Harry went to the Dining Hall that morning and sought out Rory, he
owed it to her to explain how things had gone. He found her and they sat a
little apart from the others.
"So how did it go last night? I want the whole story."
"He was waiting in the Trophy room for me. He was telling me about how great he thinks his little cousin is. He asked how much it would cost to keep quiet about what he thought about her. He said he didn't want to ruin his reputation as a tough guy." Harry didn't mention how near they'd gotten to an almost enjoyable conversation.
"See? I told you, you had nothing to worry about."
"And that was a nice touch last night 'The Bloody Baron scares me'." He laughed.
"It worked, didn't it?" She laughed. "You know, Malfoy is kind of like you."
"How is Malfoy anything like me?"
"Just hear me out. Both of you are stubborn, not too stupid;, you don't ask for help until you are desperate; and whether or not he likes admitting it Malfoy cares about his cousin, kind of like I know you care about a certain Gryffindor girl."
"No, no. Malfoy and I are completely different."
She chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Malfoy's cousin is like a sister to him, whereas that Gryffindor girl to you is-"
"Er.I've got to get to class, Aurora, goodbye." He hastily left the table. Rory was far too insightful for her own good.
He was early but he waited outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts room all the same. Sirius showed up five minutes before class.
"Harry, what are you doing here?"
"I didn't want to stay down there."
"Something's troubling you. You wanna come in and talk about it with me?"
Harry shook his head. "Girls know too much."
Sirius laughed. "They always do. And you'll never get used to it. Come in, everyone will be here soon."
Reluctantly, Harry followed him inside.
"Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's on your mind? I'm your godfather. That's what I'm here for, Harry."
"I'll be alright, Sirius. I just need to sort some things out in my head."
"Just remember: my door is always open."
Harry's classmates came in.
"Welcome class! Today we shall be working with."
Harry's thoughts drifted inside his head. Renata. The creepy new caretaker that helped Filch. Renata. The revelation that Malfoy had a half- human side. Renata. Before Harry realized it, class was over. What was the homework again? ********************************************************
The days passed quickly, the cold of winter turning into the cool of spring. January was over and February was beginning. Harry kept many of Renata's attitudes and strategies as far as Quiditch and it was more of a joint Captainship than him alone. He was really only Captain as far as title went now.
Unfortunate though it was, Malfoy's hair grew out again and the "Gryffindor" that had been there vanished. Strange rumors began to be whispered in the halls.
"Did you hear?" asked Ron.
"Hear what?"
"The Green Flame Torch has been found!"
"Green Flame Torch?"
"And stolen!"
"What's the Green Flame Torch?"
"Well, there were rumors and stories of a Green Flame Torch from about a thousand years ago, the rumors started showing up about it again a century ago. It was rumored to be able to open gateways to other dimensions. Lost for at least a few centuries rumors about it came back about a hundred years ago. The Daily Prophet just issued a report that it had been found, they didn't say where, but that it was missing again."
"So what does that mean exactly, Ron?"
"The Ministry is really anxious to find it. Can you imagine what a Deatheater would do with something like that?"
"What if one has it?" Harry said anxiously.
"Exactly. I think that's what happened to Azkaban. It would have taken a lot of power but if someone had found it and worked with a large group they could technically speaking pick Azkaban up and move it to another dimension. Somewhere where we couldn't find it."
"And our best guess at where Hagrid is.is Azkaban."
Ron nodded. "If we knew where it was we could go save Hagrid. I already told all of this to Hermione and Renata. They said it sounded right. Hermione's researching the Green Flame Torch in the library right now."
"Nobody else knows this, right?"
"Rumors are floating around the school, Harry. Now everybody knows that it's real and that it's missing. Before, it was just myth and legend. But nobody knows that's where Hagrid might be. No one but the four of us at least."
Harry stood and nodded. "Let's keep it that way." He followed Ron to the library where Hermione and Renata were waiting.
Hermione sat with an extremely large tome entitled Myths and Legends of the Wizarding World in her lap.
"Hermione-"
"Ssh! I'm reading." She spared the boys only a glance before returning to her brisk reading and thumbing through page, there were easily five thousand pages if not more.
Renata whispered to them, "She's been at this for hours. This book covers everything from the Chamber of Secrets to the Lost Islands of Merlin. The Green Flame Torch is in here somewhere. But we don't know where. There's no particular order. No table of contents. And no index."
"Did you find any other books about it?"
"No. This seems to be our only shot. There could be another book but look at the sheer size of this library."
Ernie Macmillan burst into the library, huffing and puffing as though he'd run the whole way there. "It's Tracey! She's been attacked!"
Harry's eyebrows shot up and he was among the first to reach Ernie.
"Sit down and explain what happened," Harry told him, trying to keep patient.
A girl pulled out a chair and Ernie collapsed into it.
"Thanks." His breathing was still quick and shallow.
"What happened, Ernie?"
"Where is she?"
"Is she okay?"
Someone in the back asked, "Who's Tracey?"
Ernie answered the last question first. "Tracey is this sweet little girl. A first year in Hufflepuff."
Harry tried to stay calm, "Ernie, where is she?"
"The hospital wing."
"Is she okay?" asked Harry anxiously.
"I don't know," he sighed. "I haven't seen her since she was moved into the hospital by some of the teachers.
Harry repeated, "What happened to her?"
"I'm not so sure. I- I- I found her in the hallway. Her head was bleeding. There was a V shaved into the back of her head. I think her arm might have been broken."
Harry sighed and wasn't sure if he was relieved or not. It sounded pretty much like the attacks they'd had in September, but Harry thought those were over.
Harry whispered to Ron that he'd be back soon. As much as he hated it he had to see Malfoy, and he knew where he'd be and that he'd be needed.
Harry found Malfoy in the Trophy room, where he knew he'd be.
"How'd you find me?" Malfoy asked coldly.
"Because, you're worried about Tracey but you wouldn't show your face at the hospital."
"I will. When the rest of them are gone."
"The latest a visitor can be there is ten o'clock."
Harry wasn't sure but there might have been gratitude in Malfoy's eyes.
Harry nodded.
"Potter, do me a favor. Will you?"
"Yeah, and what's that?"
"Check on her and watch out for her for me. Can I trust you to do that? And to keep quiet about it?"
"I will."
Malfoy had trouble saying the words but eventually he got it out. "Thank you," he muttered.
"I'll be back to tell you how she is."
Malfoy nodded.
When Harry got to the Hospital Wing a knot of visitors was just leaving and he slipped inside. Tracey was just waking up.
"Where's Drakey?" she asked weakly.
Harry tried to soothe her. "Ssh. He'll be here later. Ssh. Don't ask about him and he'll come later. I promise. Ssh. How are you?" Her head was all bandaged up and her arm was in a sling, but beyond that there was nothing else to indicate problems.
"I'm okay. I want to see Drakey."
"He'll be here later. Do you remember what happened?"
"I was walking and then somebody hit me and I woke up here. Do you know who it was?"
He shook his head.
"I think it was that scary man."
There were lots of scary men, who was it? "Was it professor Snape?"
"No. The one with the cat."
"Mr. Filch?"
"No. The other man with the cat."
The new caretaker! "Be good and I'll bring you some ice cream later. Okay? Strawberry?"
"Okay." She nodded and fell asleep.
Harry went back to the Trophy room and found Draco Malfoy pacing.
"How is she?" he asked sharply.
"She's fine. She was asking for you. I told her that if she stopped asking you would come later and I'd bring her strawberry ice cream."
Draco nodded. "You did the right thing, Potter."
Harry turned to leave.
"Harry."
He turned back around.
Malfoy said, through gritted teeth, "Harry, I owe you one."
Harry said nothing but acknowledged the remark with a nod. He had to be getting back to the library.
He found his friends still at the same table.
"Any luck?"
"No. Where were you?"
"I had to go check on something."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"No, you said it was something," persisted Renata.
"I went to the hospital to see if the attack was linked to the attacks earlier this year."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Were they linked?"
"Yeah. And we have a suspect."
"Don't keep us waiting!" Renata looked around and lowered her voice. "Well, who is it?"
"Pip Pumblechook."
Renata started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Hermione asked crossly.
"Nothing. It's just.That's from Great Expectations. Well at least that's the only time I ever heard the name 'Pumblechook' and as for Pip, well that was out of the same book."
"So what are you saying?"
"I don't know what I'm saying. It just seems odd. That's all. Just odd."
By the time Madam Pince closed the library, Anthony had disturbed them twice wanting to talk to Hermione (Ron threatened to give him a black- eye if he came a third time), almost every other person was out of the library, and the three of them still hadn't found anything useful.
"Hermione, we should be taking turns with this book. You're straining your eyes. What page are you on?"
"There's no page numbers. If I lose my place I'll have to start over."
"Here, I'll put this bookmark in. You need to rest your eyes. And we all need rest."
Harry told them he'd join them in a bit and he went down to the kitchens.
"Dobby?"
"Yes, Harry Potter, sir?" The green house-elf had tennis ball sized eyes and wore an odd assortment of clothes with a tea cozy on his head.
"There's a little girl in the Hospital and I promised to bring her some strawberry ice cream. Could I-"
Before he could finish the sentence three house-elves wearing dishtowels (like togas) brought a big bowl of strawberry ice cream with a big silver spoon.
"Is this good, Harry Potter, sir?"
"Yes, yes, that's plenty. Thank you, Dobby."
"Dobby has not seen Harry Potter since Christmas when Harry Potter gave him new socks. Socks is Dobby's favoritest clothes."
"I've got to get the ice cream to the little girl before it melts."
"Bye, Harry Potter, sir!"
Harry brought the ice cream to the hospital wing. He went over to the girl's bed, "Tracey, here's your ice cream."
"Thank you. Drakey didn't come."
"I saw him in the hall. He's coming."
"Who are you?"
"A friend, Tracey. A friend."
"Bye."
Harry passed Draco in the hallway as he left, "She's asking for you."
"So how did it go last night? I want the whole story."
"He was waiting in the Trophy room for me. He was telling me about how great he thinks his little cousin is. He asked how much it would cost to keep quiet about what he thought about her. He said he didn't want to ruin his reputation as a tough guy." Harry didn't mention how near they'd gotten to an almost enjoyable conversation.
"See? I told you, you had nothing to worry about."
"And that was a nice touch last night 'The Bloody Baron scares me'." He laughed.
"It worked, didn't it?" She laughed. "You know, Malfoy is kind of like you."
"How is Malfoy anything like me?"
"Just hear me out. Both of you are stubborn, not too stupid;, you don't ask for help until you are desperate; and whether or not he likes admitting it Malfoy cares about his cousin, kind of like I know you care about a certain Gryffindor girl."
"No, no. Malfoy and I are completely different."
She chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Malfoy's cousin is like a sister to him, whereas that Gryffindor girl to you is-"
"Er.I've got to get to class, Aurora, goodbye." He hastily left the table. Rory was far too insightful for her own good.
He was early but he waited outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts room all the same. Sirius showed up five minutes before class.
"Harry, what are you doing here?"
"I didn't want to stay down there."
"Something's troubling you. You wanna come in and talk about it with me?"
Harry shook his head. "Girls know too much."
Sirius laughed. "They always do. And you'll never get used to it. Come in, everyone will be here soon."
Reluctantly, Harry followed him inside.
"Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's on your mind? I'm your godfather. That's what I'm here for, Harry."
"I'll be alright, Sirius. I just need to sort some things out in my head."
"Just remember: my door is always open."
Harry's classmates came in.
"Welcome class! Today we shall be working with."
Harry's thoughts drifted inside his head. Renata. The creepy new caretaker that helped Filch. Renata. The revelation that Malfoy had a half- human side. Renata. Before Harry realized it, class was over. What was the homework again? ********************************************************
The days passed quickly, the cold of winter turning into the cool of spring. January was over and February was beginning. Harry kept many of Renata's attitudes and strategies as far as Quiditch and it was more of a joint Captainship than him alone. He was really only Captain as far as title went now.
Unfortunate though it was, Malfoy's hair grew out again and the "Gryffindor" that had been there vanished. Strange rumors began to be whispered in the halls.
"Did you hear?" asked Ron.
"Hear what?"
"The Green Flame Torch has been found!"
"Green Flame Torch?"
"And stolen!"
"What's the Green Flame Torch?"
"Well, there were rumors and stories of a Green Flame Torch from about a thousand years ago, the rumors started showing up about it again a century ago. It was rumored to be able to open gateways to other dimensions. Lost for at least a few centuries rumors about it came back about a hundred years ago. The Daily Prophet just issued a report that it had been found, they didn't say where, but that it was missing again."
"So what does that mean exactly, Ron?"
"The Ministry is really anxious to find it. Can you imagine what a Deatheater would do with something like that?"
"What if one has it?" Harry said anxiously.
"Exactly. I think that's what happened to Azkaban. It would have taken a lot of power but if someone had found it and worked with a large group they could technically speaking pick Azkaban up and move it to another dimension. Somewhere where we couldn't find it."
"And our best guess at where Hagrid is.is Azkaban."
Ron nodded. "If we knew where it was we could go save Hagrid. I already told all of this to Hermione and Renata. They said it sounded right. Hermione's researching the Green Flame Torch in the library right now."
"Nobody else knows this, right?"
"Rumors are floating around the school, Harry. Now everybody knows that it's real and that it's missing. Before, it was just myth and legend. But nobody knows that's where Hagrid might be. No one but the four of us at least."
Harry stood and nodded. "Let's keep it that way." He followed Ron to the library where Hermione and Renata were waiting.
Hermione sat with an extremely large tome entitled Myths and Legends of the Wizarding World in her lap.
"Hermione-"
"Ssh! I'm reading." She spared the boys only a glance before returning to her brisk reading and thumbing through page, there were easily five thousand pages if not more.
Renata whispered to them, "She's been at this for hours. This book covers everything from the Chamber of Secrets to the Lost Islands of Merlin. The Green Flame Torch is in here somewhere. But we don't know where. There's no particular order. No table of contents. And no index."
"Did you find any other books about it?"
"No. This seems to be our only shot. There could be another book but look at the sheer size of this library."
Ernie Macmillan burst into the library, huffing and puffing as though he'd run the whole way there. "It's Tracey! She's been attacked!"
Harry's eyebrows shot up and he was among the first to reach Ernie.
"Sit down and explain what happened," Harry told him, trying to keep patient.
A girl pulled out a chair and Ernie collapsed into it.
"Thanks." His breathing was still quick and shallow.
"What happened, Ernie?"
"Where is she?"
"Is she okay?"
Someone in the back asked, "Who's Tracey?"
Ernie answered the last question first. "Tracey is this sweet little girl. A first year in Hufflepuff."
Harry tried to stay calm, "Ernie, where is she?"
"The hospital wing."
"Is she okay?" asked Harry anxiously.
"I don't know," he sighed. "I haven't seen her since she was moved into the hospital by some of the teachers.
Harry repeated, "What happened to her?"
"I'm not so sure. I- I- I found her in the hallway. Her head was bleeding. There was a V shaved into the back of her head. I think her arm might have been broken."
Harry sighed and wasn't sure if he was relieved or not. It sounded pretty much like the attacks they'd had in September, but Harry thought those were over.
Harry whispered to Ron that he'd be back soon. As much as he hated it he had to see Malfoy, and he knew where he'd be and that he'd be needed.
Harry found Malfoy in the Trophy room, where he knew he'd be.
"How'd you find me?" Malfoy asked coldly.
"Because, you're worried about Tracey but you wouldn't show your face at the hospital."
"I will. When the rest of them are gone."
"The latest a visitor can be there is ten o'clock."
Harry wasn't sure but there might have been gratitude in Malfoy's eyes.
Harry nodded.
"Potter, do me a favor. Will you?"
"Yeah, and what's that?"
"Check on her and watch out for her for me. Can I trust you to do that? And to keep quiet about it?"
"I will."
Malfoy had trouble saying the words but eventually he got it out. "Thank you," he muttered.
"I'll be back to tell you how she is."
Malfoy nodded.
When Harry got to the Hospital Wing a knot of visitors was just leaving and he slipped inside. Tracey was just waking up.
"Where's Drakey?" she asked weakly.
Harry tried to soothe her. "Ssh. He'll be here later. Ssh. Don't ask about him and he'll come later. I promise. Ssh. How are you?" Her head was all bandaged up and her arm was in a sling, but beyond that there was nothing else to indicate problems.
"I'm okay. I want to see Drakey."
"He'll be here later. Do you remember what happened?"
"I was walking and then somebody hit me and I woke up here. Do you know who it was?"
He shook his head.
"I think it was that scary man."
There were lots of scary men, who was it? "Was it professor Snape?"
"No. The one with the cat."
"Mr. Filch?"
"No. The other man with the cat."
The new caretaker! "Be good and I'll bring you some ice cream later. Okay? Strawberry?"
"Okay." She nodded and fell asleep.
Harry went back to the Trophy room and found Draco Malfoy pacing.
"How is she?" he asked sharply.
"She's fine. She was asking for you. I told her that if she stopped asking you would come later and I'd bring her strawberry ice cream."
Draco nodded. "You did the right thing, Potter."
Harry turned to leave.
"Harry."
He turned back around.
Malfoy said, through gritted teeth, "Harry, I owe you one."
Harry said nothing but acknowledged the remark with a nod. He had to be getting back to the library.
He found his friends still at the same table.
"Any luck?"
"No. Where were you?"
"I had to go check on something."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"No, you said it was something," persisted Renata.
"I went to the hospital to see if the attack was linked to the attacks earlier this year."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Were they linked?"
"Yeah. And we have a suspect."
"Don't keep us waiting!" Renata looked around and lowered her voice. "Well, who is it?"
"Pip Pumblechook."
Renata started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Hermione asked crossly.
"Nothing. It's just.That's from Great Expectations. Well at least that's the only time I ever heard the name 'Pumblechook' and as for Pip, well that was out of the same book."
"So what are you saying?"
"I don't know what I'm saying. It just seems odd. That's all. Just odd."
By the time Madam Pince closed the library, Anthony had disturbed them twice wanting to talk to Hermione (Ron threatened to give him a black- eye if he came a third time), almost every other person was out of the library, and the three of them still hadn't found anything useful.
"Hermione, we should be taking turns with this book. You're straining your eyes. What page are you on?"
"There's no page numbers. If I lose my place I'll have to start over."
"Here, I'll put this bookmark in. You need to rest your eyes. And we all need rest."
Harry told them he'd join them in a bit and he went down to the kitchens.
"Dobby?"
"Yes, Harry Potter, sir?" The green house-elf had tennis ball sized eyes and wore an odd assortment of clothes with a tea cozy on his head.
"There's a little girl in the Hospital and I promised to bring her some strawberry ice cream. Could I-"
Before he could finish the sentence three house-elves wearing dishtowels (like togas) brought a big bowl of strawberry ice cream with a big silver spoon.
"Is this good, Harry Potter, sir?"
"Yes, yes, that's plenty. Thank you, Dobby."
"Dobby has not seen Harry Potter since Christmas when Harry Potter gave him new socks. Socks is Dobby's favoritest clothes."
"I've got to get the ice cream to the little girl before it melts."
"Bye, Harry Potter, sir!"
Harry brought the ice cream to the hospital wing. He went over to the girl's bed, "Tracey, here's your ice cream."
"Thank you. Drakey didn't come."
"I saw him in the hall. He's coming."
"Who are you?"
"A friend, Tracey. A friend."
"Bye."
Harry passed Draco in the hallway as he left, "She's asking for you."
