10. Cats at Halloween.

Hermione fretted. She leafed through the books on cat behaviour as if that would make the information she needed appear. She'd long finished reading every book the library had on the subject, including several on general animal behaviour, but she'd put off speaking to Filch until the two weeks she'd given herself were over.

There hadn't been anything useful in the publications she'd found. Sometimes, some suggested, an animal picked up the feelings of the owner and would thus show anxiety towards those people the owner disliked. That could explain Crookshanks' behaviour, she certainly disliked Draco and so did Ron and Harry. It was tempting to take that as an explanation, it made sense and she wouldn't have to approach the caretaker.

Yet however rational the explanation was, it didn't cover everything. They hadn't liked Draco from the start, and Crookshanks only started drawing attention to him this year. And of course there had been Pettigrew. She had to be sure.

She decided to search for the caretaker after lunch on Saturday. Most of the students would be attending the Quidditch game between Slytherin and Hufflepuff, which meant the school would be almost empty and Draco would be out of the way as well. Hermione always watched the game when Gryffindor played, but she didn't care that much that she had to see the other houses play. Hopefully Filch would be in a good mood, with no students making noise or getting into trouble.

And so she did. After lunch she walked to his office and knocked on the door. To her surprise and delight, she notice Crookshanks had followed her. He certainly didn't have a problem understanding her.

The door flew open and Filch glared at her. "What do you want?"

Maybe he wasn't in a good mood after all. Was he ever? Well, she couldn't back off now.

"Mr Filch, I wand to ask you something, if I may?" Hermione said.

"You just did. But I suppose you have yet another question. I have more to do today, so out with it."

Filch still stood in the door opening, not making any move to let her in. Mrs Norris glared at her from where she sat, in the middle of the office, as unmoving as her owner. Well, no one would overhear, the castle was deserted and she would not give any details as why she wanted to learn anyhow.

"Harry told me you can understand Mrs Norris –and that you said anyone can listen to their cat if only they would try. Could you.. could you teach me?"

Filch's eyes narrowed as he looked at her, then down at Crookshanks. The cat meowed.

"He's a smart one. Part Kneazle if you ask me, although cats can be smart enough of their own."

Part Kneazle? That made Crookshanks' behaviour even more ominous, Kneazles were known for their keen instincts. "Thank you, yes, he is," she replied.

Crookshanks meowed at Filch again, and his normally harsh expression softened. For a moment Hermione thought Filch would give her the help she requested. But just as quickly his scowl was back as he looked at her.

"So you, the Gryffindor Know-It-All, top student in every class, come to me, a Squib, and you ask me to teach you the one thing you don't know already."

Hermione flinched. She didn't mean it like that, of course, but yes it would look that way. She couldn't imagine life without magic, and to be a Squib in a school full of magic students –perhaps she shouldn't have asked. Well, she wouldn't have if there'd been any other way. "Please, sir, it's really important?"

Once again, Crookshanks backed her up, this time he was easy enough to understand even for her. But Filch did not give in.

"No." He looked around at Mrs Norris, who stared back. Hermione couldn't tell what she said, but it made no difference. "Go to your library, or use your damn magic to learn, I don't care, but leave me alone," Filch growled.

Hermione gave up, and with just a brief nod and an apologetic look she turned and left. Maybe she shouldn't have gone, maybe she should've gotten Harry to ask. Well, it was too late now. She didn't really blame Filch for his reaction, not really. But the problem remained, was Crookshanks just reacting to their dislike or did he have more to tell them?

She would search in the library on Kneazles, but she wasn't very hopeful. Most books she'd read on cats included the very cat-like magical creatures and she doubted there would be anything more to find.

Harry and Ron returned from the Quidditch pitch discussing the game with the rest of the house.

"I tell you, Draco has a Firebolt II, a three year old broom isn't good enough for him," Ron said.

"Yes, he's probably saving it. He didn't need it today but I bet he has one," Harry agreed.

"It's not that much faster than the first one," Fred said. "Lots of hype but that's mostly to try and sell the thing. You can easily beat him even if he does have one."

"Especially if he's flying like he did today," Seamus added.

Harry wasn't so sure. No doubt Draco hadn't tried every trick he knew today, there'd been no need. Hufflepuff had been an even easier win than Ravenclaw had been for them. That didn't mean Draco wouldn't try harder against their team next month. Of course Fred and George were well aware of that, and they'd scheduled a lot of practice time. It would be hard work, with classes, regular homework and the extra lessons.

Busy or not, he managed. It helped the classes were, in a way, easier than the previous years. It was much easier to learn for History of Magic. It had always been hard to remember the names and dates of countless goblin revolutions or giant wars, but the lessons about Grindelwald were much more interesting, if often worrisome as well, and were hard to forget.

Defense against the Dark Arts consisted almost entirely out of practice in class. Most everyone could resist an Imperius spell now, as long as one of their classmates cast it, and that was something they could never practice as homework. Nor any of the other curses and counter spells they worked on. They were given some reading but most was practical and thus confined to the classroom and class hours.

There were a few occasions when Harry feared something would go wrong, like when Dean and Neville managed to curse each other simultaneously and Professor Figg's back was turned. But he and Ron saw what happened and alerted her, and she cast the counter spell before either was seriously harmed. Perhaps his fears were unfounded, after all there were always other students to see what Professor Figg did not, and she knew what to do once she saw the problem.

Potions was easier than the previous years, too. Professor Snape's homework assignments were still twice as long as those of the other teachers, but now Harry had a better understanding of the subject he didn't have much trouble writing the essays about it. The lessons also went well, even while watching Neville. The need for his assignment became clear the Tuesday after the Quidditch game.

 Harry was stirring his potion when he glanced over to Neville. They were making an antidote against were-lizard poison. As was often the case, Neville was shaking while adding his ingredients. Suddenly Harry saw something amiss. His arm shot out and he caught Neville. "Stop, don't add that," he said.

Neville threw him a confused look.

Harry sighed. "Elderberry skins, not seeds. I'm not entirely sure, but I think the seeds would react with the dragonleech juice and create noxious fumes."

"Oops, thank you," Neville stammered. He put away the seeds and started to sort through his potion ingredients, knocking a vial of blackrose buds off the table and onto the floor.

Harry groaned, but at least they weren't explosive. He turned back to his own cauldron and let Neville sweep up the mess.

"Thank you for catching that," Snape said to Harry as he left the classroom. After everyone else had left, of course, but that didn't matter. He didn't need anyone to put him even more into the limelight, and he was glad his vigilance had paid off.

Before he knew it, it was Halloween. Classes were held as usual, but everyone was excited and distracted, anticipating the feast of the evening. Lavender and Parvati almost hexed each other in Defense because they had been talking during the lecture, but Seamus caught them; they were all learning to watch out for each other in class.

The last period of the day was Care of Magical Creatures, and Hagrid let them go as soon as they were done feeding the Bowtruckles, seeing they weren't going to be able to concentrate anyhow.

Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed behind as class was dismissed, taking the opportunity to talk to Hagrid for a while. They hadn't visited Hagrid as often as the other years, with all their extra work, and Harry felt a little guilty. He couldn't even talk about everything they did, not that he didn't trust Hagrid, but the half-giant wasn't included in the study group. Harry thought it was more whose expertise was needed directly than whom Dumbledore trusted; Professor Sprout wasn't included either.

But this afternoon Harry took the time to talk for a while about all kinds of things. Hagrid asked Ron whether he'd heard anything from Charlie lately –and Norbert of course- and they told Hagrid about their Apparating lessons, and their last foray into Hogsmeade. That brought them onto the subject of Crookshanks' behaviour.

"I'd keep a close eye on Draco, I would," Hagrid said. "That's a smart cat alright, an' he wouldn't act like that for no reason."

Harry agreed. "But we can't even catch him doing anything wrong, he doesn't even get into trouble in class or during mealtimes as much as he used to."

Hagrid frowned, his dark eyebrows almost meeting in the middle. "All the more reason to think sumthin' wrong. Not bloody likely he suddenly turned all nice, he's prolly up to sumthin'."

"Should we tell Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked.

Hagrid shrugged. "I reckon he knows Draco can't be trusted, he knows he's a Malfoy an' all. You can mention it if it makes you feel better but I doubt he can do anythin', not with jus' the cat to go on."

Harry nodded, that was exactly what they'd thought.

Soon after, they left to prepare for the feast of the evening, and they waved goodbye.

"After Christmas, I'll have a real cool animal in again, I hope. Gets a bit borin', these Bowtruckles," Hagrid promised as they left.

Harry feigned polite enthusiasm, but once they were out of earshot they exchanged worried looks. They all knew Hagrid's taste in animals and while exciting, most 'interesting' animals were also quite dangerous!

"I hope it isn't a manticore," Ron guessed.

"Or another dragon, perhaps that's why he asked after Charlie?" Harry suggested.

"The Headmaster would never allow that," Hermione said. But I hope it's nothing too dangerous, too!"

Speaking of animals, as they entered that evening, the Great Hall was once again filled with live bats, fluttering around near the ceiling and swooping over the tables. There were also huge, carved pumpkins, even bigger than the previous year. To Harry's delight, he spotted a tiny winged pumpkin among the bats, he was willing to bet it was a transfigured Snitch! He pointed it out to Ron and soon the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team was cheering about the neat little decoration.

Harry noted with satisfaction that Draco was scanning the room to find out what they were pointing at, and only spotted the 'Snitch' after several long moments. If he'd just as much trouble finding the Snitch two weeks from now, Harry had nothing to worry about!

The candles flickered and the bats fluttered, and of course the golden plates filled with food on cue. Harry thought the food was even better than last year, too. It was funny, with his high expectations it would make sense if the actual thing would be less good, but that was never the case. Perhaps the house-elves did manage to make it better each year.

They ate all they could, and Harry managed a second helping of dessert, although afterwards he felt like he could barely move. Well, he didn't need to, he'd done his homework for tomorrow's classes earlier in the week and the assignments from today weren't due until Monday.

Thus, he wasn't happy at all when Crookshanks walked up, just as they left the Great Hall.

"Man, I can't walk all over the school following a cat when we know where he's going and we can't prove a damn thing," Ron complained. He'd eaten as much as Harry, or more.

Harry was inclined to agree, but then Crookshanks meowed loudly, and he wasn't looking at the steps leading down to the dungeons. The cat headed towards one of the upstairs corridors instead. With a sigh, the trio followed.

They climbed the stairs considerably slower than they usually did. All the way past the Charms corridor, past the Transfiguration classroom, until they were near the Astronomy Tower. Suddenly Crookshanks stopped, looked back, then rounded the corner as he had before just as he came to the person he wanted to show them. Harry, Ron and Hermione followed, expecting to find Draco.

To Harry's surprise and chagrin, the one they found was Tim Welch, a Ravenclaw Prefect, on his rounds. None of them could completely hide their expression of surprise, and Tim gave them a quizzical look.

"Gone for a walk?" he inquired.

"It's supposed to be good for digestion, taking a walk after a meal," Hermione replied quickly.

"Though I think we ate a bit too much," Harry added.

Tim shook his head. "I wish I hadn't eaten so much before going on my rounds, you're nuts to actually go for a walk when you don't have to."

"Tell me," Ron agreed.

Harry knew the Muggle habit of going for a walk after dinner, not that the Dursleys had ever practiced it, of course. But over the past ten minutes he'd decided it was one habit he could do without. "I don't think it's working all that well for me, either," he said. "Let's go back to the dormitory."

They took their leave, ignoring Crookshanks, and as soon as they were well out of range, Ron turned to Hermione.

"Your cat has lost it, making us walk all that way and leading us to Tim."

"He must have a reason," Hermione said uncertainly.

"Tim can't be in league with Draco, or Voldemort," Harry said. Tim was Muggle-born and he wasn't sure which was less likely, Tim joining Voldemort or Voldemort accepting a 'Mudblood'.

"Perhaps Tim stepped on Crookshanks' tail or something," Ron mused. "I mean, there's no way Tim's a traitor, he can't stand Draco any more than any of us."

Still puzzled, they returned to the dormitory.