A W?RNInG ANd a THoUGhT
"And so, now, I'm trying to find out who he is." She concluded. They had
listened to her story intently, and now she wanted some feedback from them.
She had little hope that they would know who it was offhand, although she
had hope that together they would be able to find out who he was.
"You think he might be a Death Eater?" asked Ron. "Why would you think that?"
"It was just the way he seemed. You know? Dark and mysterious. Like he was hiding something."
Ron looked at Harry, who was deep in thought. "What do you think Harry?"
Harry didn't answer for a moment, as if he hadn't heard the question. Just as Ron was going to ask again, he began.
"I don't like it. I think Hermione's right. He sounds like a Death Eater. But I don't think that's a good thing to any stretch of the imagination. Whoever it is could be watching her."
"Hang on a minute!" Hermione immediately jumped to the 'mystery man's' defence. "I don't think he was following me. We just saw each other. It was purely coincidental."
"Come one, Hermione. You're not exactly unknown to the Death Eaters. You have been instrumental in destroying their leaders numerous times. And being friends with me and Ron doesn't help your reputation either. I think you should be careful. Whoever this guy is, he could be on orders from Voldemort to be following you."
Hermione immediately found herself becoming angry. "Look. I came here to see if you knew who he was. Not so that you could give me a lecture on how vulnerable I am!"
Ron quickly jumped in to calm her down. "Calm down, Hermione. We're only suggesting that you should be cautious. You know that what Harry is saying is possible. We're only throwing out all the possibilities. It may turn out that he isn't following you. He might be your long-lost brother. He might want a shag. He could want to offer you a job selling fish. We don't know. But we just eant you to be careful. We don't want you to get hurt. In any way."
"Fair enough. But if he wants me to sell fish he can get stuffed." She smiled.
"Okay. If I see him I'll tell him that." Ron laughed.
"So." Said Harry. "If we are trying to find out who he is, we had better get started. Ron where do you think would be the best place to start?"
"Um, I think the Ministry library has a list of known Death Eaters." Ron said.
"The Ministry library? Can you two get into there?" asked Hermione, suddenly interested in the prospect of another library to explore. True, she had moved on from her 'schoolgirl bookworm' image, but she still loved books. Hours literally melted away whilst she was engulfed in a new novel or textbook.
"Yeah, we can get in there. We have passes. You can come in with us, y'know?" said Harry.
Hermione smiled. That had been what she was hoping for.
"Let's get going then."
"TWENTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR! Mr. Capriati, if you cannot even complete a potion as simple as this one, without an accident of colossal proportions, then I suggest you stop trying and wrecking this classroom!"
Snape was in one of his famous 'moods.' Strange though, how easily he slid form one mood to the next. Although it was easier for him, since he had only two moods: bad and really bad.
"I'm -I'm sorry, P-p-professor Snape." Said Caleb Capriati, a second year Gryffindor. When he had started at Hogwarts the year before, he had been a confident child. Although a year and a half of Snape's potions classes, had reduced this boy to a stuttering wreck. Truth be told, he was fairly dim- witted. Caleb was rather like a Neville Longbottom for the new millennium. Whenever Caleb was in his classroom, Snape was constantly reminded of the stupidity of his past student. And then, consecutively, the brilliance of his other know-it-all students. Incidentally, it was this student, that he was recently trying so hard to forget.
"Class dismissed! Get out of here before I have you all cleaning this up! Without magic!" Snape yelled. The class, naturally was eager to comply swiftly. Within thirty seconds, the potions classroom was empty, except for the reserved potions master, whose heavy breathing now echoed off the walls. He took a second to calm himself, then with a 'silly wave of his wand' cleared the mess that Caleb Capriati and his classmates had left. He retreated to his office, and practically fell into the chair behind his desk.
Sitting on the desk were piles of ungraded homework. Realising that the grading had to be finished before dinner, he sighed, and reluctantly reached for his marking quill to complete the work that he was way overdue on. He allowed himself one thought of her before he began, thinking about how he used to have to mark her work, and how irritated he was when he had to give her full marks on everything. He smiled, very uncharacteristically, and got to work.
"You think he might be a Death Eater?" asked Ron. "Why would you think that?"
"It was just the way he seemed. You know? Dark and mysterious. Like he was hiding something."
Ron looked at Harry, who was deep in thought. "What do you think Harry?"
Harry didn't answer for a moment, as if he hadn't heard the question. Just as Ron was going to ask again, he began.
"I don't like it. I think Hermione's right. He sounds like a Death Eater. But I don't think that's a good thing to any stretch of the imagination. Whoever it is could be watching her."
"Hang on a minute!" Hermione immediately jumped to the 'mystery man's' defence. "I don't think he was following me. We just saw each other. It was purely coincidental."
"Come one, Hermione. You're not exactly unknown to the Death Eaters. You have been instrumental in destroying their leaders numerous times. And being friends with me and Ron doesn't help your reputation either. I think you should be careful. Whoever this guy is, he could be on orders from Voldemort to be following you."
Hermione immediately found herself becoming angry. "Look. I came here to see if you knew who he was. Not so that you could give me a lecture on how vulnerable I am!"
Ron quickly jumped in to calm her down. "Calm down, Hermione. We're only suggesting that you should be cautious. You know that what Harry is saying is possible. We're only throwing out all the possibilities. It may turn out that he isn't following you. He might be your long-lost brother. He might want a shag. He could want to offer you a job selling fish. We don't know. But we just eant you to be careful. We don't want you to get hurt. In any way."
"Fair enough. But if he wants me to sell fish he can get stuffed." She smiled.
"Okay. If I see him I'll tell him that." Ron laughed.
"So." Said Harry. "If we are trying to find out who he is, we had better get started. Ron where do you think would be the best place to start?"
"Um, I think the Ministry library has a list of known Death Eaters." Ron said.
"The Ministry library? Can you two get into there?" asked Hermione, suddenly interested in the prospect of another library to explore. True, she had moved on from her 'schoolgirl bookworm' image, but she still loved books. Hours literally melted away whilst she was engulfed in a new novel or textbook.
"Yeah, we can get in there. We have passes. You can come in with us, y'know?" said Harry.
Hermione smiled. That had been what she was hoping for.
"Let's get going then."
"TWENTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR! Mr. Capriati, if you cannot even complete a potion as simple as this one, without an accident of colossal proportions, then I suggest you stop trying and wrecking this classroom!"
Snape was in one of his famous 'moods.' Strange though, how easily he slid form one mood to the next. Although it was easier for him, since he had only two moods: bad and really bad.
"I'm -I'm sorry, P-p-professor Snape." Said Caleb Capriati, a second year Gryffindor. When he had started at Hogwarts the year before, he had been a confident child. Although a year and a half of Snape's potions classes, had reduced this boy to a stuttering wreck. Truth be told, he was fairly dim- witted. Caleb was rather like a Neville Longbottom for the new millennium. Whenever Caleb was in his classroom, Snape was constantly reminded of the stupidity of his past student. And then, consecutively, the brilliance of his other know-it-all students. Incidentally, it was this student, that he was recently trying so hard to forget.
"Class dismissed! Get out of here before I have you all cleaning this up! Without magic!" Snape yelled. The class, naturally was eager to comply swiftly. Within thirty seconds, the potions classroom was empty, except for the reserved potions master, whose heavy breathing now echoed off the walls. He took a second to calm himself, then with a 'silly wave of his wand' cleared the mess that Caleb Capriati and his classmates had left. He retreated to his office, and practically fell into the chair behind his desk.
Sitting on the desk were piles of ungraded homework. Realising that the grading had to be finished before dinner, he sighed, and reluctantly reached for his marking quill to complete the work that he was way overdue on. He allowed himself one thought of her before he began, thinking about how he used to have to mark her work, and how irritated he was when he had to give her full marks on everything. He smiled, very uncharacteristically, and got to work.