cocky?"
He looked shocked. "What are you talking about? You win, Crabbe, she is as dumb as she is ugly," he said venomously. Once again, the corridor rang with their laughter.
She made no move, she remained close to his face. Jessica had to force herself to stand her ground. His breath was so putrid, she thought she might keel over. "I seem to remember a time," she whispered, "When you weren't quite so sure of yourself." Then, she drew out what she had her hand on inside her robe. Harry watched, puzzled, as what little color Malfoy had in his face disappeared.
"You wouldn't," he said. And Harry was very surprised to hear a tone of panic in his voice.
Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him, looking around for instructions. It was obvious that they were trying to see what was on that paper, but she wasn't showing it.
"Wouldn't I?" she hissed, "Perhaps you'd like to ask Dumbledore about that?" She wasn't shouting, and her voice was steady with rage. It was almost as though she was taunting him, daring him to say something.
"Whatever," he said, his voice shaking. "I don't care what you do with that paper. Show it to the world if you want. But our side is going to win. You know it. And you and your boyfriend are going to die, just like his pathetic parents. The Dark Lord killed them fifteen years ago, and now he's come back to finish…"
But what exactly he was going to finish, Harry never found out. He had just started toward Malfoy, his hand reaching inside his robes for his wand, when Jessica grabbed him by the back of the head and thrust him in to the floor.
"Don't you dare. Don't you ever, ever insult Harry's parents. I don't care what you say about me, I hope the world reads that article, infact. But if I ever catch you trying to harm anyone on the right side, there are going to be problems between me and you. And we don't want that, now do we?" she said. Harry stood with his wand dangling numbly from his hand. She had forced Malfoy to his knees and had him by the hair. "Right," she said, almost teasingly, "You can go now." She let go of his head. Crabbe and Goyle stood staring at Jessica in amazement as Malfoy got shakily to his feet.
"My father…" Malfoy began through a bloody lip and a headache, but Jessica interrupted him.
"Your father what? Not even daddy dearest can save you from what I can reveal about you," she hissed so viciously that Malfoy took a step back.
He stood glaring at her for a full minute and finally muttered, rather resentfully, "Let's go." And he, Crabbe, and Goyle started off in the other direction.