23. The Impostor's Mark
Christmas Holiday ended the following week and the students flooded back into the halls of Hogwarts. A January fled by, Harry became more comfortable with his relationship and Ron managed to quell the twitch in his neck that had developed whenever he saw them together. Though it was more of a challenge, Harry also became used to his faculty escort. He did his best to ignore whichever professor had been assigned to him, but it was obvious that even his house-mates were a bit disturbed by it.
Draco Malfoy was positively delighted. The fiasco with the Drops of Vengeance was completely forgotten with such plentiful ammunition now available. The very first day back, he had unleashed a salvo about Harry's need for "baby-sitters," and after a month the barrage had not let up.
Still, Harry felt he had little choice but to grin and bear it. It wasn't as if he could punch Malfoy if he had a teacher following him around constantly. Still more difficult to handle was the frustration of his house Quidditch captain Angelina Johnson. She was quick to assure him that she didn't blame him, but Harry could tell that the stress of finding a new seeker halfway through the year was probably going to break her in half. She even scheduled a meeting with Professor McGonagall, but Harry could tell as soon as she came out of the office that the decision remained the same.
Instead of Quidditch practice, once a week, Hagrid would amble up to the castle doors and escort Harry, Ron, Hermione, and sometimes Ginny, down to his cottage to talk or help with some of the groundskeeping chores.
On one such night as Hagrid led them trudging down the slopes, Malfoy dropped down to glide alongside them on his broom. "Potter!" He called out jovially, "We've just finished Quidditch practice and now Gryffindor's got the field, shouldn't you be there?"
Hagrid made a shooing gesture, "Clear off, yah've no business here."
Draco ignored him and sidled even closer to Harry, "Why," he began in mock surprise, "could this mean that you're off the team? Can it be, Gryffindor's star seeker is no longer allowed to play?"
Hermione stopped short and pointed an accusing finger at Malfoy, "On the ground without a broom, Harry's still a better seeker than you'll ever be."
Malfoy rolled his eyes, "And why would I care what you think, you filthy little-"
"Don't you dare," Ron growled.
"Mudblood," Malfoy finished with relish.
"That might have been a mistake Malfoy," Harry commented calmly as Ron scooped up a packed clod of crusty snow and hurled it at Malfoy's head. It smashed into the side of his head and spun him around his broomstick before throwing him down into the snow. Harry nodded, "Definitely a mistake."
Malfoy staggered to his feet sputtering indignantly. His left arm thrust out to point at Hagrid, "You're a teacher! Are you just going to let him attack me?"
Hagrid laughed, "Attack? There's no school rule about throwin' snowballs."
Harry's eyes were locked onto Malfoy's wrist, which gleamed bare in the moonlight. "You dropped your watch," he said quietly. With that, his companion's eyes all snapped to focus on his outstretched arm. His skin was bare and clean.
Ron shook his head, "Amazing, you really are just that pathetic. You faked the dark mark to impress your friends."
Malfoy hissed, "How did you…" He scooped up his watch from where it had fallen in the snow and snapped it back onto his wrist. His face contorted in fury. "You've been spying on me haven't you?" He snatched his broom from the snow at his feet. "If my father-"
"Yer father ran away," Hagrid interrupted, "an' he aint one of the School's governors no more. You're on yer own, so why don't you just leave these nice folks in peace and fly back to yer little hole."
If eyes could produce venom, Harry and all his friends would have died right there. Malfoy kicked a leg over his broom handle, "You're all fools," he hissed, "and some day very soon, you're going to regret making an enemy of me." With a rush a air he disappeared up into the night.
Hagrid watched his silhouette fly back to the castle for a moment then turned to the four Gryffindors and forced a smile, "Well then, who wants some tea?"
After another moment of silence, Harry broke the brooding atmosphere by nodding and forcing a smile of his own, "Sounds good to me."
Five minutes later when they were all seated in Hagrid's hut, Ron rolled a warm cup between his hands and blew steam from it, "I can't believe it, I mean, I didn't think even Malfoy could be that stupid."
Ginny was sitting on Hagrid's couch scratching Fang between the ears, "I just think it's pathetic. Faking the mark to impress your friends?"
Hagrid set down a fresh pot of tea in front of Harry, "Ron's right, it was awfully dangerous what Malfoy did. I'd expect someone from 'is family to be smarter than that."
Harry leaned forward over his cup, "They're dark wizards, how smart can they be?"
"Smart doesn't mean good," Hagrid warned. "Remember, someone can be plenty smart, but I they've got no judgment, o they're jus' plain bad, then nothin' good will come of 'em." Hagrid clapped his huge hands together, "But enough about all o' that, who wants to help me feed the snowchompers?"
Hermione blanched, "Those don't sound very friendly."
"Awe, they're harmless," Hagrid began as he pulled on thick mitts and headed for the door, "Ye just need to watch out fer the claws and the teeth and the spikes is all."
Harry grinned at the others and they followed Hagrid out.
