FOUR
Friday evening after the Quidditch match, the Gryffindors hosted a party in the Common Room in Mary Sue's honor. At eleven, Percy Weasley announced that they were all to go to bed. At one in the morning, Professor McGonagall came in and expressed her displeasure at their raucous behavior, and ordered them to bed immediately. At three, the crowd finally retired to their respective dormitories. Harry, exhausted by the match and then the ensuing festivities, fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The next day passed swiftly. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were constantly amazed by Mary Sue's array of talents – Hermione declared admiringly that she would have a very hard time topping the grades Mary Sue was sure to achieve before returning to America. Mary Sue blushed and murmured that she was sure Hermione would prove to be a challenge as well.
The only class that Harry, Hermione and Ron had without Mary Sue was Divination, as Mary Sue was signed up for only the basic courses. As Professor Trelawney murmured dire predictions for everyone in the class, Ron, Hermione, and Harry began an avid discussion of their new friend.
"So what do you think of her?" Ron muttered when Trelawney wasn't looking.
"Pretty," said Harry out of the corner of his mouth. Hermione gave a soft snort. "Well, she is," Harry defended, reddening.
"She's really nice," Hermione whispered a moment later, as Trelawney moved to the other side of the room to help Neville Longbottom with his crystal ball. "I mean . . ." she hesitated.
"Yeah?" Ron prompted. Hermione, to their surprise, turned very red.
"I didn't think I'd like her," she confessed in an undertone. "I thought she'd be a snot, but . . ."
"She's terrific," said Harry fervently.
"She's really nice," Hermione repeated. Their conversation was halted as Trelawney floated toward their table.
"And what," she asked mistily, "Have you three seen?"
"It's going to be awfully foggy tonight," Ron muttered to Harry. Harry stifled a laugh, earning a disapproving look from Professor Trelawney.
"Um, well," said Harry. "Nothing, really."
Trelawney pulled a chair toward their table and sat, like a great glittering moth descending onto a perch. "You must clear your outer mind," she intoned dreamily, gazing into the ball. "Let nothing interfere."
"What a load of rubbish," Hermione said under her breath. Harry nodded as Trelawney continued to gaze into the Orb.
Suddenly the Divination Professor clutched her head and gave a cry of dismay. "Oh! But there is death in this one, my dears, Death." She paused dramatically.
Hermione gave a soft snort of disgust, which Professor Trelawney chose to disregard. Lavender Brown, a few tables away, gave a small cry of dismay. "What is it?" she called in a hushed voice.
Trelawney fixed her large eyes on Harry. "The Orb foretells the death of one close to you," she said in a tragic whisper. "It is clouded, but the message is clear." She rose dramatically, drew a great breath, and said, "Let us leave this lesson here, class." Harry, Ron, and Hermione, only too eager to leave the heavily fumed attic and return to Mary Sue.
As they emerged once more into the corridor, Harry heard his name called. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown casting him worried looks.
"Who's close to you?" Parvati asked in a hushed voice. Harry turned away in disgust and hurried to catch up with Ron and Hermione.
"What'd they want?" Ron asked.
"To know who was going to die," Harry said in tones of deep loathing. Ron snickered.
"Harry!" his name was called again.
He whirled around, angry. "What this time?" he demanded, and then stopped, blushing furiously, as Mary Sue ran toward him.
"Sorry," he said. "I thought you were someone else."
Mary Sue laughed. "It's okay," she said. "What is your next class?"
Harry checked his schedule. "Double potions," he said despairingly. "Great."
"It's not that bad," said Mary Sue consideringly. "It was quite interesting, I thought."
Ron gaped at her, and Hermione choked. "But what about Snape? And Malfoy?" Ron demanded in amazement.
"Well . . ." Mary Sue considered it. "Snape was positively vindictive, but Draco wasn't so bad."
"Draco?" Ron sputtered. "And not so bad???"
"Well, he was polite enough," said Mary Sue fairly.
Harry stared at her, aghast. "He was?" was all he could seem to say.
Mary Sue nodded. "He didn't talk much, but he wasn't rude." She delivered them all a quizzical look. "Why, is he normally?"
Harry nodded emphatically. "He hates all Gryffindors," he explained.
"What about you?" Mary Sue asked.
Harry gave a short laugh. "Funny."
"No, really?" Mary Sue pressed.
"He hates Harry, he hates Hermione, and he hates me," said Ron stonily. "Just because his father's a Death Eater with a lot of money."
Mary Sue stared. "A Death Eater?" she asked incredulously. She shuddered slightly. "But he didn't seem so bad," she added after a moment, still unconvinced.
"Trust me, Mary Sue," said Hermione flatly. "You do not want to get mixed up with Malfoy."
"Why does he hate you all?" Mary Sue asked, still obviously confused.
"Because Harry's a celebrity," Ron replied.
"Because Hermione's Muggle-born," Harry answered quickly.
Hermione was silent. Mary Sue looked questioningly at Ron, whose ears had gone very red.
"My family doesn't have a lot of money," he muttered, looking at his shoes.
Mary Sue looked slightly shocked. "Those are stupid reasons," she announced. "I mean, I'm Muggle-born."
Harry stared. "Does Malfoy know that?" he asked cautiously. Mary Sue nodded.
"Let me get this straight," said Harry in astonishment. "Malfoy knows your Muggle-born. And you sat at his table. And you're still alive."
Mary Sue nodded, vaguely nonplussed. "He didn't seem that bad," she added for the third time.
Ron shook his head and gave a low, amazed whistle. "I thought I'd never see the day."
They entered Potions a few moments early and took a table near the back. Without further discussion, they began to pull things from their bags.
A moment later, Harry was surprised by the sound of a chair being pushed to their table. He looked up quickly, afraid that Neville had taken the seat again. His jaw dropped when he saw the occupant of the fifth chair.
It was Draco Malfoy.
"Hi," he said casually, looking at Mary Sue. Mary Sue shot Harry a helpless look, and responded in kind.
"Er – there's an extra seat at our table," said Malfoy awkwardly, still looking at Mary Sue. He shot Harry a cold glance.
"I think she's established, Malfoy," said Hermione coldly.
"I didn't ask you, Mudblood," Malfoy drawled. He turned back to Mary Sue. "Well?"
Mary Sue shook her head and looked down at her hands. Without another word, Malfoy stalked off to the other side of the dungeon.
"He really is bad," said Mary Sue faintly Malfoy was out of earshot. "I'm so, so sorry, Hermione."
Hermione shook her head impatiently. "It doesn't matter," she said tightly, pulling her Potions text from her bag.
Ron was glaring across the dungeon at Malfoy. "If this weren't Potion's class, I'd . . ."
"But it is Potions, Ron," said Hermione. "Get out your ingredients."
Ron drew his ingredients from his bag, still muttering angrily.
After Potions they returned to the Common Room for the afternoon, where they began their mountains of homework. At six-thirty, the four of them – as well as a large group of other Gryffindors following Mary Sue – trooped down to the Great Hall for dinner.
The atmosphere was noisy and cheerful as usual, but immediately on entrance Harry spotted something strange at the Ravenclaw table. A group of girls at the end was clustered around another girl, who was crying profusely. Nonplussed, Harry took a seat at the Gryffindor table just as Dumbledore rose gravely and tapped on a glass for silence.
Gradually, the noise level in the Great Hall fell into nothingness.
"I am grieved to inform you of some very bad news," he said somberly. "As a few of you may know, a prisoner escaped from Azkaban prison three weeks ago."
Worried murmurs circulated through the Hall. "Did you know that?" Harry asked Hermione, Ron, and Mary Sue collectively. They all shook their heads, their faces solemn.
"This has not been attempted before," said Dumbledore when silence was once more restored. "But this is not all." He turned to face the Ravenclaw table.
"Last night," he began heavily, "Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Homdinger were murdered by this Azkaban escapee. Some of you may know their daughter, Lila."
Pandemonium ensued for several minutes. When the Hall was finally quiet, Dumbledore continued. "This is cause for much grieving," he said solemnly. "Also, security has been increased upon the Hogwarts grounds, as there is no telling what the Death Eater may do next. No students are allowed outside the grounds on any conditions. There will be teachers patrolling the corridors at all times. No students are to be out of bed after hours for any reason." He paused. "Students caught disobeying these rules will be expelled."
With a grave look around the Great Hall, Dumbledore resumed his seat once more.
