Chapter 9
Hermione's Plan
Harry woke to the far off sound of screaming in the distance. He was so damn tired from the incidences of the night before that he couldn't consciously analyze his surroundings accurately. He rolled listlessly out of bed and into his clothes. There was nobody else in the dorm… screaming in the distance… something must be going on. Realizing that there was (all too obviously) something going on he hurried out of the dorm and toward the screaming.
There was a huge crowd of people gathered around something that reeked so violently that Harry covered his nose immediately with his sleeve. There, he spotted Ron not ten feet from him.
"What the bloody hell is going on?"
Ron turned to him with an alarmed look on his face; he too had his nose covered with his sleeve. "Yarr, I really don't quite know, but I heard something to do with Cho and Peeves…"
"Oh my Lord, that whore, I thought I kill… um yeah…" Harry looked to the floor. Ron's eyebrow rose slightly to this. Harry noticed something different about him. "What's with the eye patch? And did you just say, 'Yarr'…?"
Before Ron could reply he was interrupted. "Please, everyone needs to keep calm!" Dumbledore bellowed, "If I could have everyone's attention!" Everyone in the corridor went silent and looked toward the headmaster.
Just as Dumbledore began to inform the students of what was going on there was some sudden maniacal laughter from the other end of the hall. "Bwah ha ha ha!" It was Peeves and he was holding something quite bloody and disgusting looking in his hands. "Let's go bowling!" Peeves hollered as he rolled the pulpy object toward the crowd of students. At first no one really realized what it was but soon enough there came screams of horror from the students standing at the front of the crowd and the source of the stench was revealed.
It was Cho's severed head and it was disgustingly mutilated.
The crowd split just as the head came rolling towards them. Finally it stopped right in front of Harry and stared eyelessly up at him. "Shi ni Cho!" Peeves chuckled evilly. Everyone turned and looked at Peeves, most of whom were quite pale.
"Yarr? … where did you learn Japanese?" Ron asked quizzically.
Peeves smiled, "From a lovely reviewer of long ago…" and he faded away into thin air.
"Ahem…" Dumbledore once again began to inform the students of what the hell was going on. "It seems we have located Cho Chang and all search parties should… um cease all searching. Please proceed to breakfast where you will be further informed of the situation." Everyone turned slowly and proceeded toward the Great Hall.
"Breakfast?" Ron exclaimed, turning to Harry his nose still covered with his sleeve. "He wants us to eat breakfast after having a severed head rolled at us?" Harry didn't respond he just stood there staring down at Cho's dead head.
"Mr. Potter" Dumbledore put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I would like to have a word with you, in my office."
Harry turned slowly to Dumbledore and stared up at him blankly. "…Yes sir…" Dumbledore began to walk down the hall, Harry followed about 20 feet behind. Ron was left standing there with an astonished look pasted across his face, to walk to breakfast all alone.
Finally they arrived at Dumbledore's office. "Harry, I know what you did." Dumbledore said as he turned and looked down at Harry.
"What?" Is all Harry could reply with.
"Harry, I know what you did." Dumbledore said as he turned and looked down at Harry.
"You can tell me this after what you did last night?" Harry yelled. "Don't think just because you know that I killed Cho means that I can't blab about you killing Percy!"
Dumbledore blinked. "You killed Cho?" He exclaimed.
"Um…." Harry waved his hand in front of Dumbledore slowly. "I did not kill Cho" He said methodically.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow to Harry's strange hand gestures. "You may be a mermaid and a vampire but, I'm sorry to say you are no Jedi."
"Um…" Harry looked to the ground and folded his hands behind his back. "Damn it…"
"Anyway that wasn't the point…" Dumbledore stood there staring at Harry for several moments. "You are dismissed." He said finally.
"I thought you wanted to talk to me about something though." Harry stared back up at Dumbledore expectantly.
"Haha. Young Harry, I'm Headmaster Dumbledore, I work in mysterious ways." There was an awkward pause… "You may go… now"
"Uh yeah…" Harry left.
"Damn I'm getting old… can't even remember what I was going to say…" Said Dumbledore, as he walked over to his desk to fall asleep in his chair.
Harry made his way down to the Great Hall. He took the long way so he wouldn't have to pass by Cho's… mess.
As he entered the room everyone went silent. He walked slowly over to the Gryffindor table and found a seat with Ron, Hermione and Ginny.
"Uh…" He said as he scooped food onto his plate. "What's going on…?" Everyone stared at him with a ludicrous expression.
Finally the silence was broken when Dumbledore's bellowing voice filled the air. "Please lend me your attention I have an announcement to make." The room was already silent so the pause made here by Dumbledore was completely pointless. "Cho Chang's funeral date has already been arranged for next weekend. It will be held somewhere in Hawaii… Also there is a Garden Club meet tonight at 7:00 to watch the Moon Lily bloom. Thank you that is all."
"Why would her funeral be held in Hawaii?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Because she's Hawaiian, duh." Replied Harry.
"Cho is Hawaiian?" Hermione asked as she took a bite of eggs. "I never knew that…"
"What did you think she was? Chinese or something, heh?" Harry laughed.
"Aye." Said Ron
"Yeah." Said Hermione and Ginny in unison.
"Oh…" Harry said slowly. "Well she's Hawaiian; a descendent of Queen Liloukalani too actually."
"Woah, that's interesting…" Hermione said ponderingly while Ginny and Ron were thinking, 'Lilou who?'
"Yarr, all this talk about Cho… That reminds me," Ron said slowly, directing his attention at Hermione, "You have a date with Draco tonight."
"Oh my Gackt, you're right! I almost forgot." Hermione exclaimed. "And to think I would have lost you 25 of the profit."
"Aye, that you would have little lass, but don't forget 'bout that 75 you are sure to earn." Ron said as he reached for his eye patch.
"Oh, no you don't!" Ginny hollered and smacked his hand away from his face.
"Hem…" Hermione hummed. "I just remembered something very important!" She reached down into her book bag and dragged out a huge book entitled "Behind the Curtain of Magic".
"This book contains the secret to the—" Hermione was suddenly interrupted when the daily flock of owls swooped into the Great Hall. A letter fell onto Harry's Plate.
"Woah, I haven't gotten a letter in who knows how long." Harry said as he picked up the letter and studied it.
"Who be it from, matey?" Ron asked.
"It says it's from the Royal Court of the Witch World of Hawaii. Please stop talking like that Ron it's freaking me out." Harry slit the envelope open, unfolded the letter and read it aloud:
Dear Sir Harry Potter of Hogwarts,
The Royal Court of the Witch World of Hawaii, TRCotWWH, courtly invites you to attend Princess Cho Nina Chang Liloukalani XVII's funeral. Her magicalisty's funeral will be held in the Royal Courtyard of the Liloukalani Castle of the Witch World District of Hawaii next Sunday morning at 9:00 am. Please contact your local transportation or school headmaster for instruction of entering the Witch World District of Hawaii for some magic is required. We, the TRCotWWH, also invite any friends of yours, but enemies are not permitted.
With all due respect,
Queen Cho Nina Chang Liloukalani XVI
The Royal Court of the Witch World of Hawaii
"Woah, you received a letter from the queen herself!" Ginny said with glee.
"Yeah, but I don't know if I want to go…" Harry said slowly.
"I think you should, because I kind of want to go, too." Hermione said excitedly, "Just think! We might get to meet the Queen of Hawaii! Why wouldn't you want to go?"
"Well I really don't want to get up that early on a weekend…" Harry said, when really he didn't want to go because he was the one that killed the subject of the funeral.
"You're such a fruit." Ginny said bluntly. Everyone looked at her surprised. She paused and looked at them one at a time. "Well, he is!" She shoveled some pancakes into her mouth.
There was an awkward silence. "Well, back to what this chapter was originally about…" Hermione said decisively. "Like I was saying before, this book contains the secret to the veil in the Department of Mysteries."
"Why didn't you tell us about this earlier!" Harry said excitedly. "That's way more important than Cho's funeral! Think what we could do with that information! Oh my Gackt! Oh my Gackt!" Harry jumped up frantically and grabbed the book from Hermione. "The answer to the question everyone in the world who's ever read Harry Potter has been asking since the release of the fifth book could be in here! We could finally save Sirius from behind that ragged curtain!"
"YAY!" Everyone shouts happily.
