CHAPTER 10:
EVEN MORE STRANGE OCCURANCES
"Face the consequences?" Ron repeated nervously. "What kind of consequences?"
"Apparently, the kind so foul that whoever sent this couldn't even mention it," Hermione suggested. "Who sent this, anyway?"
Harry looked below the threatening message to see that it wasn't signed. "Well, whoever sent this, they can't just tell us what to do, can they?" But Harry gulped nervously when he remembered that he had told Dumbledore about the creature two months earlier. Still, the people who sent the letter couldn't possibly know that he told Dumbledore, could they?
***
Harry walked across the grounds to his next Care of Magical Creatures lesson. Today, they were to learn more about the vegetable lamb. However, when they reached Hagrid's hut, Hagrid seemed rather disturbed about something.
"Uh, sorry, kids. But i' looks like we won' be havin' that vegetable lamb lesson af'er all."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Uh...'cause it's...well...'cause...it's...dead."
"What?!" Parvati and Lavender squealed, covering their open mouths with their hands. They had grown to be quite fond of the tiny animal.
"Yea'" Hagrid replied. "Guess, without the lamb, we don' really have a lesson, do we?"
As the rest of the students chatted during their unexpected free period, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to talk to Hagrid.
"Hagrid, what happened?" Hermione asked.
"To tell the truth, I'm not so sure meself," Hagrid replied.
"But, newborn lambs don't just drop dead, do they?" Ron asked.
"Not unless they're born with some sort of problem," Hermione informed him.
"What sort of problems?" Harry asked.
"You know, the usual," Hermione answered. "Birth disorders, deformities, miscarriages, nutritional deficiencies, STDs. My uncle owns a sheep ranch, and he says that those things do happen, once in a while."
But Hagrid raised his hand in denial. "I've checked the lamb yesterday, an' it was perfectly healthy. Besides, this is no ordinary lamb."
"Is it still back there?" Hermione asked.
"Yea'. I was jus' abou' ter go bury it, though."
"Well, may we see it, first?"
"Don' see why not. Follow me."
They followed Hagrid to the garden, where the large plant still stood. However, the umbilical cord had been severed, and the lamb was nowhere in sight.
"Where is it?" Harry asked.
Hagrid pointed to a little white shape not too far from the garden. "O'er there. Mind ye don' touch it, though. Could 'ave some sort o' disease."
"That lamb wouldn't snap its own umbilical cord," Hermione explained as they walked over to the dead lamb.
"Why not?" Ron asked. "Baby animals are supposed to do that, aren't they?"
"Not vegetable lambs. They don't separate themselves from their plants until they're a year old. I've read all about them."
"We know, Hermione. Oh, my God!"
They were now looking down at the tiny lamb's body. There was not a drop of blood on the ground. However, the lamb's chest had been chewed completely open, its internal organs sticking out. Flies buzzed around the tiny animal, and a putrid smell filled the three students' nostrils.
"Oh, God," Ron said again. "I'm think I'm gonna throw up!" He ran back to Hagrid's hut and vomited in a corner of the garden.
"You're the sheep expert among us, Hermione," Harry stated. "What do make of this?"
"Well, this was obviously done by some sort of animal. And, look here."
"Do I have to?"
Hermione glared playfully at him. "You're not wussing out on me, now, are you?"
"No, it's just not everyday that someone looks at a mutilated body." He slowly turned his head towards the poor animal. "Okay, what am I looking at?"
"Look," Hermione began, pointing to the torn carcass. "The heart and half the liver are missing, and chunks have been taken out of the intestines. Whatever killed this lamb has only been eating the organs. Very little of the meat itself has been eaten."
"So, what do you think did this?"
"Well, it could be a fox, but then the neck would be broken, which it isn't. It could also be a lone wolf, but it would eat the entire lamb. Looks like I'm at a loss, here."
***
Later on, during Potions, Snape's lesson about how shark teeth could be used to detect poisons was interrupted by a knock at the classroom door.
"Come in," Snape exhaled in an irritable fashion.
The door swung open and a tall, pale man entered. He wore a black robe over a white shirt, and a black tie hung from his neck. He had sleek, black hair, almost like Snape's, except shorter, and he wore dark sunglasses, impenetrable to one's eye. In his hand was a lighted cigarette.
"Sir, smoking is prohibited in this school," Snape informed the man.
He paid no attention to Snape's statement, and tapped his finger on the cigarette's tip, sprinkling ashes on the stone floor. "Potter, Weasley, and Granger, please," he said, in an almost robotic tone.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood up and followed the man out of the classroom. Harry felt uneasy about the strange man. There seemed to be something not quite human about him.
The man closed the classroom door behind them, turned around, and faced the three students. "We've warned you," he began, in the same expressionless tone.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. But he knew perfectly well what the man meant.
"We've warned you not to tell anyone about what you've seen that night on the school grounds."
"But, we didn't...." Hermione began, but the man cut her off.
"He did," he replied, pointing to Harry.
Harry stared into the man's cold, pale, expressionless face. Even with those sunglasses on, he could still feel the man's eyes fixing upon him.
"I'll let you off, this time," the man said. "However, this is your last chance. Tell anyone else, and you and your friends will suffer dearly." He raised the cigarette to his mouth, sucked in, and exhaled, blowing smoke into the three students' faces.
Harry coughed as the sickly fumes entered his lungs.
"I'll leave you with one last thing in mind," the man said, bending down close to their faces. "You...didn't...see...anything," he said slowly. "Do...you...understand?"
Harry stared into those dark sunglasses. Then, he said, "Why? Why shouldn't I tell anyone?"
"You...didn't...see...anything. Do...you...understand?" the man repeated.
"No. I don't understand. Anything."
The man only stared back at him. Then simply said, "You will...if you know what's good for you." Then, he turned around, and walked back down the hallway.
Harry opened the classroom door, when the man called back, "And, don't try anything behind our backs...because we'll know. We always know."
TO BE CONTINUED
EVEN MORE STRANGE OCCURANCES
"Face the consequences?" Ron repeated nervously. "What kind of consequences?"
"Apparently, the kind so foul that whoever sent this couldn't even mention it," Hermione suggested. "Who sent this, anyway?"
Harry looked below the threatening message to see that it wasn't signed. "Well, whoever sent this, they can't just tell us what to do, can they?" But Harry gulped nervously when he remembered that he had told Dumbledore about the creature two months earlier. Still, the people who sent the letter couldn't possibly know that he told Dumbledore, could they?
***
Harry walked across the grounds to his next Care of Magical Creatures lesson. Today, they were to learn more about the vegetable lamb. However, when they reached Hagrid's hut, Hagrid seemed rather disturbed about something.
"Uh, sorry, kids. But i' looks like we won' be havin' that vegetable lamb lesson af'er all."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Uh...'cause it's...well...'cause...it's...dead."
"What?!" Parvati and Lavender squealed, covering their open mouths with their hands. They had grown to be quite fond of the tiny animal.
"Yea'" Hagrid replied. "Guess, without the lamb, we don' really have a lesson, do we?"
As the rest of the students chatted during their unexpected free period, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to talk to Hagrid.
"Hagrid, what happened?" Hermione asked.
"To tell the truth, I'm not so sure meself," Hagrid replied.
"But, newborn lambs don't just drop dead, do they?" Ron asked.
"Not unless they're born with some sort of problem," Hermione informed him.
"What sort of problems?" Harry asked.
"You know, the usual," Hermione answered. "Birth disorders, deformities, miscarriages, nutritional deficiencies, STDs. My uncle owns a sheep ranch, and he says that those things do happen, once in a while."
But Hagrid raised his hand in denial. "I've checked the lamb yesterday, an' it was perfectly healthy. Besides, this is no ordinary lamb."
"Is it still back there?" Hermione asked.
"Yea'. I was jus' abou' ter go bury it, though."
"Well, may we see it, first?"
"Don' see why not. Follow me."
They followed Hagrid to the garden, where the large plant still stood. However, the umbilical cord had been severed, and the lamb was nowhere in sight.
"Where is it?" Harry asked.
Hagrid pointed to a little white shape not too far from the garden. "O'er there. Mind ye don' touch it, though. Could 'ave some sort o' disease."
"That lamb wouldn't snap its own umbilical cord," Hermione explained as they walked over to the dead lamb.
"Why not?" Ron asked. "Baby animals are supposed to do that, aren't they?"
"Not vegetable lambs. They don't separate themselves from their plants until they're a year old. I've read all about them."
"We know, Hermione. Oh, my God!"
They were now looking down at the tiny lamb's body. There was not a drop of blood on the ground. However, the lamb's chest had been chewed completely open, its internal organs sticking out. Flies buzzed around the tiny animal, and a putrid smell filled the three students' nostrils.
"Oh, God," Ron said again. "I'm think I'm gonna throw up!" He ran back to Hagrid's hut and vomited in a corner of the garden.
"You're the sheep expert among us, Hermione," Harry stated. "What do make of this?"
"Well, this was obviously done by some sort of animal. And, look here."
"Do I have to?"
Hermione glared playfully at him. "You're not wussing out on me, now, are you?"
"No, it's just not everyday that someone looks at a mutilated body." He slowly turned his head towards the poor animal. "Okay, what am I looking at?"
"Look," Hermione began, pointing to the torn carcass. "The heart and half the liver are missing, and chunks have been taken out of the intestines. Whatever killed this lamb has only been eating the organs. Very little of the meat itself has been eaten."
"So, what do you think did this?"
"Well, it could be a fox, but then the neck would be broken, which it isn't. It could also be a lone wolf, but it would eat the entire lamb. Looks like I'm at a loss, here."
***
Later on, during Potions, Snape's lesson about how shark teeth could be used to detect poisons was interrupted by a knock at the classroom door.
"Come in," Snape exhaled in an irritable fashion.
The door swung open and a tall, pale man entered. He wore a black robe over a white shirt, and a black tie hung from his neck. He had sleek, black hair, almost like Snape's, except shorter, and he wore dark sunglasses, impenetrable to one's eye. In his hand was a lighted cigarette.
"Sir, smoking is prohibited in this school," Snape informed the man.
He paid no attention to Snape's statement, and tapped his finger on the cigarette's tip, sprinkling ashes on the stone floor. "Potter, Weasley, and Granger, please," he said, in an almost robotic tone.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood up and followed the man out of the classroom. Harry felt uneasy about the strange man. There seemed to be something not quite human about him.
The man closed the classroom door behind them, turned around, and faced the three students. "We've warned you," he began, in the same expressionless tone.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. But he knew perfectly well what the man meant.
"We've warned you not to tell anyone about what you've seen that night on the school grounds."
"But, we didn't...." Hermione began, but the man cut her off.
"He did," he replied, pointing to Harry.
Harry stared into the man's cold, pale, expressionless face. Even with those sunglasses on, he could still feel the man's eyes fixing upon him.
"I'll let you off, this time," the man said. "However, this is your last chance. Tell anyone else, and you and your friends will suffer dearly." He raised the cigarette to his mouth, sucked in, and exhaled, blowing smoke into the three students' faces.
Harry coughed as the sickly fumes entered his lungs.
"I'll leave you with one last thing in mind," the man said, bending down close to their faces. "You...didn't...see...anything," he said slowly. "Do...you...understand?"
Harry stared into those dark sunglasses. Then, he said, "Why? Why shouldn't I tell anyone?"
"You...didn't...see...anything. Do...you...understand?" the man repeated.
"No. I don't understand. Anything."
The man only stared back at him. Then simply said, "You will...if you know what's good for you." Then, he turned around, and walked back down the hallway.
Harry opened the classroom door, when the man called back, "And, don't try anything behind our backs...because we'll know. We always know."
TO BE CONTINUED