Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Duh.
Author Note: Hey, I'm back. Sorry this took so long but, English essays must take precedence over Harry Potter fanfiction. I hope you all enjoy. This chapter sprung from a problem I've always had with part of book two. I honestly didn't see much need for the Polyjuice potion, not that it wasn't fun… Ah well, here goes.
17. Dad's Old Cloak
The next two weeks crawled by slowly and Harry reluctantly got used to not being able to tell his friends about his injury. However, he decided that there had been nothing in his promise to Sideson about asking Ron and Hermione to help him figure out who the remaining spy was. Holloween fell on a Thursday, giving them a four day weekend. Harry decided to bring it up at the feast.
Hermione managed to get both Ron and Harry to spend most of Holloween day in the newly repaired and restored library studying for their O.W.L.s which, she kept insisting, they would be taking a lot sooner than they thought.
Ron and Hermione spent the time saying very little and sitting very close together while Harry tried not to pay too much attention to them and browsed through the stacks trying to remember the titles of books he needed for History of Magic and Potions.
Finally, around three o'clock, they managed to convince her that they had done enough studying and that it was time to relax a bit on their holiday. they returned to their common room and Harry and Ron sat down to a game of Chess.
Now's as good a time as any, Harry thought to himself.
"Sideson came to see me while I was in the infirmary."
"Really?" Hermione glanced over from the book she was reading next to Ron, "What did he want?"
"Well, he explained a few things to me, about Professor Argano and the Staff Draconis mostly, but he also mentioned something about being careful because there's still a Death-Eater insider somewhere in the school."
Ron ordered his queen to smash Harry's knight before looking up from the board. "Did he have any ideas who it could be?"
"He thought it might be a member of the faculty."
Hermione shook her head, "I'm more worried about the staff Draconis, what did he say about it?"
Harry didn't want them asking why he wasn't allowed near it so he chose his words carefully. "Well, he told me that it's a magical device that blocks things like apparation and electronics. He kind of hinted that that wasn't its whole purpose though, saying it only worked because it's attached to some sort of amplifier stone."
"So it is broken?"
Harry nodded, "It's broken but he said they can't get to it to fix it." He moved forward a rook to block Ron's knight.
Ron took a moment to survey the board before responding. "Do they have any idea what's wrong with it?" He ordered a pawn that Harry had not considered a threat to take out the rook.
"No, he didn't say." Harry squinted at the board trying to see what he had missed.
Hermione shook her head, "That's a shame, if we knew what was wrong, we might be able to figure something out."
"Back to the Death-Eater," Ron abandoned his next attack for a few moments, "I thought we already knew it was the ferret. I mean, not much point in giving him the mark if he's not going to have a use while he's here."
Hermione considered for a moment and agreed, "He can't be expected to assassinate you, so he must be a spy."
Harry watched Ron's move put his king into check and glared at the board trying to see a way out that wasn't a trap. "That makes sense, maybe in case of a back up for when Lucius had to disappear."
"Yes, but how could he be passing on the information, it would be too risky for him to just send You-Know-Who an owl every week." Hermione said and smiled at Ron as he put Harry into check-mate.
Harry glanced at the board and, as usual, saw his mistake too late. After a moment of consideration he told them a bit of the dream he had had while recovering from the holding spell, leaving out mention of the Mercury's Malice. When he was done telling them what Wormtail and Voldemort had said, they sat quietly for a few minutes and considered.
Ron silently set up the board for another game. "Are you sure it wasn't just, you know, a nightmare?"
Harry shook his head, "I wish I could think that, but my scar hurt so much that I have to believe it was real."
Hermione glanced at him levelly, "Of course they didn't mention the name of their remaining spy."
Harry shook his head again, ruefully this time. "We're not so lucky, you know that."
"But how is Malfoy supposed to get his orders?" Ron arched an eyebrow and pushed the board aside for the time being. "Like we said, owl-post is too risky, and it's not as if Peter Pettigrew can just wander into the school to have a chat with Draco."
"Well, Peter Pettigrew couldn't," Hermione glanced at Ron sharply, "but there's nothing to stop Scabbers the Rat."
"Oh no," Ron practically moaned, "It's going to be like that Skeeter woman all over again, but instead of things we want kept to ourselves showing up in the Daily Prophet, they go straight to You-Know-Who."
Harry tried to keep his expression unconcerned, "Well as long as we're sure it's Malfoy, we don't have to worry about him overhearing things as long as we're sure he's not around."
Ron perked up enthusiastically, "Yeah, of course. But we'd best figure out what he knows about us now, just to be safe."
Hermione shook her head in alarm, "No, I've had enough Polyjuice Potion to last me a lifetime."
"We don't need Polyjuice Potion, we already know where the Slytherin common room is, so we can just go there in the invisibility cloak and just listen in."
"Ron, I'm sure they've changed the password since second year." Hermione stared at him levelly and Ron's expression fell a bit.
Harry, however, perked up as a thought struck him. "We won't need the password, Malfoy will do it for us."
"What?" Both of them were starring at him doubtfully.
"Tonight, after the Holloween feast, we'll take the cloak with us and follow them, we'll sneak in behind the rest of them, then all we have to do is find a corner near Malfoy and listen in, once they've gone to bed, we can sneak back out."
Ron's face lit up again, "Brilliant Harry!"
Hermione shook her head, "If you two get caught-"
Ron rolled his eyes. "We know, if we get caught, we'll all be expelled."
Hermione shot him a glare, "Let me finish," she broke into a grin, "If you two get caught I shall be terribly disappointed in you for losing your edge."
* * *
A few hours later they made their way down to the Great Hall with the Invisibility Cloak tucked carefully into Hermione's handbag. The Hall was decorated splendidly as usual. Black, orange, and silver streamers cascaded from the ceiling where the usual clouds of bats were circling. Absent were the gigantic pumpkins that Hagrid would have spent the fall cultivating, but there were plenty of the normal variety which had been carved and enchanted to laugh maniacally at opportune moments.
Sideson stood when the majority of students were seated and raised a goblet of pumpkin juice. Harry noticed he did not look quite so drained as he had a few weeks earlier in the Headmaster's Lounge. He tapped a knife against his goblet and the giant room quieted. "Welcome Witches and Wizards, to our Feast of All Hallows Eve!" There was a cheer from the amassed students at the mention of food. Sideson grinned knowingly and for a moment seemed half his age, "I know the real reason you're cheering, so-" he flourished his goblet and the feast appeared on each table, "Here it is!"
Roast turkey, pumpkin bread, squash, cinnamon poppies, roast chicken, dumplings, and all manner of other wonderful things were heaped upon the table. The Gryffindor table resounded with the sound of happy chatter and clattering dishes as the students fell to with a will.
An hour later, the plates and dishes were magically cleansed and the students began their slow exodus from the hall. Hermione handed off the cloak to Harry and Ron before heading off to help round up some of the younger students. Harry and Ron strolled out of the hall and followed a large group of Slytherins at a discreet distance.
As they moved through the lower reaches of the castle, Harry began looking for a corner they could duck into to don the cloak. Just when he spotted a large alcove behind a particularly large suit of armor, a voice drawled out behind him. "Bit far from you're tower, aren't we Potter?"
Harry and Ron both froze, then spun around. Draco Malfoy stood grinning in the middle of the corridor, Crabb and Goyle flanked him grinning stupidly. "So where are you headed Potter?"
Harry took rapid stock of his surroundings and thought fast. With a bit of relief he noticed a stairwell he recognized and pointed to it, "Shortcut to the Library, Ron forgot his Herbology notes and I need to check a book."
Malfoy nodded companionably and sized them both up. His glance landed on the bundled up cloak under Harry's arm and his face twisted suspiciously. "What have you got there Potter?"
"No business of yours Malfoy," Harry shifted the cloak so that even more of it was concealed by his arm and back.
Draco's expression lifted gleefully, "It wouldn't be something against school rules would it Potter?" He shook his head as if correcting himself, "No, no, of course not. Perfect Harry Potter would never break school rules."
"Back off."
Draco of course, did just the opposite. He and his two lackeys stalked closer. "Wouldn't that be awful, wouldn't it just be a terrible blow to the school if everybody's hero Harry Potter was doing something wrong? I think it'd just break their hearts, don't you Goyle?" Goyle sniggered stupidly.
Ron took a step forward and brandished his wand. "He said back off, Malfoy."
Draco grinned maliciously, "You're outmatched Weasley, shut up before I hurt you."
Ron shook his head, "You've already shown you can't take a punch, you want to try again."
Malfoy did not say anything to this, but Crabb and Goyle both took a step forward, towering pillars of muscle and not much else, waiting for permission to drop on the two Gryffindors. Harry felt a moment of worry that they might actually come to blows and, he had to admit, while Malfoy would be no trouble, Crabb and Goyle would take the two of them apart. He was just preparing to pull his own wand when heavy footsteps began to echo down the hallway. Harry and Ron both stowed their wands back in their pockets as Ryan Argano swept around a corner behind Malfoy and his goons.
Harry smiled and turned, dragging Ron behind him, making for the stairwell he had spotted earlier. He heard Malfoy hiss a curse behind him but there was nothing he could do with a teacher in the hallway. He and Ron disappeared around a corner and Harry pulled the invisibility cloak around their shoulders. Then they carefully stepped back into the corridor and followed close behind Malfoy who was now complaining about Ryan's interference.
"Damn gunslinger, Father should have killed him when he had the chance." Malfoy ground his teeth together as he swept down the hall with Crabb and Goyle in tow. "We almost had Potter this time, we could have killed the scar-headed brat and been done with him for good. Just him and Weasley, we could have put them both in the infirmary for a month." He continued in this vein for some time with Crabb and Goyle grunting uncomprehending agreement when he paused for breath. Finally they halted in front of a familiar wall and Malfoy muttered, "Wolfsbane."
A flash of inspiration struck Harry and, as the wall ground open, he nudged Goyle with his foot. Goyle tripped and caught both Crabb and Draco in his flailing descent and all three crashed to the cold stone floor. Harry grabbed Ron and the two dodged quickly around the tangled Slytherins and bolted into the waiting common room. It was far more crowded than the last time they had been there and they made their way carefully to a small corner between a couch and a wall.
Malfoy entered a moment later cursing at Goyle. "If only a tiny fraction of your muscle mass had been saved for brains, we'd all be much better off! Haven't you figured out how to walk without tripping over your own oversized feet yet?" He moodily led them over to the couch opposite the one Harry and Ron were hiding behind and dropped into it. Crabb and Goyle obediently took seats on the couch in front of the invisible pair and waited for Draco to begin speaking again.
After a few moments of silence, it penetrated Crabb and Goyle's minds that something was bothering Draco. Though they were too stupid to have any notion of how to cheer him up, it might have seeped in enough for them to think they should try something. Crabb spoke up, "Can we see the mark?"
Harry and Ron both leaned forward in curiosity but were disappointed. "Idiot!" Malfoy was shivering in rage, "For God's sake, not so loud." He glanced around to make sure no one had heard. "If this gets found out, we're all going to get expelled! Could you possibly keep your admittedly small minds on the task at hand?"
Goyle blinked in confusion, "What task?"
Malfoy touched his fingers to his temples as if he had suddenly developed a migraine. "Come with me so I might refresh your memory." He wearily got to his feet and Harry and Ron squeezed as close to Crabb and Goyle as they could, concealing themselves in the wake the two cut through the bustling room. They trudged down two flights of stairs and Draco opened what appeared to be the room he shared with Crabb and Goyle. Harry nudged the door as he and Ron snuck through so that it pulled from Crabb's hand and banged open in the hallway. Harry and Ron squeezed in next to Malfoy's wardrobe as he turned to yell Crabb. "Crabb! I thought you might perhaps be a fraction less clumsy than Goyle! Are the both of you completely useless?" He spun around and dropped onto his lavishly upholstered four poster bed. After the door was closed securely by a confused and apologetic Crabb, he seemed to forget his displeasure at them entirely.
Instead he starred pensively at a wizarding photograph of his family and collected his thoughts. "I understand the Council of the Basilisk recalling Father from the school, but why didn't he leave any instructions for me? He hasn't contacted me once since he left, and of course Mother's being no help at all in getting in touch with him." He punched his palm and glared at the photograph. "He can't expect me to just sit here all year with Potter right in front of me. The council must want me to do something but how am I supposed to know-" He was cut off here by a heavy knock on his door. Harry and Ron froze as the door pulled open and a gigantic figure wedged itself through.
It was Derrick Flint, younger brother of Marcus Flint and new captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team. He gestured sharply to the corridor behind him with his thumb and growled at Malfoy, "Team meeting in the common room."
Malfoy rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, it's only Ravenclaw."
"The match is this Saturday. Common room, now."
Malfoy rolled his eyes and then got up and followed the large seventh-year with Crabb and Goyle following behind. Harry was powerfully curious about Slytherin's new tactics but recognized that this was their golden opportunity to escape. He and Ron quickly made their way through the common room and ducked out when they were sure no one was looking.
Twenty minutes later they were visible again and back in Gryffindor tower. Harry was anxious to talk with Hermione but she was busy trying to keep the Holloween Party in check. Considering that Fred and George were at the helm, this was no easy prospect. Ron just shook his head and suggested they talk to her the next day. Harry nodded, considering joining the party, but he was feeling both disappointed and uneasy so he wished Ron goodnight and made his way up to his room. Moments later, he was asleep.
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Author Note: There you go, I hope to have chapter 18 up tomorrow, we shall see.
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