Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, things, or places you recognize from the Potter-verse.
CHAPTER NINE: Haunts
Halloween was almost upon them. It was Thursday and Monday would be Halloween. Harry got up and went down to breakfast with Ron. Hermione and Renata were already in the Great Hall. They sat down at the Gryffindor table. Dean said, "Did anyone see the bulletin board this morning?""Yeah," Seamus answered. "There's a Hogsmeadeee trip is tomorrow."
"I need to pick up some Dungbombs from Zonkos."
"Ron, why do you waste your time with those things?" asked Hermione.
"Dungbombs rule."
"We really should get going. We've got to get to Herbology or we'll be late." Harry, Ron, Hermione, Renata, Seamus, and Dean made their way across the grounds to the Greenhouses. Several Hufflepuffs and Neville were already waiting.
Professor Sprout emerged from Greenhouse Two. "Greenhouse one today!" She went back inside and the class trailed in after her. "Today we will be working with Mandrakes. Yes, I know we've covered these already but my new Stinging Fruit Bushes won't be here until next week; and the second years that were supposed to transplant these for me never finished. Let's have a quick review. What about a Mandrake is deadly?" Hermione raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"The cry of a Mandrake will kill you."
"Excellent, five points to Gryffindor. What about a Mandrake is useful?"
Justin Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff, raised his hand, "Mandrakes are important in most antidotes."
"Very good Justin, five points to Hufflepuff. Now class I want you in groups of four. Everyone must have on earmuffs from up front here before we begin to work. This lesson will count as a pop quiz because you all have known how to transplant Mandrakes by now. Fertilizer is up here and there are pots for each of you. Begin!" Everyone scrambled up to the front to seize a pair of earmuffs that weren't pink. Harry, Ron, and Hermione worked with Renata. Harry pulled the Mandrake out by its leaves; they were they only part above the soil. When the Mandrake was completely out he was holding an extremely ugly baby bawling at the top of its lungs. After a while Harry managed to force it into the new pot. Although the class found the assignment easier than it had been when they were second years it was still no easy job.
At last, dirty and sweaty the students were allowed to remove their earmuffs and trudge back inside the castle to get washed up before lunch. Sitting in the common room Ron and Harry were working with a scouring charm to get the dirt out from under their nails and they only achieved minimal success.
After lunch they went to their History of Magic class. As usual Professor Binns entered through his blackboard and began to talk of goblin rebellions and anti-witch/wizard acts passed by Muggles over the years. When the class was finally over, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Renata left with the others. Ron said, "Why isn't it tomorrow yet?"
"Because the world decided to torture us." The rest of the day passed slowly. By the time Ron, Harry, and Neville were back in the dormitory and getting ready for bed it felt as though a week had gone by. The time until Saturday seemed to pass just as slowly for all the third years and above who were awaiting the upcoming Hogsmeadeee trip.
As was usual for most of the students on weekends, Harry rose late Saturday. It was quarter to ten before he was in the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione. Ron was pouring syrup onto his pancakes when he said, "I reckon we should show Renata around today. The only time she's been to Hogsmeadeee was the day we took her and we were barely there."
"I already offered to show her around," Hermione said. "Parvati and Lavender offered too but I think she'll stick with us."
"Well, is she meeting us now or somewhere in the village?" Harry asked between mouthfuls.
"Renata told me that if she was awake she'd come with us; if not, she would meet up with us somewhere in the village," Hermione answered promptly.
The three of them finished eating and where in the entrance hall less than a half an hour later. They were just getting ready to leave when a voice called, "Wait up!" Renata was running down the marble stairs. "Just a sec!" She went to the great hall and came back a moment later munching a piece of toast. "All set." She walked to the door, then turned, laughing she said, "Coming or not?" They caught up. The four of them, along with most of the other Hogwarts students third year and older where walking across the grounds until they came to the gates and officially exited the school grounds. It wasn't too far of a walk to the village from there.
"Lets go to Honeydukes," Harry suggested. Honeydukes was the sweetshop in the village, but it didn't have anything you would expect; no Mars Bars, no M&Ms. What it did have was Drooble's Best-Blowing Bubblegum, Bertie Botts Every flavor Beans, Liquorice Wands, and other assorted sweets. "Ron, which would scare Dudley worse, Pepper Imps or those levitating Sherbet Balls?"
"I'm not sure," Ron said picking up a Cockroach Cluster. "Why not give him these?"
"Gross isn't enough. I want to scare him with magic but since I can't cast spells outside of school, this is the next best thing."
Hermione looked at both of them with serious disapproval. "It's not very nice."
"Neither is Dudley," Ron pointed out.
"Renata, which do you think would scare my cousin worse, levitating a few inches off the ground or having smoke come out of his ears?"
"I think the sherbet ball. But unless you're planning to go home over the holidays I wouldn't buy it until the end of the year otherwise the spell in the candy could wear off."
"Good point." Harry along with the others went up to the register. Harry purchased some Chocolate Frogs, a few packs of Drooble's Best-Blowing Bubblegum, and, a new addition to the store, a box of Gingerbread men that ran away so you had to chase them in order to eat them.
The owner had told them, "These should be selling well when the holidays come, but I wanted some test sales now."
The three of them stopped at the post office. It was an interesting place filled with owls tagged with different colors. The cost of delivering the letter depended on how far the owl had to go and how fast you wanted it to get there. Next they went to Zonkos, the joke shop. Lee Jordan was there with the Weasley twins. The owner was examining some of the twins' products in their line of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes; it was their own line of jokes that they hoped to have running, they included fake wands, "Canary Creams" which briefly turned you into a large canary before you molted a moment later, and Ton-Tongue Toffees which contained an engorgement charm. Harry's cousin had been unfortunate to come across one of the toffees the summer before, though Harry and the Weasley boys thoroughly felt Dudley had deserved what he got. Harry and Ron left Zonkos with Filibuster's Fabulous No Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks and of course a sack of Dungbombs. It was getting a bit chilly when they came out.
"I think we should head to the Three Broomsticks." They made their way to the pub. Harry went to get drinks from Madam Rosmerta at the bar. It was much busier today. Harry carried the drinks back to the table.
"Hogsmeadeee isn't bad," Renata remarked.
"It's the only completely non-Muggle settlement in Britain. Its terrific." Ron poked Harry and pointed off to one corner where a single figure sat. "Isn't that the girl that was here when we were?"
"I think so."
Hermione looked up and saw her. "She must be staying the village."
When Harry went back to talking with his friends he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them. Or the feeling that the person watching them was the young woman in the corner. When they had finished their drinks they got up and left. Just outside the door, Harry ran into someone, literally. It was a red-haired person, rather stocky with a good-natured face, and a bandaged arm. It was Charlie Weasley.
"Hello, Harry," He grinned at him.
Before Harry could respond Ron did, "What are you doing here?"
Hermione responded before Charlie could. "What happened to your arm?"
"Let's all go in and sit down." So the four of them accompanied by Charlie went back inside. The table they had left just a few moments before was still empty so they returned to it. "First off," Charlie told them once they were seated and had drinks. "Truth be told this is in a way Hagrid's fault, you know. I was dealing with that dragon of his and I got burned. It was worse not so bad now but they gave me a couple days off and I wanted to stop here before stopping by home and then going back to work in Peru."
"Peru? Charlie, weren't you stationed in Romania?"
"What? Hagrid's got a dragon?" Ron's expression clearly said "Not another one!"
"No, don't worry. I was talking about that Longhorn he had earlier this year. I was the one sent to pick her up and take her to a dragon reservation. Yeah, I was in Romania, but they've got me helping to train a few wizards that are a bit new to handling the dragons out there, besides the Peruvian Vipertooth is the fastest dragon there is. I've never had a chance to study one really. A little in Romania, that place is a reservation for most types of dragons, but I've never studied in it's own environment before. It's good to see you all. I'll tell mum and dad hi for you." Charlie got up and left, as did the others. They said goodbye to Charlie and headed back to the school.
Dinner was just starting as they arrived in the Great Hall. Renata saw Parvati and Lavender looking at her and they were more than a little bit cross. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat a few seats over. They could hear the two girls telling Renata that she should have told them she wasn't spending the day with them because they were waiting for half an hour before Hannah Abbot, a Hufflepuff girl, told them that she'd seen Renata leave. Renata seemed to let the words go in one ear and out the other as she watched her mom at the staff table looking s bit pale. After dinner, Harry and Ron went back to the common room to do the Divination homework they'd been assigned that they still hadn't completed. They were supposed to explain the relativity of the stars positions to those of the planets. The two of them finally finished as Hermione returned from the library.
"Is it just me or are we getting more work than last year?" Ron asked as he slammed A Clairvoyant's Guide to Knowing All down on the desk.
"Of course we're getting more work," she answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "We are taking the O.W.L.s this year." The O.W.L.s were the Ordinary Wizarding Levels, tests taken by the students in their fifth year. It was late, so Hermione said goodnight and went upstairs.
"She'll have study schedules for us by Christmas," Ron muttered shaking his head. Harry and he cleared up their books, parchment, quills, ink bottles, and headed upstairs. They went upstairs and changed into their pajamas. Harry pulled the crimson hangings around his bed closed and fell asleep.
In the morning Ron and Harry went down to breakfast with Seamus and Dean. The morning mail arrived as usually by hundreds of owls flying into the Great Hall. To Harry's surprise and confusion an owl landed in front of him. It wasn't Hedwig. Sirius must have heard something. Harry checked that Seamus and Dean were deep in conversation before opening his letter. However, the letter was not from Sirius. It read:
Harry Potter,
You were looking for something important, and yet for some reason unbeknownst to myself you seemed to have stopped. Continue your search for information on the Book of Ever. If you still need more help with information I shall send something on Christmas.
A Friend of A Friend
When Harry was done reading it and wearing a flabbergasted expression he handed it to Ron. Ron was bewildered. He asked in an undertone, "Who sent this?"
"Dunno."
"Maybe Dumbledore."
"No, he would have signed it, or just talked to us. Besides when he helps us he's not so direct."
"Then who sent it?"
When Hermione came downstairs fifteen minutes later the boys still had no idea as to who sent the letter. "What's the matter with you two?" Harry showed her the letter. "Who sent this?"
"We don't know."
"Lets go for a walk around the lake and think." They got up and went outside. They walk around the lake for a while then settled down in the shade. "We don't know who did send the letter but we've got a good idea of who didn't send it. We could make a list." So the did. An hour later the list was looking very long but it didn't help know did send it. The list was unfortunately all bottom and no top. They knew none of the teachers had sent it, none of the students, not Lupin, and not Sirius.
"What does it mean 'we stopped our search'?" asked Ron.
"Isn't it obvious? We were all looking for, I guess I should say searching to find out what the Book of Ever was. We haven't looked at the books since we brought them back from the library. The person who sent this knows that we were looking for the information and that we hadn't found it. But who knows? Everyone is on our list! This is frustrating. Harry you are going to tell Professor Dumbledore, right?"
"Hermione, Harry isn't a baby. he doesn't need to tell Dumbledore whenever he gets a letter."
"How about Sirius? You have to tell someone responsible."
"Okay, then." Hermione and Ron both looked at Harry in shock. Harry stood up and wearing a serious expression he said, "Ron, I would like to tell you about a suspicious letter I received this morning. It was signed 'a friend of a friend' and I don't know who sent it." He turned to Hermione. "Happy now?"
"That is not what I meant and you know it!"
"Hermione, Ron's right I don't need someone to watch out for me all the time."
"Think about it, Harry, there has always been someone watching you, all the time." Harry looked at her, perplexed. She spoke very angrily, "When you were little it was your parents, while you were with the Dursleys you had them and without even knowing it Mrs. Figg too probably, at Hogwarts Dumbledore always seems to know more or less where you are and what you're doing! You always have people watching out for you! Although somehow they still don't manage to pay enough attention."
Harry realized Hermione had a point but he still didn't like the facts and he wasn't about to admit she was right. "I don't care and I don't have to tell the Headmaster everything that happens. He's got plenty of other people to worry about right now." Hermione burst into tears and ran off muttering something about how stupid boys could be.
"I'm going in to see if they posted the new Quidditch line up yet." Without waiting for Ron's response Harry turned heel and left for Gryffindor Tower. Ron easily caught up to him but he didn't say anything. The only time either of them spoke again was at the portrait where they gave the password. Harry went straight to the bulletin board.
People were clustered around it he and Ron edged their way to the front. The line up read as following: Keeper, Renata Delano; Beater, Fred Weasley; Beater, George Weasley; Chaser, Alicia Spinnet; Chaser, Angelina Johnson; Chaser, Katie Bell; Seeker, Harry Potter. At the top of the list next to Captain was the name Harry Potter.
"You did it, Harry!" Ron said.
Fred and George came over and said, "Good job, Harry."
"When's our first practice, coach?" George asked grinning.
"Tuesday or Wednesday I guess," replied Harry.
"Good man, you won't make us work through Halloween."
"See you." The twins left.
"I wonder if Renata knows she made the team," Harry said, mostly just thinking out loud.
"I haven't seen her since yesterday at dinner. I bet she is with Hermione."
"Or Parvati and Lavender. They didn't like that she ditched them yesterday." A little while later Ron and Harry went down to dinner. They didn't see Hermione anywhere. "I wonder if she might be in the bathroom crying."
"I don't think she's done that since we were in our first year." Harry was remembering Halloween five years ago, as of tomorrow. It had been from that day on that Hermione was their friend. "I hope she's not still upset."
"She still shouldn't have bossed you around so much, though," commented Ron through a mouth thoroughly stuff with mashed potatoes.
"All the same…" Harry said as they headed up marble staircase afterward. "I don't think I need to tell Dumbledore. I don't need taking care of all the time."
The next day, Hermione barely spoke to Harry and spoke only slightly more to Ron. Other than that, the day passed as normal as things got at Hogwarts. When they arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast the usual Halloween decorations were up. There were about a hundred carved pumpkins, and live bats flying back and forth. Harry could hardly believe it was October 31 already, it seemed only yesterday had been September 1 and he had gotten on the train. The school was in its usual excitement for Halloween. That night, after lessons, everyone was assembled for the feast. The golden plates and goblets were sparkling clean. Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Happy Halloween!" The smile he wore seemed too big for merely his face to hold. As he had spoken, the platters and bowls had filled with food; the house-elves had done a superb job with their cooking. After everyone had finished eating all the candles were extinguished except those in the carved pumpkins. Then the ghosts rose into the air.
The ghosts glided around for a while in formations. Harry nudged Ron and nodded over to the right; Moaning Myrtle had come out of her toilet to join the ghosts. This was surprising because Myrtle, unlike the other ghosts, was extremely sensitive of the fact that she was dead and spent most of her time sobbing in the bathroom where she had died. Myrtle came over and sat by Ron. "Hello. You two haven't visited me in ages." She was her glum self. "Neither has your friend."
"We've been busy and we don't want to get in trouble."
"I guess." She floated away. The Bloody Baron, the gaunt Slytherin ghost, then immersed all the students in a dramatic and gruesome story of his death. It may have been true, as he was covered with silver blood. Or it may not have been, but it was quite frightening all the same. As the Baron had been telling it he had glided in and out of the shadows. Several times throughout the story students had shrieked. At the end he settled down in his seat right next to Draco Malfoy. Ron, as well as Harry was pleased to see Malfoy was even paler than usual and not happy with the ghost sitting beside him.
Professor Dumbledore stood up, "It's time for bed. Off you go, now!"
Harry walked up with Ron. "I don't think I've ever heard the Bloody Baron speak before."
"Do you reckon its true? The story?"
"I don't know." At any rate it had been interesting. As they reached the tower Harry spotted Hermione. She looked composed. The story seemed not to have upset her in the least, but her eyes were slightly red and a bit puffy from earlier. As Harry and Ron ascended the stairs to their dormitory they called "'Night, Hermione!" She ignored them. Harry, very tired and full, fell asleep as soon as he lay down on his bed.
The next day passed fairly the same as the last. Professor McGonagall, head of the Gryffindor house had given them lots of very hard Transfiguration homework.
After the last lesson of the afternoon was over Harry got his Firebolt from his trunk, said goodbye to Ron, who was about to start some hopeless equations to determine the position of Jupiter's moons the day he was born. Harry went out to the Quidditch field. Hermione still wasn't on speaking terms with him. It was getting annoying. In a few minutes the rest of the team was out there with him. They all looked at him waiting for instructions. He didn't know what to say.
George poked Harry with his broom handle and whispered to him, "Say something."
"Er—"
"What was that, Harry?" asked Fred.
"It looks like we've got a great team this year. I know if we work and train hard that Quidditch Cup will have our name on it this year. I know it will. Why doesn't everybody take a few laps around the field while I get the balls out of the broom shed?" The others mounted and took off while he went to open the shed. Harry took out a large crate. He opened it and inside there were four balls: a tiny golden one called the Snitch, a red one the size of a soccer ball called the Quaffle and two black ones slightly smaller than the Quaffle that were straining to escaped the straps holding them in the box. When Harry took the crate he had also grabbed two short bats, rather like the ones used in Cricket. The team was back on the ground. He took a deep breath, "Okay why don't Angelina, Alicia, and Katie get the Quaffle and practice their scoring and Renata can work with them trying to block them. Fred and George can take their bats and I'll let the Bludgers out and see if I can catch the Snitch. Let's go." Harry threw the Quaffle to Renata and she took off with the other girls. Fred and George took their familiar bats and soared high. Harry let out the Bludgers and the Snitch, all three of these balls zoomed into the air and Harry followed. It turned out to be a good training session. Thanks to Fred and George no one got hit by the Bludgers; as Wood, the old captain who had graduated at the end of Harry's third year, had once told him the Weasley twins were practically a pair of human Bludgers themselves. As good as the Gryffindor Chasers were, they had a hard time getting the Quaffle passed Renata. Tired out, they all went inside as it began to get dark. Harry and Fred wrestled the Bludgers back into the crate (the Snitch had already been put away) and Harry put the crate back in the broom shed. They all went inside.
On the way back to Gryffindor Tower Renata took hold of Harry's arm, she was strong and it was like a vice grip. "Look, you've gotta to apologize to Hermione. She was only looking out for you and she is real upset. If I were you I would say something soon. She's your friend, she cares about you and she doesn't want you hurt and she doesn't want to lose you. If you are really willing to risk losing a friend like her you are just an idiot, " She stared at him for a moment with a look Harry couldn't decipher and then let go of his arm and went inside.
After a moment of rubbing his arm to get the feeling back in it Harry did too. Reluctantly, Harry went over to where Hermione was sitting. "Can I talk to you a minute?" She looked at him rather coldly. He figured he deserved it. He took a deep breath because he knew he'd have trouble saying the next few sentences. "I shouldn't have been so rude when you were looking out for me. I don't know who sent the letter but I am going to wait a bit and see if I can figure out anymore of it before going to Dumbledore. I know you were just trying to help. Sorry."
"Thank you, and apology accepted." She smiled "Let's go see Ron, I think he needs help with his Transfiguration homework."
They were all friends again. Things were much better that way. The next weeks went by quickly. It was mid-November and the Gryffindor's first Quidditch match of the season was about to take place, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. The night before the match Harry had trouble sleeping, and why shouldn't he? It would be his first match of the year. In the morning at breakfast Harry could hardly eat, although the other Gryffindors were full of confidence in the team and they were all looking forward to watching a good match. Outside the locker room Ron and Hermione wished Harry good luck and they went to get seats. Harry and the others on the team went into the locker room to put on their scarlet Quidditch robes. Then Harry began his speech. "What can I say? We've got a great team this year. We've been practicing hard and we know what to do. As long as we fly how we've been doing at practice we'll do just great. Let's go win us a match." As Harry said these last words Fred and George cracked their bats together. "Wait, where's Katie?"
"She's sick. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let her leave the hospital wing, not even to watch the match."
"Katie is really upset that she's missing the first match."
"Sorry though she is, that doesn't help us," frowned Harry. "What are we supposed to do?"
"I'll fill in for Katie. I played as Chaser sometimes, back at the Angels' Academy And then whoever our reserve Keeper is can play for me."
Then the team stepped out onto the field and the crowd was roaring with cheers, with the exception of the boos coming from the Slytherins and a little less support from the Ravenclaw house which of course was rooting for its own team.
Madam Hooch called the captains to her, "I want a fair game. Shake hands." Harry turned and, slightly pink in the cheeks, he shook hands with Cho Chang the Ravenclaw captain. "Mount your brooms. On my whistle…3…2…1…" She blew her whistle, the balls were released and they were all in the air.
The twins' friend Lee Jordan, closely observed by Professor McGonagall, was running the commentary. If he wasn't being observed he tended to get more carried away than usual. "And they're off. Renata Delano is filling in for Katie Bell and Alec Freeman is playing in Renata's place. Ravenclaw has the Quaffle. Chaser Mandy Brocklehurst attempts to score and Gryffindor's new keeper Renata Delano who is acting as a replacement Chaser for this match steals the Quaffle. She looks to be an excellent Quidditch player but if she hopes to be better than former Keeper Oliver Wood she may need some work before the next match. Okay, so Gryffindor in possession Angelina Johnson has the Quaffle attempts to score and…ten points to Gryffindor!"
Harry soared mostly above the rest of the game keeping an eye out for the Snitch. At one point a Bludger came his way and George beat it towards the other team and said hi to Harry. Then Harry saw the Snitch, it was just behind Madam Hooch's broom. Harry knew Cho's strategy was to follow the other Seeker and then out fly him or her. So Harry took a steep dive in the opposite direction, pulling up inches from the ground and then he took off after the Snitch, he almost had it but it began to change direction. By now Cho had seen the Snitch and was going after it too. Both Seekers were coming from opposite directions and it was likely that they would crash. Meanwhile Lee was still commenting. "Chaser Terry Boot for Ravenclaw narrowly scores bringing the total points so far with Gryffindor still in the lead 30 points to 20 points." Lee then noticed Cho and Harry. "Whoa, looks like our Seekers might crash head on if someone doesn't change course soon." He was right.
Just barely arms length away from the Snitch Harry turned his broom and then grabbed the Snitch from the side and then he flew up and flew in a few circles. Lee Jordan had been watching. "And the game is over! Gryffindor wins! 180 points to 20 points!" The catch of the Snitch ends a match and gives the team who catches it an extra one hundred fifty points. Harry and the rest of the team landed. The stands emptied as the students came down to congratulate the teams.
"Great job, Harry!" Ron said patting him on the back.
"You were all terrific!" exclaimed Hermione.
Over the din the twins yelled, "Party in the Common Room tonight!" The twins used the afternoon filch food from the kitchen, and using one of the secret passageways get some Honeydukes candy and some butter beer from the Three Broomsticks. The party lasted most of the night.
It was soon the week before Christmas break, the time and gone by so fast. Professor McGonagall was coming around Gryffindor Tower with a sign up sheet for people that were staying at Hogwarts for Christmas break. Harry signed up immediately. Hermione and Ron stayed too, not because like him they were unwanted at home, but to keep Harry company. Harry and Ron were usually the only two from their dormitory staying, and things were no different this year. The last Saturday before the holidays was another Hogsmeadeee day.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione shopped for a while. Hermione picked out presents for her parents so she could send them off later. They were walking passed Dervish and Banges when a drawling voice near them said, "Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers are going to get it first. My bet is you won't live the year out." Draco Malfoy stared coldly at the three of them before disappearing in the crowd.
"C'mon, let's go," Harry muttered. They turned and left the walked until they reached Dervish and Banges. They stopped a moment and then continued on. They reached a trail near a hill and stopped; apparently waiting for something.
After a moment Hermione spoke quietly. "I was expecting a big, black dog." Ron and Harry nodded they were about to turn when a dark shape emerged from the bushes. It was a large, black dog.
The dog immediately turned up the path. The students followed. They climbed up the hill. They reached a fissure in the rocks and went inside to a cave. The dog then transformed into Sirius Black. "I said that I would come when I could."
Harry grinned. "You didn't say you were coming today." Harry noticed something tied in the back or the cave. "How long has Buckbeak been here?"
"Dawn. Would the three of you take him to Hagrid when you go back? I've grown rather fond of him but I don't have much time for a pet just now."
"Have you heard anything?"
"Not much. A few trusted ministry officials that believe our side have been informed not to pass information to those that got off on their Death Eater charges all those years ago. But there is something else." Sirius cocked his head. "Tom, from the Leaky Cauldron, was missing for almost a week after you lot left. And he's gone again."
"Why? Did he say where he'd been?"
"We don't know. No one has told him anything yet, but we don't suspect him of anything either. The Leaky Cauldron is supposed remain neutral in all of this. Pass this information on for me, would you? I don't really have much time for a visit to Hogwarts. I've got to be back at Remus's place soon. I'll see you when I can." Sirius patted Buckbeak on his beak for a moment then turned into his dog form and left.
"Don't let anyone see you face, Sirius!" called Ron.
Evidently Sirius had heard him; padded feet were coming back to the cave. He changed back to himself long enough to say, "I better not hear about any of you in trouble." He transformed to his four-legged shape and left again.
Harry turned to the others. "Let's go then." He approached Buckbeak, bowed, and waited for the Hippogriff to return the bow. He did. Harry patted his beak then untied him and led him down out of the cave, Hermione and Ron followed. As they made it back to Hogwarts got several curious glances from passersby. As soon as they reached the grounds they headed to Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was outside with Fang. "Hullo! What're you lot up to? Not up ter any trouble I hope."
"We've brought you someone, Hagrid!" called Harry. He approached with Buckbeak.
"Buckbeak! How'd yeh find 'im?" Hagrid was petting and patting the Hippogriff happily.
"We found him up around Hogsmeadeee."
"What will you do with him, Hagrid?"
"Probably see if the other Hippogriffs let him back in. They don' like ter when one has been gone too long. Bu' we'll see." Harry could tell Hagrid hoped they wouldn't so that he could keep him. "You three better head up ter the castle it's getting' late. Yeh shouldn't be out after dark. These 're bad days ahead."
"We've got plenty of time to walk back to the castle, Hagrid. Bye!" They set off. After dinner they went up to the Tower. Harry found a note on his bed when he went to his dorm. It held only three words. Harry, confused, read them aloud. "Are you frightened?" The paper burst into green flames as he spoke and the flames left no ashes behind. He fell into a dreamless slumber.
Harry woke up on Christmas morning, rather short of breath. This was due to the fact that he had been waken by having Ron throw a pillow at his face. Harry put on his glasses and threw the pillow back at Ron, "Merry Christmas!"
"Presents!" Ron said both he and Harry began to open the piles that were at the end of their beds. Hermione came in a moment later, with a dressing gown over her nightgown and her arms full of packages, and she sat on Seamus' empty bed; Seamus, Dean, and Neville had all gone home for the holidays leaving Harry and Ron the whole dorm. "Hermione you're not supposed to be in here!"
"As if you care about that? Merry Christmas to you, too! To both of you." She began to open her parcels.
Harry was opening his and found a bottle cap with the a note saying "If possible, don't come back this summer." He read it, not expecting anything better from the Dursleys. His other presents were much nicer. From Mrs. Weasley he got his yearly Weasley sweater, this year an inky green, and a box of her delicious meat pies. Hermione had given him a box of Honeydukes' new Gingerbread men and Ron had given him sugar quills. Hagrid had sent a Box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and a feather. If the feather hadn't come with a note he wouldn't have known what to make of it. The note told him the feather came from Buckbeak and that Hippogriff feathers were good luck. He also got a watch from Sirius and it told not only the time, but the day, month, year, and your current location. All that was left was a small, rectangular package was at the bottom of his pile of presents. It was wrapped in brown paper and it bore a note.
Harry Potter,
I told you that I would send another hint if you still had not discovered more information about the Book of Ever. I am very disappointed in you. Have you even looked at the books you took from the library? I think not. Read the marked pages in this book. They may be of use. In fact, they will.
Merry Christmas,
A Friend of A Friend
Hermione and Ron had come over to see what was wrong. "Nothing," lied Harry, trying to put the paper away. But in an instant Ron had snatched it. His face turned pale under his freckles. Hermione took the note from Ron and after reading gasped. No one spoke.
"Harry, open the package," whispered Hermione faintly.
He had all but forgotten it. Deftly, as if in a dream Harry opened the package and in it was an old beat up book with a grimy cover. A page was marked with purple ribbon, Harry turned to that page. A note was there. It simply stated that those two pages should be read. Harry looked down at the book and took a deep breath.
The door swung open. "You weren't researching the Book of Ever with out me were you?" Renata stood in the doorway framed in the doorway and casually leaning against it, already dressed and with three large books in her arms. "Merry Christmas, here are those library books you guys took." She threw three large heavy books to the ground. "Hermione you're lucky you and I are the only girls in our dorm here for Christmas otherwise questions could have come up because you were gone." They all read a bit and then read aloud what they found that was of use. " 'The Book of Ever is said to have always been and therefore it was not written it just was. It is said to have come into existence when—' and that's all folks the rest is blotted out with dark ink."
"Let me try." Hermione picked up the next book. " 'No one is sure of what will happen if the Book of Ever undergoes any harm. Some people think—' The rest of the page is torn out," her face horrified that something like that should happen to a library book.
"My turn. 'The Book of Ever is one of the most important magical objects. It is also possibly one of the most dangerous because—' that's all! The words aren't here." And indeed the words simply were not there.
Harry grimaced and took a deep breath as he looked at the book he had received that morning. He began to read, " 'The Book of Ever is said to have not been written, but it simply existed and everything is in it. That will ever be. It is said to have come into being with the birth of the first Phoenix. Because of this many people fear the final death of the last Phoenix will be the end of the book. No one is quite sure what will happen when there are no Phoenixes left. Some speculate the end of the world. Others have more optimistic outlooks. Some of the optimists feel the world will be cleansed. No one is certain. The Book is considered dangerous because if you write in it you may be changing the natural course of the world, either past, present, or future.' "
"We better go downstairs or everyone will wonder where we all are. We can talk about the Book later." Harry and Ron looked out into the common room it was deserted. The four of them all left the room. If Hermione and Renata had been seen there would have been trouble. Trouble they would rather not risk. They had just reached the chairs in the common room when Fred and George came in a few minutes later the twins were laughing hysterically. "We just locked Filch in a closet!"
"What?"
"Yeah, Perce isn't around right now so we had to do something to entertain ourselves."
"We let off a Dungbomb and then when he went to get something to clean it up with we locked the door."
"Come on George, let's go see if Lee is done bewitching those snowballs to follow Dumbledore around."
"Later guys! See you for the snowball fight." Still laughing the twins left.
"Ron, didn't they already use bewitched snowballs?"
"Yeah, a few years ago. They must be losing their touch." Just then Ginny came down the stairs.
"Merry Christmas!"
Harry and Ron said hi and then went back upstairs to get out of their pajamas. Then they joined the others in the common room. "Let's go eat." They went down to breakfast. Fred and George were already there, sniggering. Harry looked up. There were six snowballs, dancing around the Headmaster's head. After eating Harry, went outside to have a snowball fight with Ron and the Weasley twins. About a half an hour later Ginny, Hermione, and Renata came out to see how the fight was going. Harry and Ron were losing because snowballs kept coming up at them from behind and hitting them just as they were throwing. Harry suddenly remembered the snowball speeding up potion he had bought in Diagon Ally and he summoned it from his room.
Adding the potion did help even the odds a bit. The girls watched for a few minutes and then Ginny joined Fred and George and Hermione and Renata teamed up with Ron and Harry. Turned out both of them were very good at throwing; especially Renata. By the time the fight was over everyone was cold, wet, and tired and there was just enough time to clean up before the Christmas tea. They went into the Great Hall where all the decorations were up; there were at least a dozen trees covered in decorations, there were party crackers at every place setting. Dumbledore had already pulled a cracker and switched his wizard hat for the baseball cap that came out of the cracker. Harry didn't open his until he was done with his rice pudding and when he did a bouquet of yellow daisies came out of the first one, which he then traded with a second year girl he didn't know for a bottle of ink that changed color depending on your mood When the second cracker opened with bang like a cannon going off he got a tiny working model of the Hogwarts Express. By the time everyone was done they were all tired.
When they all stood up to leave. Dumbledore stood up for a last announcement. "Tonight we shall hold a soccer game in the Quidditch stadium. For those of you who do not know, soccer is a Muggle sport. If you wish to play be at the field at 8 o'clock. The rules will be explained there."
Harry and Ron got up. On the way back to the Tower they stopped at the kitchens to say Merry Christmas to Dobby and Winky. They were two of the house-elves. Harry gave Dobby a pair of socks, not matching of course; Dobby didn't think they were supposed to match. One sock was yellow with pink polka-dots and the other was green with orange stripes. Dobby was very pleased and gave Harry a hat he made himself, it was covered broomsticks so that it would match one of the socks Dobby gave him last year. Harry and Ron said goodbye. "Do you reckon we should play?"
"The soccer game? Why not?"
"It's not too hard is it?"
"You never played? It's not too difficult. I had to play it in gym when I went too school with the Muggles." They went back to Gryffindor Tower.
The first thing Harry heard when he went in was, "Hiya Harry! Hiya Harry!"
"Hullo Colin, hullo Dennis." Colin and Dennis Creevy were a fourth year and a second year both of who seemed to idolize Harry. Nothing seemed to give them more pleasure than saying "Hiya Harry" hearing him reply, no matter how exasperated he sounded.
"Harry! Harry! Are you gonna play soccer tonight, Harry? We will! It's so much fun. Back home we used to play all the time. Bye'ya Harry we're going down to see what the teams are!" The two left.
"Let's ask who else is playing, Ron."
It turned out that both Renata and Hermione were playing. So were most of the people staying at Hogwarts for the holidays, no one really had anything better to do after all. When it was almost eight they all headed down to the Quidditch stadium. Dumbledore was waiting and he was holding a black and white ball the size of a Quaffle in his hands. When everyone was there he began to speak. "The teams will be Gryffindor and Hufflepuff against Slytherin and Ravenclaw. The heads of the houses may also participate and play for their teams. Madam Hooch shall be the referee. Here are the rules." He went into an explanation of the basic rules. "Begin!" He conjured a large, purple, overstuffed chair and sat down. While he had been speaking the teachers had been handing out scarlet and canary yellow jerseys to the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff team. At the same time green and blue jerseys were handed out to the Slytherin/Ravenclaw team. Harry and Ron had barely put their jerseys on over their robes when they realized that their team had the ball. The game went on fairly smoothly. Professor McGonagall actually turned out to be quite a good goalie. There were only two minutes left in the second half when Ron nudged Harry and nodded to where a blonde figure was swaggering across the field and kicking the ball. Harry hadn't realized that Draco Malfoy was staying for at Hogwarts for the holidays and in his moment of shock the ball hit him in the chest.
He fell over and hit the ground with a smack. It was a moment before anyone realized what had happened and in the moment someone on the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff team scored the winning goal. Meanwhile someone finally noticed Harry lying on the ground, breathing hard. Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was standing at the edge of the field and suddenly noticed him. She conjured a stretcher beside her and bustled over to where Harry was. "What happened?"
Harry was still trying to catch his breath because breathing was still coming hard. "The soccer ball…got me real hard…in the chest…and knocked…me over." His head was spinning. After that he couldn't remember much of anything. When Harry woke up everything was blurry. They must have taken his glasses. His head was still sore. He tried to sit up and he couldn't quite manage it. Harry moved his arm to find his glasses and it was stopped by a hand.
"Harry, you're not ready do get up yet. Put your arm down and go back to sleep."
"Yes, Professor Delano. Why are you here?"
"Professor Dumbledore wanted someone to be here when you woke up and he had somewhere he needed be and so he asked me to wait until he returned. Now go back to sleep. You suffered a minor concussion and some cracked ribs. You hit the ground awfully hard. Madam Pomfrey mended you ribs but you'll still be sore for a day or so and both she and the Headmaster wants you to get some rest. Go to sleep," She opened a book that had been on her lap. Harry just glimpsed the title The Fellowship of the Ring, before he fell asleep.
When Harry woke up again. His head didn't hurt quite so much but he was still a little dizzy and sore. He still couldn't see very well without his glasses but when he went to reach for them no one stopped him. It wasn't long after Harry put the glasses on his head that Madam Pomfrey came to his bed carrying a tray of food. "The Headmaster wants you to spend tonight here in the hospital wing and rest. He may want you to spend tomorrow here as well."
"If Ron or Hermione comes, you will let them in, right?"
"Yes. In the Christmas spirit Professor Dumbledore insisted that if any visitors came when you were awake they should be allowed to see you. Both of them were here just after you were brought in but they were told they could come back later, and I am sure they will."
"Thank you." Madam Pomfrey left and Harry began to eat, feeling lonely. He wasn't really hungry but he didn't feel up to arguing. It was Christmas and he was stuck in the hospital wing. It wasn't until a half an hour after Harry had finished eating that Ron and Hermione came. Renata was there too.
"We wanted to come earlier, but Dumbledore said we had to wait."
Harry struggled to sit up.
"Don't bother sitting up, Harry. We can't stay long and sitting up will make you dizzier," Renata told him.
He lay back down the rest of the way and said, "I didn't even know that Malfoy was staying for the holidays."
"No one else did either," said Ron earnestly. "After you were brought up here Dumbledore was questioning Malfoy. Asking why he hadn't signed up to stay when the lists were coming around. And he asked whether or not he hit you on purpose. He said no but I don't believe him, I don't know whether or not Dumbledore believes him. I hope not. Do you feel okay? That was a bad fall."
"They said it was a concussion and cracked ribs. I've got stay here tonight and at least part of tomorrow."
"That sounds like a fun way to spend Christmas."
"Yeah," Harry sighed.
Renata took something out of her pocket. "This was written by a Muggle but I really think you'll like it. Borrow it. At least it'll pass time while your stuck here." She placed The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien on the table beside the bed. "I have to go see my mom. Bye, Harry."
"We have to go too, Harry."
"We'll see you tomorrow. Read, it'll keep you busy for a while."
"Bye then," Harry said. Then as he still felt it to be too early to go to sleep yet Harry opened the book and began to read. It was an hour and a half later when Harry was just ending a chapter called Riddles in the Dark he received another visitor.
"Hello Harry. How do you feel?"
"I'm fine Professor Dumbledore."
"No snakes tonight I hope?"
"No. Did you get the letter I left on your desk?"
"Yes, I did. Three snakes now. Do you know whether or not young Malfoy purposely hit the soccer ball at you?"
"Well, as we weren't on the same team and there weren't any Slytherins near me and as Malfoy and I don't get along well I think it was on purpose." It was a serious understatement; Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter loathed each other. He and Malfoy regarded each other as the scum of the earth.
"I thought so. When I asked why Mister Malfoy hadn't signed up to stay he claimed that something had suddenly come up and his father could not pick him up at the station. He will be sent home tomorrow, one of his relatives will come for him. I suggest you rest here tonight and in the morning you shall be released to the rest of the castle. Remember this, Harry, I said the castle; I want you on the grounds as seldom as possible and I'd prefer if you don't leave them. I'm only saying this because you have a tendency to do so and I am concerned for your safety." Professor Dumbledore stood to leave.
"Wait, why exactly is it that I am always the assumed target?" Harry asked. He was very frustrated with the whole business. He didn't much care for being a possible murder target.
"Because you are, Harry; because you are you. It is not easy to decipher the minds of others but for some reason it is you that Voldemort wants dead. I realize that his attempts to seek revenge and regain power by killing you seem quite tiring on your part and I agree but there isn't anything you could just say or do to change things. The change will come in its own time, all we can do is nudge it along. Goodnight."
"Goodbye, Professor." Harry began to read once more. It was quite late when Madam Pomfrey came in, found him still reading, and turned off the light. Harry was not happy about this because he only had four chapters left, but he was tired so he let sleep take him. In the morning he had breakfast and Madam Pomfrey checked that the last of Harry's bones were mended and then she let him leave.
Harry stopped by the Great Hall but left when he didn't see Ron or Hermione. He went up to Gryffindor Tower. Once there, Harry found Renata deeply immersed in quiet conversation with Ron and Hermione. As Harry approached he realized they were discussing the Book of Ever. "It just cannot be coincidence that the information was deliberately missing from three books."
"Of course not. But the questions are who and why. There is always a reason. We just have to find it."
"Yeah and that is going to be the trick. How do we figure this out?"
Harry sat down. "Do you think we could find a list of all the people who checked out these books? Or would it be too suspicious?"
"But what if it wasn't someone who checked out the books?" Renata asked thoughtfully.
"I don't follow you."
"What if, it was a Headmaster?"
"Not Dumbledore. He doesn't seem to want to limit us, not even when the Ministry tells him to."
"Well what about the past Headmasters? If we know when the book was put in the library we can find out who was Headmaster, or Headmistress, at the time and then we could figure it out!"
"There are portraits of all of them in Dumbledore's office. But I know we are forgetting something," Harry said frowning.
"What?"
"I'm not sure, I'll have to think on it some more," Harry said kneading his forehead.
"So did you find out about Malfoy?"
"Yeah. Dumbledore is pretty sure he did it on purpose. In any case he's being sent home today."
"Too bad he isn't getting expelled."
"Yeah. Well how are we supposed to ask about when the books came without seemingly like we're up to something?"
"Personally I think Hermione should ask. It would be more plausible for her than any of the rest of us."
"I'll do it, but what excuse could I use?" asked Hermione dubiously.
"Anything you can think of. You're researching something or other and so you need to know how recent the books are or some such thing."
"I suppose."
"We should probably wait until term starts again because then more people will be using the library and we'll be more likely to go without being specifically noted for being there."
"Sounds right."
"Then I guess for now we've got it figured out." With nothing else to do the group broke up. Hermione and Renata went off somewhere and Ron and Harry sat in the armchairs by the fire plotting ways to get Malfoy expelled. It was fun to do, even if it was pointless. The rest of the day passed calmly. That night when Harry couldn't sleep he took out The Hobbit and began to read the last few chapters. He had never really enjoyed reading but this was a good book. He had just finished and was about to go up to bed when he fell asleep.
The next thing Harry knew was that he was being watched. He was awake but had not opened his eyes and he could feel someone looking at him. Then he heard a sneeze and opened his eyes and turned around. The Creevy brothers were in another armchair staring at him, fascinated.
"Morning!" They chirped brightly. "Hiya Harry."
"Hullo." Rubbing they arm that had gone numb with the way he had been laying on it Harry went to the dormitory to see if he could catch a few more hours sleep.
Ron woke up as Harry came in. "Where were you?"
"I fell asleep in an armchair by the fire."
"Were you reading?" Ron asked disbelievingly seeing the book in Harry's hand.
"Yeah. I was reading last night after you left and I just wanted to finish it before returning it."
"Reading." He shook his head. "You'll turn into Hermione if you don't watch out."
"Nah. That would never happen." Harry climbed into bed for a few more hours of sleep. Ron pulled the blankets off.
"No way. You woke me up, let's go eat."
"I'm tired."
"Too bad." They both spent the rest of the vacation in great spirits. Which was of course wonderful because they knew that when term started again there would be a lot of work to do. Everyone came back the day before term started.