Hermione in Ravenclaw

Chapter 7 Evidence

Alice approached Ron at lunch, while Mandy went to talk with Neville. Both the boys had been getting a lot of attention from people who were curious or sympathetic about Harry's Quiddich accident, so it didn't seem unusual them at all.

Mandy told Neville, "I don't care what other people say about it. I think it was very brave of you to go exploring late at night like you did."

Neville blushed, flattered. "It was nothing, really."

"There were rumors going around that Filch set a pack of dogs on you," said Mandy. "Someone heard them barking."

"No, Filch just chased us. Then we ran into Peeves, and Peeves started shouting, so we ran to this locked door. When we pounded on the door, that's when the dogs started barking, or one dog. Peeves said it was a three-headed dog guarding something."

"Peeves would say anything, though," said Mandy doubtfully.

"Yes, but Filch cut him off and said it was a Hogwarts secret, so I think it was true," Neville replied.

"Do you think it could be a big enough secret for someone to be after the three of you for it?" asked Mandy. "There were some suspicious circumstances in that Quiddich accident."

"I hope not," said Neville nervously.

Meanwhile, Alice was talking to Ron.

"I'm convinced someone at the Quiddich match was jinxing Harry Potter's broom," she said. "The way it was jumping around wasn't normal."

"That's just what I thought!" said Ron. "Hagrid said dark magic can disrupt even a Nimbus 2000. "

"Hagrid?" asked Alice.

"The groundskeeper. Harry and I are friends of his, and I was sitting next to him during the game."

"But who would want to kill Harry?"

"Professor Snape hates him. He's always sniping at him in class. Snape is into the Dark Arts, too. They say he wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, but they won't let him do anything but Potions."

"Anyone else who might have done it? What about Quirrell? He actually teaches the class."

"No way, he's harmless and he seems to like Harry. I can't think of anyone who would do it other than Snape," said Ron.

"Just not liking someone's not a motive for murder," said Alice.

"There could be more to it. Harry figured out that the forbidden room is where they're hiding the package that was nearly stolen from Gringotts Bank. Something really valuable. If Snape was trying to steal it, and thought Harry was snooping, maybe..." said Ron.

Hermione, Mandy, Alice, and Lisa met after classes to compare notes.

"I've found something on Professor Snape. He was once accused of being a follower of You-Know-Who, one of the Death Eaters, but he got off somehow," said Lisa.

"In a way that's in his favor," said Hermione. "Knowing the worst about him, Professor Dumbledore still hired him. Anything on Professor Quirrell?"

"Not really, but since I'm interested in becoming a Healer I've been looking at medicine books, and I ran across this one in the library," said Lisa.

She showed the book: "A Healer's Handbook of Medical Malingering," by Hippo Kondriach.

"There's a paragraph on faking being hit with a stuttering curse. It really fits the way Professor Quirrell talks. He stutters on a lot of different sounds and it's not consistent at all. I think he's pretending, " said Lisa. "Also, that faint he did when he said the troll had escaped at Halloween looked like a classic fake faint, like it describes here on page 163."

"According to Ron Weasley, he's harmless, and he likes Harry," said Mandy.

"Someone intending to kill is more likely to hide his motives," said Lisa.

"What motive could there be?" asked Hermione.

"There's the package in the forbidden room Ron told me about," said Alice.

"That fits with the Hogwarts secret being guarded by a three-headed dog that Neville told me about," said Mandy.

"That could be a motive, but why Harry?" said Hermione.

"He's the Boy Who Lived, isn't he? Someone working for You-Know-Who might want to kill him just for that, not just for getting close to the secret room," said Mandy.

"To sum up our evidence, we have Snape: interested in the Dark Arts, accused of being a Death Eater, openly hateful to Harry, and suspiciously close at hand to destroy the get-ill card. On the other hand we have Quirrell, who fakes his stutters and faints," said Hermione. "The weight of the evidence seems to be against Snape, but we'd still better keep an eye on both of them."