Chapter 5- The Lethifold
When Harry and Hermione had arrived back at the castle, they were holding hands. They continued to do so, even as they walked through the Great Hall and up to the Staff Table.
"What's this?" Professor McGonagall asked, eyeing them. "You two finally get together? About time." The two of them blushed and dropped hands. Dumbledore, too, was surveying them through his half-moon spectacles. He winked at them, but didn't say anything. Hermione spooned some casserole onto her plate and Harry poured each of them a goblet of pumpkin juice. Today had been one of the best days of his life. He could hardly break his eyes away from her to eat.
Down the table, Professor Snape was staring at his two ex-students. They were both acting completely in love and it was making him sick. It was bad enough that the woman he had loved so long ago had chosen this boy's father, but that the boy had found love before he did was an outrage. It was so picture perfect that it was revolting. They would probably end up married, he thought to himself, and yet another generation of Potters would be born and he would never be free. The piece of salmon on his plate no longer looked inviting. He'd make sure that his Slytherin students would give the young couple the worst week in their lives.
Harry walked Hermione back to her office door. She gave him a fleeting kiss on the cheek and left for bed. A cold snicker came from somewhere behind him. Wand out he flung himself around. "Lumos," he breathed. The corridor was illuminated, but he saw nothing. A high-pitched scream came from Hermione's office and Harry flew inside. Hermione was wrapped in a black-cloth like thing. Slowly, it was cutting off her oxygen supply. Harry's mind flickered back to a Care of Magical Creatures class and, though he had forgotten this creature's name, he knew exactly what to do. He held up his wand and shouted with all his might, "Expecto patronum!" A glittering, white, translucent stag erupted from his wand and pitched itself against the creature, which suddenly glowed like brilliant white lava and broke away into pieces of fluttering ash. Hermione lay crumpled on the floor. Harry ran up to her and lifted her into his arms. Coughing, she opened her eyes again. She was blinking at him, her vision obviously blurred.
"A lethifold!" Hermione gasped at last. The white stag bowed before her and vanished.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked her. "Need to go to the hospital wing?"
"I, I think I'm fine now." She was still panting and her face was flushed. "We should tell someone that there's a lethifold running free in the castle, though."
"My patronus completely destroyed it," Harry said, looking at her with concern.
"It did? That's not what happened in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
"Yeah, well, I had a much more powerful thought controlling mine... didn't the bloke in the book remember being voted president of a Gobstones club?"
Hermione laughed. "Exactly. Just the same though, I think we better tell someone." Harry nodded and they walked back toward the teacher's lounge.
"Hermione," Harry said, as they walked up the spiral staircase. "Before I heard you scream, I also heard someone laughing."
"All the more reason to tell everyone," Hermione said. They walked into the teacher's lounge where Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and the man who taught Muggle Studies, who's name Harry had forgotten.
"A lethifold just attacked me in my office!" Hermione announced. The four of them looked up.
"Is it loose in the castle?" Flitwick asked, jumping to his feet and looking apprehensive.
Harry shook his head. "I got it with a patronus and it was destroyed."
"A lethifold?" the Muggle Studies professor asked, shivering.
"Now, now," Snape said coolly. "Lethifolds only live in humid jungle-like environments. Are you sure it wasn't just a sheet, Miss Granger?"
"Severus, this isn't the time!" McGonagall said, angrily. "If there was a lethifold loose in the castle, then someone must have brought it with them. You said it was in our office. These creatures usually don't attack unless their victim is asleep. Did you see it coming? Was there anything unusual?"
Harry piped up. "Just as I was leaving I heard someone laughing in the corridor. Whoever it was might have let it loose in there. I heard her scream right when I was about to investigate."
"Do you think it was a student?" Flitwick asked, nervously.
"Don't know," said Harry. "It was hard to tell by the voice."
"Well, if it was, and if it was done on purpose, then that student may be facing expulsion," McGonagall said, firmly. Harry thought back and wished that he had had his Marauder's Map with him at the time. He would have been able to figure who the great git had been. Whoever it was would rue the day that they had attacked Hermione.
"Is there any way we can find out who spent their holiday in a place like that?" Hermione asked.
McGonagall shook her head. "It would take a lot of investigation. In the meantime I will report this to the Headmaster."
"Wait a second, wait a second!" The Muggle Studies professor had wandered over the book shelf and was now sporting a copy of Fantastic Beasts. "This is a very new edition," he said. "It says here that lethifolds are only driven away by a patronus. They can't be destroyed!" He said this as if they were all in great danger.
"Well the one I got turned white and broke up into pieces of fluttering ash," Harry said, almost defiantly.
"You don't say?" said a voice behind Harry. He spun around to see Dumbledore. "It seems to me," he said, "that this was not a true lethifold. Rather, this was instead a powerful spell meant to mimic a true lethifold. If left to its own devices, it would have ended up shriveling and Hermione would have been free." The Muggle Studies professor dropped into a chair, giving off a great sigh of relief.
"So it wasn't real?" Harry said. Somehow he felt disappointed.
"Oh, no. I was real, just not alive," Dumbldore said. "Miss Granger, I would like to inspect the remains of this, er, thing. Would you lead the way?"
"Of course, Professor," Hermione said, straightening up and leading the way down the hall. Harry began to follow, but gave Snape a fleeting glance first. Somewhere behind those shiny eyes, Harry could see what looked like content.
"So, what'd Dumbledore do with the remains of the 'lethifold?'" Harry asked Hermione the next day.
"Took a sample of it," she said. "He's going to have Snape run some sort of test on it with one of his potions. He said it'd help lead us to the culprit."
"Ha!" Harry said glumly. "But what about if the culprit's Snape?"
Hermione gave Harry an imploring look. "Harry, we've been through this. Snape isn't trying to kill us... or have you forgotten when he saved your life for the third time last year?"
"This is different," Harry said. "You heard Dumbledore. That thing was harmless."
"He didn't do it," Hermione said flatly. "You know it as well as I do."
Harry sighed. "I hope your right. Okay, if it wasn't Snape, then how about Lover Boy?"
"Oh yeah, I'd almost forgotten about that nictitating git."
"You're using big words again."
"It means to flirt by winking. Anyway, I think we can rule him out. Besides being a complete abecedarian, he really isn't all that great with a wand."
"Er, Hermione?"
"Someone who's learning to read. Honestly, you did get me that word-of-the- day cauldron last year, what do you expect?"
Harry shook his head, but then started, as Ginny stuck her head through the door of Harry's office.
"May I?" she asked.
"Come on in," Harry said, conjuring another chair for her to sit in. "What's up?"
"Not much, just thought I'd come and see how the two of you were doing." Ginny looked rather mischievous as she said this. "So, you two an item now? I need to know before I finish my letter to Mum."
Harry goggled at her slightly. He hadn't been that anxious for the Weasley's to find out about them.
"I think so," Hermione answered, smiling with equal mischievous. The two girls went into giggles and Harry felt his stomach turn over.
"You two been talking about me?"
"You, Viktor, Ron, boys in general... yeah. S'pose so," Ginny said, winking, and Harry shuddered slightly. "Don't worry though, you don't have a lick of competition. Okay, well, I'm going to finish this letter, and I guess I'll see you in the morning for lessons. See you." Ginny left in a flash of red hair.
"Viktor? Ron?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione.
"Aw, don't give me that face," Hermione said, and she kissed his cheek. "I'm taken now."
"Good."
A.N.: Thanks ER Burner Full of Cookies. I'm curious though, how'd you know when her birthday was? A calendar maybe? This chapter seemed okay to me, though I've been pretty skeptical of all of them except for chapter 1. I went into some sort of third person not quite limited, not quite omniscient back there with Snape. Can you tell I've been reading Fantastic Beasts? I betcha that one of those will be in a book someday. Okay, thanks again for R& R'ing. I would probably have dropped off this fic early on if I hadn't gotten good feedback. See ya!
When Harry and Hermione had arrived back at the castle, they were holding hands. They continued to do so, even as they walked through the Great Hall and up to the Staff Table.
"What's this?" Professor McGonagall asked, eyeing them. "You two finally get together? About time." The two of them blushed and dropped hands. Dumbledore, too, was surveying them through his half-moon spectacles. He winked at them, but didn't say anything. Hermione spooned some casserole onto her plate and Harry poured each of them a goblet of pumpkin juice. Today had been one of the best days of his life. He could hardly break his eyes away from her to eat.
Down the table, Professor Snape was staring at his two ex-students. They were both acting completely in love and it was making him sick. It was bad enough that the woman he had loved so long ago had chosen this boy's father, but that the boy had found love before he did was an outrage. It was so picture perfect that it was revolting. They would probably end up married, he thought to himself, and yet another generation of Potters would be born and he would never be free. The piece of salmon on his plate no longer looked inviting. He'd make sure that his Slytherin students would give the young couple the worst week in their lives.
Harry walked Hermione back to her office door. She gave him a fleeting kiss on the cheek and left for bed. A cold snicker came from somewhere behind him. Wand out he flung himself around. "Lumos," he breathed. The corridor was illuminated, but he saw nothing. A high-pitched scream came from Hermione's office and Harry flew inside. Hermione was wrapped in a black-cloth like thing. Slowly, it was cutting off her oxygen supply. Harry's mind flickered back to a Care of Magical Creatures class and, though he had forgotten this creature's name, he knew exactly what to do. He held up his wand and shouted with all his might, "Expecto patronum!" A glittering, white, translucent stag erupted from his wand and pitched itself against the creature, which suddenly glowed like brilliant white lava and broke away into pieces of fluttering ash. Hermione lay crumpled on the floor. Harry ran up to her and lifted her into his arms. Coughing, she opened her eyes again. She was blinking at him, her vision obviously blurred.
"A lethifold!" Hermione gasped at last. The white stag bowed before her and vanished.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked her. "Need to go to the hospital wing?"
"I, I think I'm fine now." She was still panting and her face was flushed. "We should tell someone that there's a lethifold running free in the castle, though."
"My patronus completely destroyed it," Harry said, looking at her with concern.
"It did? That's not what happened in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
"Yeah, well, I had a much more powerful thought controlling mine... didn't the bloke in the book remember being voted president of a Gobstones club?"
Hermione laughed. "Exactly. Just the same though, I think we better tell someone." Harry nodded and they walked back toward the teacher's lounge.
"Hermione," Harry said, as they walked up the spiral staircase. "Before I heard you scream, I also heard someone laughing."
"All the more reason to tell everyone," Hermione said. They walked into the teacher's lounge where Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and the man who taught Muggle Studies, who's name Harry had forgotten.
"A lethifold just attacked me in my office!" Hermione announced. The four of them looked up.
"Is it loose in the castle?" Flitwick asked, jumping to his feet and looking apprehensive.
Harry shook his head. "I got it with a patronus and it was destroyed."
"A lethifold?" the Muggle Studies professor asked, shivering.
"Now, now," Snape said coolly. "Lethifolds only live in humid jungle-like environments. Are you sure it wasn't just a sheet, Miss Granger?"
"Severus, this isn't the time!" McGonagall said, angrily. "If there was a lethifold loose in the castle, then someone must have brought it with them. You said it was in our office. These creatures usually don't attack unless their victim is asleep. Did you see it coming? Was there anything unusual?"
Harry piped up. "Just as I was leaving I heard someone laughing in the corridor. Whoever it was might have let it loose in there. I heard her scream right when I was about to investigate."
"Do you think it was a student?" Flitwick asked, nervously.
"Don't know," said Harry. "It was hard to tell by the voice."
"Well, if it was, and if it was done on purpose, then that student may be facing expulsion," McGonagall said, firmly. Harry thought back and wished that he had had his Marauder's Map with him at the time. He would have been able to figure who the great git had been. Whoever it was would rue the day that they had attacked Hermione.
"Is there any way we can find out who spent their holiday in a place like that?" Hermione asked.
McGonagall shook her head. "It would take a lot of investigation. In the meantime I will report this to the Headmaster."
"Wait a second, wait a second!" The Muggle Studies professor had wandered over the book shelf and was now sporting a copy of Fantastic Beasts. "This is a very new edition," he said. "It says here that lethifolds are only driven away by a patronus. They can't be destroyed!" He said this as if they were all in great danger.
"Well the one I got turned white and broke up into pieces of fluttering ash," Harry said, almost defiantly.
"You don't say?" said a voice behind Harry. He spun around to see Dumbledore. "It seems to me," he said, "that this was not a true lethifold. Rather, this was instead a powerful spell meant to mimic a true lethifold. If left to its own devices, it would have ended up shriveling and Hermione would have been free." The Muggle Studies professor dropped into a chair, giving off a great sigh of relief.
"So it wasn't real?" Harry said. Somehow he felt disappointed.
"Oh, no. I was real, just not alive," Dumbldore said. "Miss Granger, I would like to inspect the remains of this, er, thing. Would you lead the way?"
"Of course, Professor," Hermione said, straightening up and leading the way down the hall. Harry began to follow, but gave Snape a fleeting glance first. Somewhere behind those shiny eyes, Harry could see what looked like content.
"So, what'd Dumbledore do with the remains of the 'lethifold?'" Harry asked Hermione the next day.
"Took a sample of it," she said. "He's going to have Snape run some sort of test on it with one of his potions. He said it'd help lead us to the culprit."
"Ha!" Harry said glumly. "But what about if the culprit's Snape?"
Hermione gave Harry an imploring look. "Harry, we've been through this. Snape isn't trying to kill us... or have you forgotten when he saved your life for the third time last year?"
"This is different," Harry said. "You heard Dumbledore. That thing was harmless."
"He didn't do it," Hermione said flatly. "You know it as well as I do."
Harry sighed. "I hope your right. Okay, if it wasn't Snape, then how about Lover Boy?"
"Oh yeah, I'd almost forgotten about that nictitating git."
"You're using big words again."
"It means to flirt by winking. Anyway, I think we can rule him out. Besides being a complete abecedarian, he really isn't all that great with a wand."
"Er, Hermione?"
"Someone who's learning to read. Honestly, you did get me that word-of-the- day cauldron last year, what do you expect?"
Harry shook his head, but then started, as Ginny stuck her head through the door of Harry's office.
"May I?" she asked.
"Come on in," Harry said, conjuring another chair for her to sit in. "What's up?"
"Not much, just thought I'd come and see how the two of you were doing." Ginny looked rather mischievous as she said this. "So, you two an item now? I need to know before I finish my letter to Mum."
Harry goggled at her slightly. He hadn't been that anxious for the Weasley's to find out about them.
"I think so," Hermione answered, smiling with equal mischievous. The two girls went into giggles and Harry felt his stomach turn over.
"You two been talking about me?"
"You, Viktor, Ron, boys in general... yeah. S'pose so," Ginny said, winking, and Harry shuddered slightly. "Don't worry though, you don't have a lick of competition. Okay, well, I'm going to finish this letter, and I guess I'll see you in the morning for lessons. See you." Ginny left in a flash of red hair.
"Viktor? Ron?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione.
"Aw, don't give me that face," Hermione said, and she kissed his cheek. "I'm taken now."
"Good."
A.N.: Thanks ER Burner Full of Cookies. I'm curious though, how'd you know when her birthday was? A calendar maybe? This chapter seemed okay to me, though I've been pretty skeptical of all of them except for chapter 1. I went into some sort of third person not quite limited, not quite omniscient back there with Snape. Can you tell I've been reading Fantastic Beasts? I betcha that one of those will be in a book someday. Okay, thanks again for R& R'ing. I would probably have dropped off this fic early on if I hadn't gotten good feedback. See ya!