Ch 16: - Spies.

After lunch, Harry waited in classroom 14, writing up his monthly assessment for the Gryffindor third years.

He'd finished the Slytherin reports and had wondered briefly what would happen next month when Pritchard returned. The boy's father had been found not guilty, as the Headmaster had predicted, but Harry didn't think he would be a great deal more accommodating.

So far the Griffyndors were all doing well. He shook his head slightly as he reached the name Alison Linney. A spy in his classroom, indeed!

Harry looked up as the door opened and Ginny herself walked in, closely followed by Hermione and Ron. They looked round and waved at Harry, then wandered over to the windows and took in the view of the end of the lake, Hagrid's hut, the Quidditch pitch, the eaves of the forbidden forest and the hills either side of the valley stretching away to the horizon. The cold northeasterly had brought clear skies, and the sun slanting in through the windows turned Ginny's hair into a glowing copper waterfall.

Harry was gazing at her, lost in thought, when a cough beside him brought him suddenly back to reality.

'Hi Harry' enthused Neville. 'I've never been in here before. It's really impressive but - we had cushions in the room you found for the DA, don't the desks get in the way?'

Harry just smiled and waved his wand. Neville's jaw dropped as the desks melted away to become cushions then reformed as Harry waved his wand once more.

Luna simply smiled vaguely. 'There's an advertisement for these cushions in the latest edition of the Quibbler.' she said dreamily.

Harry gave her an incredulous look. 'Professor McGonagall spent two days on that spell!'

Luna just smiled again. 'Are you sure?' she asked.

Hermione turned from the windows. 'The cushions are in the Quibbler, maybe. The spell to change them? No!' She shook her head in exasperation. 'Now, Harry, what did you want to tell us?'

As they gathered round and perched on various desks and benches, Harry tried to marshal his thoughts.

'Well, I suppose I just want to check if any more odd things have been happening...You know, like Trelawny acting odd again, or anything.'

'You really reckon they'll come up here?' asked Ron.

'Remember what Dumbledore said at the meeting at number 12? Bellatrix Lestrange is supposed to be coming to kidnap Trelawney.'

Luna had suddenly become attentive. 'I didn't really believe Daddy when he told me that! Was the Headmaster certain?'

Harry looked at the others who had been present.

Ginny spoke up. 'He said that he had received a report that she would.' She shrugged her shoulders. 'He thought it was important enough to "increase security at Hogwarts"'

'And has it been?' asked Neville.

'Supposedly!' snorted Hermione. 'Ginny thinks Trelawney's tower is better protected, but she has to come outside sometimes!'

'Maybe the alarm spells were strengthened,' added Ron.

'Yeah, but how far do they go out from the school?' mused Harry. 'The woodland comes in pretty close in places.'

'Mainly round the back of the school though.'

'True, but there aren't any doors in the walls, or anything.' explained Neville. The rest of them looked at Neville in surprise.

'I – erm – run – round the buildings, every other evening' he muttered.

Ron raised his eyebrows. 'You kept that quiet, Nev.'

'Well, I think it's good for him!' proclaimed Luna, 'and don't call him Nev! His names Neville!'

'Sorry Ma'am!' said Ron, bowing deferentially.

'Enough!' grumbled Hermione. 'You'd expect me to back you up, Ron, so don't act so hurt. Come to think of it, you could do with some exer - ' she stopped at the look of horror on Ron's face, and began to chuckle.

'Good Grief,' muttered Ginny, under her breath. 'Look, can we get to the point? I've got to meet Dean in fifteen minutes!'

Ron frowned at her and was about to open his mouth when Hermione nudged him hard. He glanced at her and subsided. Harry just looked coldly at Ginny who recoiled slightly, then he swept his gaze round the rest of them.

'The question stands. Has anyone seen anything odd, about Trelawney or anyone else?'

Ginny hesitated for a second and looked slightly reproachfully at Harry. 'Natalie McDonald saw her going down the drive towards Hogsmead last Saturday, but McGonagall was with her.'

'I saw her coming back,' added Luna, 'and McGonagall was still with her.'

'Like I said, she has to go out sometime.' proclaimed Hermione. 'If Dumbledore doesn't want her to know about her danger, he can't just force her to stay in the castle all day and every day.'

'The important thing is that she's unpredictable' said Ginny, thoughtfully. 'That's how people get killed or kidnapped; they get into a routine. My spies say she hasn't got any sort of routine at all'

Harry looked at Ginny steadily. Her and her spies, he thought to himself.

'Alright, I suppose all we can do is keep our eyes open. I'll go and see Hagrid this afternoon, he might know about the schools protection charms.'

'You could just ask Dumbledore, Harry.' said Hermione, in her "isn't it obvious" voice.

'I don't really want to ask Dumbledore, he'll probably just tell me not to worry.' He looked at them all again, finishing with a cold stare at Ginny. 'You'd better get going,' he said acidly 'You don't want to be late.'

Ginny turned and left without a word. The others looked at Harry in astonishment

'What was that about?' asked Hermione.

Ron looked as though he agreed with Harry, but Harry was suddenly feeling thoroughly ashamed of himself. He fumbled a few words together. 'Well – you know – we're talking serious stuff here – death eaters and – so – on.'

Ron was about to say something, but Hermione grabbed him and hustled him out, making faces at Neville that suggested he and Luna should follow her example. Neville took the hint, but predictably, Luna didn't.

'You go on, Neville, she said, smiling at him, I want to tell Harry something.'

Neville hesitated but didn't argue, closing the door quietly.

Luna wandered over to the windows and looked out silently for a full minute. Harry wondered if she'd forgotten he was there, but she suddenly spoke without looking away from the window.

'Jealousy is unbecoming, Harry.'

'I'm not jealous.' he stated flatly.

'No?'

'No.'

Luna turned from the window and drifted over to him. Her misty eyes seemed to be looking into his soul. 'So what's the problem?'

'What I just said.' He replied

Luna raised an eyebrow.

'I just thought she might give it a bit higher priority, I suppose.' He finished, rather lamely. It seemed to satisfy Luna though. She walked over to the door and turned.

'That's alright then, isn't it? Though I wonder if Ginny realises.' she said sarcastically, 'Perhaps I'd better tell her.'

'I doubt she gives a damn.' he retorted.

'I think she gives a damn about someone being nasty to her. - See you around, Harry.'

She was gone.

Harry sat at his desk for a whole hour, the taste of his words like bile in his mouth.

He finally stood and miserably locked his desk, wondering if it was possible to avoid Ginny completely. Reluctantly he came to the conclusion it wasn't, but as he locked the classroom, he decided he would have a damn good try.

- o -

Predictably, Hagrid had been out, when Harry hammered on his door. Fang had barked loud and long, but Hagrid was nowhere to be seen. Muttering to himself, Harry decided to walk around the school, to see where Neville went on his runs.

Ravenclaw were practicing on the Quidditch pitch as he passed. He could see Cho Chang swooping backwards and forwards across the pitch, watching the team practise. The snitch was hovering near one of the goalposts, but she was too busy watching her team mates to notice. Harry smiled evilly to himself; time for another quick dig. He cupped his hands round his mouth and shouted.

'Hey! Cho!'

Cho looked round in consternation, nearly colliding with one of the beaters.

'Down here!' he yelled.

Eventually, Cho looked down and saw him waving at her. She changed course towards him, whereupon he pointed at the northern goalposts, where the snitch still hovered.

'By the Goal!' he yelled.

She looked in the general direction of the goal, but didn't seem to see the tiny golden fleck at all. Harry made a circular motion with one arm and pointed at the snitch again. Cho still didn't get it, so he waved disgustedly at her and started walking towards the castle again. Almost immediately she noticed the snitch and shot off towards it.

Aware it was being chased, the snitch flitted off round the pitch with Cho in hot pursuit. By the time she'd caught it the team had finished their play and were waiting around for further instructions. Harry thought of staying to jeer, but decided against it. If Cho got too unnerved, she'd change positions.

As Harry made his way along the side of the buildings, the ground was broken by rock outcrops which grew more frequent as he neared the back of Hogwarts. The ground rose gently, with the wall top rising in tiers to match the ground level. Whoever had built the castle in the far distant past had obviously been designing for defence against a significant threat.

A few hut and sheds were huddled beneath the walls, groundsman's huts and stores, mainly for maintenance of the Quidditch pitch and stands.

Reaching the corner tower, Harry looked up the slight slope to the belt of trees that separated the Castle grounds from the slopes and screes of Ben Elton. The deciduous trees were already beginning to turn yellow and brown, as the leaves reacted to the recent frosts. The firs stood tall and dark amidst the mellow colours of autumn, hinting at their strength and determination not to be bowed by the cold and snow to come.

Along the back of the school buildings the walls were still high, and generally without windows. The store buildings backed onto these walls although the odd tower or two sprung upwards to dizzying heights at intervals along the wall. Windows glittered in the higher turrets.

Harry was trying to remember which tower held Professor Trelawney's suite of rooms when his eye was caught by a slight movement ahead. He stopped and flattened himself against the wall. Ahead, he could see two students, half hidden behind a buttress. It was obvious even at this distance that passing them would be embarrassing for him and them. As he turned to retrace his steps, he caught a glimpse of long red hair.

Harry's heart suddenly felt painfully heavy in his chest as he stumbled away, head down, wishing he could be somewhere else, anywhere else, as long as he never had to return.

At the end of the back wall Harry turned the corner and looked down the slope to the Quidditch pitch. Ravenclaw were still practicing and he didn't want to go near Cho until she'd forgotten he had showed her up. Instead he turned right, into the belt of trees, and began to climb.

As he made his way through the trees, Harry kept reminding himself that this was a foolish thing to do. Part of his mind, however, refused to listen. That part realised that the Death eaters couldn't be here yet, and any that had been around would have gone to Azkaban to help with the breakout. Nonetheless, Harry was cautious as he made his way uphill, stopping and listening every so often, and looking around carefully.

Above the tree line, Harry turned and looked back at Hogwarts, dominating the valley. The trees mercifully hid the back wall of the school. Behind him, Ben Elton stretched upwards a further fifteen hundred feet of scree and outcrops to a bare and cold looking summit. On the tiny quidditch pitch below, he could just see the Ravenclaw team as tiny moving dots.

He thought of Cho and how he'd spent so long yearning for her. Now he didn't really care what she did, or who with, but he could remember the feelings he'd had before, and how they had suddenly changed at the end of last year.

Until recently, he'd never really thought much about Ginny's original crush on him, but he supposed she'd felt the same sudden realisation that she didn't care what Harry did any more. She probably couldn't even remember feeling anything more than friendship for him, now.

Harry sat down between two rocks, out of the wind and tried to empty his mind of all thoughts, all cares - and all emotions.

- o -

The sun was close to the horizon as Harry finally made his way back down to the school. The Ravenclaws had long gone and the grounds were quiet. Harry's stomach was telling him that dinner was just about to be served, but he didn't hurry. The thought of joining in with the rest of the House was almost physically sickening, so he worked his way back down the hill carefully, looking for any sign that others had been on the slopes recently.

To his utter amazement, he found the evidence he had been searching for, not far above the trees. Three rocks were lying together in a way that formed a small recess. The grass within the recess was broken down and flattened, although Harry realised that animals could produce the same effect. The hand made cigarette ends, however were unlikely to have been made by any of the local fauna -they were too well rolled. From that point only the top parts of the school could be seen, including the tower that Harry was now sure contained Professor Trelawney's rooms.

Harry smiled humourlessly to himself, at least he had some idea how far the protection spells reached, this side of the castle. Feeling slightly less depressed, he continued back to the school.

The Entrance Hall was quiet, as expected, as Harry made his way up the marble staircase. He could hear the hum of chatter from the students tucking into their dinner. Pausing at the doors to the Great Hall, Harry was struck again by the feeling he had experienced at the beginning of term, a feeling of not belonging in such a cheerful place, a feeling of alienation. He could just see Hermione and Ron at one side of the Gryffindor table, and was that Ginny on the other side?

Whoever it was began to turn to look towards the door, but Harry didn't wait to find out if he was right. He reached the Gryffindor tower, walked through the empty common room, climbed the stairs, lay down on his bed and closed the curtains. Sticking his wand in one of the holes in the bed head, he lit the end, took out one of the dark arts books from number twelve and started to read, only stopping when the first person came up to bed. He extinguished the light and lay back, trying not work out who had gone to bed.

Two had turned in before sleep took him.

- o -

It was still dark when Harry woke, rumpled and uncomfortable. He tried to get comfortable again, but sleep was gone. He spent the rest of the night wishing he'd paid Ginny more attention when she had liked him, and cursing his own treacherous feelings for turning the tables on him.

- o -

Hagrid was digging his vegetable patch as Harry approached the next morning. He'd been first down to breakfast, hoping, justifiably in fact, that the common room would be empty when he reached it. Porage, toast, and a glass of pumpkin juice had taken ten minutes of rapid eating, and he'd been on his way out of the hall before any fifth or sixth years had appeared.

Hagrid looked up in surprise, as Harry approached.

'Mornin' Harry' he said jovially. 'Great mornin' for a bit of early diggin' to wake you up. How's things then?'

'Okay I suppose. Hagrid, I don't suppose you know any thing about the protection spells round Hogwarts, do you?'

Hagrid stopped digging, and leaned on his enormous spade. 'Straight to the point, Eh? What's bitin' you then?'

Harry looked round irritably. 'Nothing – except Death Eaters'

'Ah – well - yes, I did hear about that. I don't reckon they'll be comin' up 'ere though, Harry.'

Harry wondered just how much the Headmaster had told Hagrid about Trelawney being in danger. It suddenly occurred to him that not all the order might be aware of the whole secret.

'You're probably right, but – if they did – how close could they get to the walls before an alarm went off?'

Hagrid looked closely at Harry for a moment. 'Depends.' he said. Depends on what they've got in mind, depends on whether they've been added to the warnin' list, even depends on the time of day.'

'Assuming they mean harm, and are on the warning list, and say, it's day time?'

Hagrid looked puzzled by this combination. 'Weeelll, I'd say the edge of the trees, all around the school, - or thereabouts. Maybe further, I'm not sure.'

'Thanks Hagrid, better be off – '

'Hang on, Harry. No need to rush! You want a cup of tea?'

Harry looked round at the castle. He wanted to get back to classroom fourteen, before Slytherin came out to start practice but, well, he didn't want to get in Hagrid's bad books.

A huge mug of tea in front of him, Harry took time to find out how Hagrid's Brother was getting on.

'Oh, he'd doin' fine, Harry. He's not in the forest any more.'

'Where else could you hide him, then?'

Hagrid looked secretive for a few seconds, 'Well, promise you won't tell any one?'

Harry nodded.

'He's with Charlie and the rest of the dragon handlers, two valleys away from here.'

Harry's mouth dropped open. Charlie had moved quickly, it seemed. Dragons, less than five miles away!

'Wha – er – what can he do, though?'

'Bless me Harry, he can do loads! He's not frightened of the dragons, and now he can speak, he helps to keep 'em in line!'

Harry could hear the pride in his brother echoing through Hagrid's words.

'Who taught him then?'

'I'm not sure.' Hagrid looked a bit ashamed. 'I had to go "abroad" just before the beginnin' of term so they took him over there, and – well, I've only been over once. I didn't see his teacher.'

Harry hastened to reassure Hagrid. 'It's okay Hagrid, I understand. I can't say I blame you for –'

A knock on the door interrupted him.

Hagrid opened the door, but before he had a chance to say anything, a voice asked urgently. 'Is Harry in with you, Hagrid?'

Damn, thought Harry! Ginny!

Ginny pushed past Hagrid and grabbed Harry's sleeve. 'I'm very sorry, Hagrid, but I must speak to Harry, urgently!'

Hagrid looked stunned as Ginny almost hauled Harry bodily towards the door. Harry just managed to put down his mug of tea before he disappeared backwards out of the door, shrugging his shoulders at Hagrid in apology.

Outside the hut, Ginny continued dragging Harry almost into the forbidden forest. She looked all around and then spoke.'

'Harry, I've got to apologise.'

'What?'

'Apologise. That means to say sorry. – you know?'

Harry rolled his eyes. 'Yes, I know, - but – but what d'you want to apologise for?'

Ginny looked slightly surprised, but continued resolutely.

'Luna told me you thought I wasn't taking the death eaters seriously enough, - yesterday, - remember?'

Harry was momentarily taken aback by the thought that Luna had actually told Ginny - and almost disappointed that Ginny had accepted the statement.

'Yeah! Well – yeah, of course I remember – ' he coughed 'Well, okay, I – forgive you, I think – '

'You think?' Ginny's eyebrows arched upwards.

'Look Ginny,' Harry floundered, 'I – well, I think I was a bit, you know, sensitive about it myself, so – I – erm – ought to apologise too.'

Ginny smiled shyly for a second then looked down at her shoes. 'That's – okay, Harry, - did – did you? - I mean, later in the afternoon, was that you - ?'

What? thought Harry. Oh! Yeah. His shoulders slumped.

'Yeah, I went round the back of the school,' he muttered.

'And you saw me and Dean - ?'

'Yeah. - I was just exploring!' he muttered, trying desperately not to sound jealous.

Ginny looked thoroughly agitated. Harry was beginning to wonder if she thought he'd been spying on her.

'Have you told Ron?' she finally asked.

Harry looked up in surprise. 'What? Tell Ron? I've no intention of telling Ron,'

He sighed. Now he understood the urgency. He tried to force some sincerity into his voice. 'What you do is your business, no one else's.' he said quietly.

'Thanks, Harry,' she said, sounding relieved. 'I really didn't think there'd be anyone around, so –'

'I didn't think at all! I suppose it's a good place for that sort of thing.'

Ginny blushed 'W-you should try it sometime.'

'That'll be the day!' scoffed Harry. He smiled, humourlessly. 'Next time there's a blue moon, I reckon.'

Ginny changed the subject rapidly.

'Did you find anything?'

'When?'

'When you went exploring!'

'Ohhh. Yeah. Up on the hill.'

'Well? - What was it?'

'Someone had been there, waiting, - for quite a while by the look of it.'

Ginny looked up at the hills reflexively.

'Death Eater?'

'Who knows, possibly just a Voldemort supporter. Maybe some perv trying to look into the dormitory windows. Whoever it was smokes rollup cigarettes.'

'The girls' dormitories!' Ginny sounded thoroughly indignant.

'Maybe the boys', who knows?'

'You mean it could have been a woman up there?'

Harry looked blankly at her for several seconds.

'Oh!' she said suddenly. 'Oh, Eeuww!'

Harry chuckled, drily. 'I reckon we can say it was a Voldemort supporter of some sort! By the way, how did you find me?'

Ginny hesitated, 'Alison Linney saw you leave breakfast early.'

'And how did she know which way I went?'

Ginny ignored the question. 'I expect your tea's getting cold, Harry, and I haven't had breakfast, so I'd better scoot.' She smiled at him suddenly. 'See you later then, tell Hagrid sorry from me!'

Harry nodded as she turned away and hurried back to the school. Now he was being tailed, hmmm? Merlin knew he didn't have any animosity towards Ginny, but still, he was beginning to wish he could make like a Thestral and become invisible.

'Not if I see you first.' he murmured to himself.

- o -

By the time Harry had finished his tea and set off back to the school, the Slytherins were assembling for practice. Draco Malfoy and his hulking minders were approaching the quidditch stands where the rest of the team were already in the air. Malfoy looked as sour as usual and again, as usual, lost no time in insulting Harry.

'Been to see your large friend then, Potty?' Crabbe and Goyle laughed nastily. 'Is he back from one of his "undercover" excursions, then?'

Harry smiled lazily, 'Yep, he's back home, not like your dad, Dragon boy. He's still in the pen, I hear'

Malfoy went whiter than ever, and Goyle looked as though he'd swallowed a wasp, but Crabbe looked slightly smug for a moment.

Harry couldn't resist a second go, 'Funny how Crabbe's dad got out and yours didn't, isn't it?'

Malfoy was levelling his wand at Harry and Harry was preparing the protego spell and a couple of very nasty return hexes, when he was astounded to see Crabbe restrain Malfoy and Goyle and whisper urgently in Malfoy's ear. Malfoy's rigid pose slowly relaxed and he stood back sullenly. Harry skirted the three of them warily and headed for the castle.

Harry spent the next week doing his best to keep out of sight of Ginny Weasley and Alison Linney. He largely succeeded, though inevitably their paths crossed once or twice each day. A distracted look or a sudden earnest conversation with Ron or Hermione tended to fend off any sort of conversation. - Except of course, for the third year Slytherin and Gryffindor DADA practical.

- o -

Harry was most surprised to see Graham Pritchard hesitantly peering round the door five minutes before the lesson. They looked at each other for several seconds before Harry waved for Pritchard to come in. The third year marched up the centre of the room and stood nervously in front of Harry.

'The headmaster told me to apologise to you.'

Harry regarded Pritchard silently.

'I'm sorry - Mr. Potter.' he said, formally.

'Apology accepted, Mr.Pritchard.' replied Harry, equally formally.

Pritchard looked thoroughly uncomfortable. Harry decided to relent slightly.

'The headmaster told me some of the things that were giving you grief. I'm glad your Dad wasn't guilty. Your Mum and sister must be ecstatic.'

Pritchard nodded slowly.

'Truce?' asked Harry.

Pritchard nodded again.

'Go and sit down then. The rest of the class should be here in a minute or two.'

As the rest of the class assembled Pritchard got several funny looks, a couple of smiles and one or two hate filled glares. One of the glares was from Alison Linney, who then looked at Harry questioningly, whilst miming a cut throat. Harry shook his head slightly, at which she looked thoroughly disappointed.

Harry instructed the register to log the students' attendance. Once the book had floated back to his desk. Harry cleared his throat and stood up.

'Morning everyone.'

'Morning, Mr. Potter.' They chorused.

'No Miss McDonald this morning?'

'Alison Linney piped up immediately. 'She's not feeling well this morning Mr.Potter.'

Harry was about to ask what was wrong, but the gleeful look on Alison's face made him decide that perhaps he didn't really want to know after all.

He rerailed his train of thought and continued.

'Today I want to go through what we've covered so far. Hopefully we can get onto something more complicated, if you've all got these spells sorted. So, get up and I'll sort the desks out.'

They all stood immediately and waited whilst Harry cancelled the form spell.

'Good. Now then, we'll start with the expelliarmus disarming charm. Pairs as usual, - yes Miss. Linney?'

'Um – I've got no one to practice with.'

Harry sighed. 'Alright, you can practice on me. The rest of you get on with it. I'll be checking you all in a few minutes.' He faced Alison expectantly.

Almost immediately he heard the cold voice inside his head matching Alison's, "Expell-"'

'Hang on!' He muttered, trying to remember the incantations which turned off his protection spells. 'Okay. Try again.'

Alison suddenly blurted out "Expelliarmus" making Harry's wand fly out of his hand and leave his fingers stinging.

'Accio.' He muttered, and the wand flew back to him.

'Good,' he said with a smile. 'Very good, - Expelliarmus!'

Alison's wand jumped out of her hand and spun across the room. Harry thought Accio at it and watched as it flew to his hand without even touching the floor. He stepped forward to give Alison her wand back but was taken aback by the sight of her holding her hand and crying. The rest of the class stopped practicing and gathered round.

Harry put both wands in his pocket and gently took Alison's hand. There was a red burn mark on two of her fingers. One of the burns was already starting to blister and she was obviously in serious pain.

Harry immediately whispered one of the spells he'd learned to stop the burn getting any worse, then a second spell to stop the pain. As the agony ebbed away, Alison stopped crying and made to take her wand.

'I'm sorry about that,' said Harry, 'I didn't realise I used so much power. I'd better take you to the Hospital wing.' He looked round, to tell the rest of the class to continue, but noticed them all looking at him with varying degrees of amusement.

'On second thoughts, Mr. Creevey, would you please take Miss Linney to the Hospital wing?

A quarter of an hour later they reappeared. Alison's fingers were as good as new, so Harry gave her back her wand and told her to practice with Denis and his usual partner.

It was only as the class were leaving that Harry thought to reactivate his protection spells. He shivered at the thought that he might be beginning to trust the Slytherins.