Harry Potter and the Enigma of the Foreign Matrices – Chapter Three –Lightning Never Strikes Twice In the Same Place

by Katherine Chan

A/N: I think in the second chapter, I actually tried to make some – corny – jokes. But then I kind of did a huge no-no by making everyone think that there was a possibility that Hermione Granger was gay. Now, why is that a no-no? Because… Homosexuality is still something that most people do not approve of, and some – note: most of them – do not accept it at all and go out of their own way to make life as awful as can be for the 'local homosexual'. Homosexuals are still a marginalised group, but let me tell you this: Do you think they actually chose to become part of a group that is generally insulted, reviled and discriminated against?

!!PLEASE NOTE!! Harry Potter is the property of Bloomsbury Books, and is written by Joanne Kathleen Rowling. The following story is based on said book, and does not reflect nor affect the aforesaid author's writing.

!!WARNING!! This chapter contains low level homosexual references. If you dislike such thing, well, I really wonder why you didn't leave last chapter.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, prepare for the release of the third chapter of 'Harry Potter and the Enigma of the Foreign Matrices"!

The bell rang, and all of the tenth year Gryffindors sidled into Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, with Professor Nørskï already sitting behind the teacher's desk. She smiled at the students as they came in, although it seemed slightly rigid and cold and did not reach her eyes. Harry stared at roof-to-floor mirrors that had been fitted into the room, covering every inch of wall possible. He wondered if the new teacher was excessively vain of her looks or if there was a specific reason.

"Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts. My name is Professor Freya Nørskï, and for this term, we will be duelling." Behind her, on the blackboard, a piece of chalk wrote out everything she was saying. Harry looked at Ron, triumphant. "See? She is going to teach us something!"

"Move to this side of the room for a moment please. I have no wish to brain you with your neighbour's stool." They hurried towards the front of the classroom, and the stools and desks flew back to arrange themselves neatly at the back of the room. "Leave you bags here, you'll only need your wands. Arrange yourselves into groups of four, please." Professor Nørskï paced towards the stacked up furniture with Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville grouped together. "Today, you will be duelling within a restricted space. Any reversible jinx or curse may be used, with the exception of any illegal spells. You may hit anyone on the other team, and the winner is the team that scores the most successful hits against the other team at the end of the round. Points will be awarded for ingenuity. You four, here." She gestured to Harry's group, and they sidled up to the back of the classroom. Professor Nørskï moved to the wall, and drew a glowing line in the middle of the class, separating Harry's group and the other group. "You may not step over the line. Start!"

Harry flung out his wand arm. "Stupefy!" he yelled, knocking out Parvati. "Impedimenta!" bellowed Ron, and Seamus froze. "Isikilia!" screamed Hermione, and hundreds of glittering beetles of ice flew out, attacking both Dean and Lavender. Lavender staggered backwards, and screamed "Rictusempra!", and Hermione fell to her knees, gasping for air. Neville raised his wand. "Stupefy!" he cried, and Lavender was knocked out, just as Harry uttered "Genjutsa!" Dean screamed in horror as he began hallucinating, just as Professor Nørskï called out "Finite Incantatem!" Hermione stopped wheezing and Dean stopped 'seeing things', but the ice beetles continued to bombard Dean and Lavender. Professor Nørskï waved her wand around a bit and they too disappeared, then she roused Parvati and Lavender. "First round goes to Granger, Longbottom, Potter and Weasley. Excellent Ice Beetles, Granger, and a very good Illusion, Potter, though I was surprised you used the Japanese variety, genjutsu. Good inhibition tactics, Brown, but you three could have done a little better, and that includes getting faster."

She stepped back. "Ready for the next round?"

"That was cool! Hey, Harry, I dare you to hit Malfoy with one of those Illusions!"

"Ron! You know that if Harry does that then Malfoy will know who did it when it's lifted! Didn't you listen to what Professor Nørskï said?"

"That's a pity… I wish the spell wouldn't do that, otherwise I'd make Malfoy think the Aurors were coming after him and his parents…"

Harry bid Ron and Hermione goodbye then exited the castle and headed towards Hagrid's hut, where his Care of Magical Creatures lesson was. Hagrid was standing next to several wooden crates, the contents of which were making strange bangs and rattling noises. He stopped. "Ooooh, no. It's not Blast-Ended Skrewts again, is it?" He asked nervously. Hagrid grinned widely. "Dumbledore's asked fer 'em ter be on the syllabus." Harry groaned.

"And they still don't do anything, do they?" Malfoy's scathing voice held a tremor of fear, causing Harry to smirk a little. The ferret-face acted like he was a big man and all, but when it came to the creatures that Hagrid favoured and the darkness of the Forbidden Forest, his macho bravado disappeared faster than the Golden Snitch. "Actually, they're great fer fightin' an' tha' kind a' thing. You know, like instead a' dog baitin', you can have Skrewt baitin'. An' if you train 'em good, they make great guardians an' the like." Malfoy scowled. "That great oaf must be joking. He expects us to train these things?"

Harry edged towards the crates and stared at the Blast-Ended Skrewts. Last time's had all been dark-coloured ones, but it seemed that Hagrid had been able to breed vibrantly coloured ones, something which seemed to redeem themselves slightly in many of the girls' eyes. He slipped on his dragon hide gloves and gingerly picked up a mainly indigo Skrewt, and was surprised to see that it was actually quite placid. "Did you already train them or something?" He asked. Hagrid nodded. "Yeah, I thought they needed a li'l bit a' trainin', jus' ter make 'em easier fer you guys ter handle an' all."

Following his lead, the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students reached for a Skrewt, their hands protected by their dragon-hide gloves. The Slytherin students however, were loath to do so, but finally picked up one each when it became apparent that no-one would be stung, bitten or burned. "Fer this term, you'll have ter look after that Skrewt an' make sure it doesn' die or anythin'. Mebbe you'll be allowed ter keep 'em afterwards, but I'm not exactly sure…"

The double lesson was spent riffling through the notes they had taken about the Blast-Ended Skrewts two years ago, and adding to and or editing them from the information they garnered from feeding them. Harry thought it was an exceptional lesson, one in which the 'dangerous' creature wasn't actually trying to attack them while they attempted to study them. The lesson ended with Hagrid supplying all of them with a separate labelled box to put their Skrewt in.

Harry trudged back up to the castle, when a tawny owl landed on his shoulder. Relieving the owl of its note, he stared at the message Professor McGonagall had sent him.

"Mr Harry Potter,

The position of Gryffindor Quidditch Captain has been left vacant with the graduation of last year's seventh years, and it has been judged that you are an appropriate choice for this station. A reply as soon as possible would be appreciated, as your first game is next month, against Slytherin, since Gryffindor was last year's winners and Slytherin the runner-ups.

Professor Minerva McGonagall"

Harry whooped, then scrambled to tell Ron, the team's Keeper, and the beaters Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper. Then he realised that he would have to hold trials for all of the Chasers, the previous three having graduated.

"… so yeah, the trials are on this Friday, I need you guys to all be there. We have to see how good they are at dodging Bludgers and stuff like that." Kirke and Sloper strolled off, discussing which one of their friends they thought would be good for the position. Harry consulted the note, and sighed as he looked at the Slytherin line-up.

Montague, a Chaser, was the Captain, and it seemed that his choices leaned to larger and bulkier team members, with Crabbe, Goyle, Warrington, Pucey and Bletchley all 'substantially built'. Malfoy, the Seeker, was the slightest member of the team, and his only reason for being on the team was the 'generous' donation of seven Nimbus 2001's, all of which were nothing on Harry's Firebolt, although it gave them a distinct advantage over the rest of the players.

Ron had a new Cleansweep, and Kirke and Sloper owned Comets that weren't too old. Harry wondered if Katrina would be making a donation of her own to the team, and hoped that she wouldn't. He noted that the Slytherin's Chaser Pucey had graduated and that the trial for the position had been yesterday afternoon, although the successful player had not been posted.

Malfoy strolled up next to him, and under the pretence of looking at the Quidditch notices, he hissed, "You're going down, Potter. Our new Chaser's Katrina, and you know what that means." Harry snorted. "That all of you are just going to sit there and get her to do all the work?" He sauntered off, inwardly quivering with apprehension. If she was as good at Quidditch as she was at everything else, then they really had a reason to get worried.

The week passed by, and Harry was amazed at the turnout at the Chaser trials, with Ginny Weasley, Parvati Patil and Colin Creevey showing much greater skill than most of the other contenders for the three open positions. Training sessions went exceptionally well, and the possibility that they could actually win against the Slytherin team grew stronger.

The Defence Association, or better known as Dumbledore's Army or DA for short, was also going very well, with most of the members being able to summon Patronus', although no-one had tried it against an actual Dementor. With regards to schoolwork, Harry and Ron personally felt it was actually easier than in fifth, when they had been preparing for their OWLs, whilst now they were residing in the lull before the storm that was the NEWTs.

"And it's Weasley, Weasley, Patil, Creevey, Kirke, Sloper and POTTER!" Lee Jordan yelled into the megaphone, the Gryffindor supporters screaming in the stands, all of whom took up three-quarters of the stands, since Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff always supported the team going against Slytherin.

"Potter, Montague, shake hands." said Madam Hooch, the referee. Montague attempted to crush his fingers, but Harry managed to save his hand from painful oblivion.

"Mount your brooms." Madam Hooch brought the whistle to her lips, then blew hard, and the fourteen players shot up into the air, the Quaffle quickly grabbed by Ginny and the two Bludgers were smashed at the Slytherin team by Kirke and Sloper, both of which had improved greatly since the last game they had played. Harry soared over the game, searching for a glint of gold, for the flutter of wings, and he knew that Malfoy was also doing the same, searching for the Golden Snitch. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katrina zooming across the field, straight at Colin who had possession of the Quaffle.

"And Dolohov intercepts the Quaffle! Look at her go, that Lightning Strike sure is the broom of the century! And no wonder she can fly so well, she bloody well made the broomstick herself!"

"Jordan! Get back to the game!"

"Okay, okay, Professor. Dolohov, Warrington, what the hell does he think he's doing?! Dolohov again, Montague, what?! What is with those two Chasers? They're just passing it straight back to Dolohov-"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor. Anyway, Dolohov's in the goal area, she shoots, come on Ron! YES! He saves! Passes it to Weasley, Pat- intercepted yet again by Dolohov, passes to Warrington, OUCH! Nice shot by Kirke, Creevey with the Quaffle, roaring down the pitch, oh wow! Dolohov intercepts, passes to Montague, back to Dolohov, shoots, come on Ron, sa-! Well, it's 70-nil for Slytherin…"

Harry frowned. Katrina was making things exceptionally hard for the Chasers, evident from how she had just appeared straight in front of Colin and snatched the Quaffle out of his hands without making any contact at all. The Gryffindor supporters were screaming below, urging the players on, and then…

There! Harry dived, he was only forty feet, thirty fee- Katrina appeared right in front of him, blocking him! Harry swerved, and mentally cursed. The Snitch had disappeared yet again, and Malfoy had the most annoying smirk on his face. Kirke and Sloper hit the Bludgers hard at Katrina, but she expertly dodged both of them, and at the same time snagged the Quaffle out of the air.

Damn it, I have to make sure she's occupied before I can go for the Snitch, but what if Malfoy's going for it too? Harry thought, entirely frustrated. Circling over the pitch, he stared as Katrina leaped off of her broom, swung from Montague's broom then flipped up into the air and grabbed the Quaffle yet again, then landed on Goyle's broomstick, who flew her back to her broom. She definitely had excellent athletic ability, so fast and so sure!

She was zooming straight for the goals, and Ron was looking exceptionally nervous, and…

Malfoy was speeding towards something, something that was circling the Slytherin left goal-post, something tiny, something golden…

"Come on!" Harry urged his broomstick, quickly accelerating, gaining on Malfoy… Level with Malfoy, Harry stretched out his hand, and then, with the memory of Katrina's aerial acrobatics in his head, pulled himself forward and off of his broomstick, hands flailing and…

Harry pulled himself into a ball, then hit and rolled along the pitch. "GOT IT!" He raised his hand, Golden Snitch struggling against his fingers. The Gryffindor supporters exploded onto the pitch, with the Slytherin team landing dejectedly. Harry could see Katrina saying something to the other players and stalking off; he supposed it had something to do with them making her do all the work. The game had ended at 150 to 130, Gryffindor not having scored a single goal at all, and all of Slytherin's 13 goals had been made by Katrina.

"Did you see how fast she was going? I mean, she was almost able to stop you from getting the Snitch but you did it!" Harry gaped. "You mean… she was that fast? How could she have managed to get from one side of the pitch to the other that quickly?!" Ron nodded. "Yeah, she was behind you, and she almost jumped like you did. She's a monster! In a good way, I mean, but she should be on the national team!"

Harry nodded absently, and replayed how she had flipped from Montague's broomstick. How could someone move faster through the air sans broomstick than with one? She had been moving so fast that she was almost blurred, and from up in the air, it looked like she had flown through the air. Shaking his head and reminding himself that he didn't have to play against Slytherin until next year, Harry changed back into his school robes.

Colin's little brother, Dennis, hurried into the changing room, camera in hand. "Can I get a group photo?" A few seconds later and a lot of purple smoke emitted, and Harry, Ron and Ginny emerged, coughing. The crowds were still celebrating, with the Slytherins hurrying towards the castle, all of them except for one…

"Congratulations on a great game, Harry." Katrina shook hands with him, and with the rest of the Gryffindor team as they emerged. "Yeah, you too. How'd you get so good?! And do you do gymnastics?" She laughed. "You must have lived in the Muggle world before, to know what that is. No, I never did gymnastics, but with Quidditch… Australia's a sporting nation, and the competition is exceptional there. If you're not good at Quidditch or any of the major sports, you're practically a nothing. Well, yeah, I have to go. See you later!"

She waved goodbye, and fought her way back through the masses of admiring students. Ron made a slight choking noise, and when Harry turned to look at him, he realised that Ron had been trying to say something to Katrina, but even now couldn't find the words. "Snap out of it!" Chuckling, Harry whacked Ron hard on the back.

They hurried towards the castle, when suddenly, the sky darkened. Something obscured the sun's light, and when the girls had stopped screaming and everyone had lit up their wands, the surrounding darkness seemed to smother the light.

"Everybody, back inside the castle!" Professor McGonagall called. Then a light appeared, high in the sky, and it grew larger and larger- no, it was getting closer! Harry yelled, it looked like the blasts the man had thrown in Diagon Alley!

A figure appeared, silhouetted against the brightness that was the ball of power. It braced itself against the blast, but was steadily forced downwards, downwards…

Harry thought the world had been torn apart, dirt and grass flying and the sky was entirely dark in places and blindingly bright in others and people were screaming… Blood was trickling down from his head, and he staggered upright and surveyed the landscape. He and everyone else had been flung backwards, closer to the castle but not hard enough to hit the stone foundations. There, where they had all been, a crater in the dirt, and a familiar figure floating down from the patch-work sky. Harry crawled forward, and saw the masked girl lying face down in the dirt in the middle of the crater.

There was blood smattered on her black clothes, and Harry wondered if she was dead… No, she was getting up, though rather shakily. He looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun. It wasn't the man from Diagon Alley; but it was someone similar, wearing the same style of clothing…

"Potter! Get back into the castle! Let us handle this!" Professor McGonagall hissed, as she and the rest of the teachers strode forwards, towards the crater. Madam Pomfrey hurried down to the girl, but she refused to go to the Hospital Wing, waving aside the Nurse's attempts to help her up. The girl staggered to her feet, but then slumped back down to her knees.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Dumbledore asked the man, who was still floating in mid-air. The man cackled. "My name is of no consequence, old man. Your magic cannot affect me, unlike what happened to the last one you wizards and witches encountered." At that, the man began throwing more blasts at the girl who was fighting to get back to her feet.

"Protiga" cried Dumbledore, creating a bubble of protection around the masked girl. Harry watched as the blasts of energy neared the girl, hit the bubble and…

Passed right through it! The teachers gasped, and the girl screamed as the blasts hammered into her, flinging her out of the bubble and hard against the dirt and clay. "I told you, Dumbledore, your magic cannot affect me! You cannot help her!" The man yelled out some kind of battle cry, and flew down, fist pulled back to strike the girl, who was…

Not lying in the crater anymore. The man hit the wall of the crater in another explosion of dirt and clay, and everyone gaped as they realized the girl was standing at the edge of the crater, wounds healing quickly. Some of her clothing had been ripped off, including part of her mask. Harry thought her face – or at least what he could see of it – looked familiar, but before he could pursue that thought any further, the man had extracted himself from the earth and was attacking the girl anew.

The pair fought, fists and feet whirling, landing blows on each other, knocking each other back and leaping forward again… They whirled apart, breathing heavily, bleeding from several wounds they had inflicted on each other with the daggers they were also wielding. The girl blurred, then flew backwards.

Everyone stared as the man's left arm fell, spouting blood, the severed limb flopping down onto the ground. Harry heard a sound behind him, and he noticed the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had retreated within the castle, whilst the Gryffindors and Slytherins were watching near the entrance. The Slytherins were watching the girl with their eyes narrowed, calculating, and Harry realized that all of them had parents that were Death Eaters, and were probably filing away all they knew of the girl, to inform their parents and in turn, Voldemort.

The man roared, and summoned up another energy blast and the girl did as well. The pair shot forward at each other, attacks colliding, a giant flash of light…!

Harry yelled as he felt himself being flung backwards yet again, holding on desperately to his Firebolt and landed heavily on his back. The smoke haze gradually filtered away, and he could see a figure floating in mid-air, but Harry couldn't make out if it was the girl or the man. He saw the professors staggering to their feet a few feet in front of him, and finally, he could see that it was the girl that had emerged victorious, the body of the man flung violently onto the lip of the crater.

The masked girl flew downwards, and almost had her two feet on the ground when she blinked slowly and fainted. Madam Pomfrey hurried forward, Levitated the girl and took her to the hospital wing. The professors surveyed the damage, and stared when the body of the man vaporised, and the earth began to whirl, grass and dirt all returning to their places…

"Just like in Diagon Alley…" whispered Harry. Feeling something trickling down the side of his head and matting down his hair, he raised a hand and it came away covered in some dark, glistening, sticky substance… Harry fainted, the image of his own blood covering his hands imprinted into his mind.

"… He'll be awake very soon, Albus, I'm sure. He did lose a lot of blood, but the girl, she lost a substantial amount more. It's amazing how she was able to fight like this! And what kind of magic was that?"

"I've never seen or heard about anything like it either, Poppy. We can only hope that she'll wake up and tell us. If Voldemort were to ally with people like that man, we can only imagine what he could do…"

"But Albus, magic couldn't affect that man! In terms of the capability to do damage, that man was more powerful than He-Who-Must-Be-Named!"

"Too true, Minerva. It seems we are caught between two foes, one that we know and one that we cannot."

Harry blinked his eyes slowly, his vision rather blurry as someone had removed his glasses. Turning his head slightly, he spotted his glasses sitting on the side table and reached for them. Sliding them back on, he pushed himself up slightly, to lean against the pillows. Someone – most like Madam Pomfrey – had erected the privacy curtains, and the whispering was going on outside. Sliding out of the bed, Harry padded to the split in the curtains and poked his head out. He spotted Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey standing at the split of another set of curtains that hid another patient away.

"Professor?"

"You shouldn't be out of bed, Harry. You've lost a lot of blood!" chided Madam Pomfrey, and she moved to chivvy him back into bed, holding a bottle of Blood Replenishing Potion.

"Who is she?" Harry asked. Dumbledore and McGonagall moved inside of the curtains surrounding his bed. "I doubt she would want people to know who she is… seeing as she was wearing a mask on this occasion and also on the last occasion she appeared, in Diagon Alley. She has not awoken yet." Dumbledore answered Harry's unasked question.

"Are there going to be anymore like him?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "We don't know. None of my instruments can tell me anything about these strange men, or of the magic that they and the girl wield."

Harry leaned back against the pillows, and accepted the Blood Replenishing Potion Madam Pomfrey was handing him. He spluttered as it burned down his throat and through his innards, the sensation causing him to curl up into a foetal position. Several minutes later, when the unpleasant feeling ended and he looked back up, Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall had already left to stand next to the girl. Madam Pomfrey checked that he was okay, and then went off to tend to the still unconscious youth.

Hermione and Ron visited during lunch, and informed Harry that he had been out for two days. "Here's your Potions homework, your Charms, your Transfiguration…" Hermione lifted several pieces of parchment from her book bag, and placed them onto Harry's bedside table. Harry groaned. "Great… now I have to catch up on a load of homework!"

Madam Pomfrey insisted that he stay in for one more night, and for the rest of the day, Harry tried to work on his homework but found he couldn't concentrate. He attempted to sleep, and finally managed to slip into a deep slumber a few hours after dinner.

He awoke with a start, and the little amount of light that shone against the walls of the curtains surrounding his bed told Harry that it was still night, or perhaps early morning. Lying there in bed, he found he couldn't sleep at all. Harry edged out of the curtains, intent on looking out the window onto the grounds, but then spotted the other set of curtains, the girl most likely slumbering within.

Padding across the hospital wing, he twitched back the curtains, and stared in shock at the profile that presented itself to him. Her! Harry stared at Katrina's face, and wondered why he hadn't recognized her voice, her hair. And the girl had told him in Diagon Alley that she was from Australia! Except… except that the girl had known he was Harry Potter, but Katrina… hadn't. What was going on?

She mumbled in her sleep, and rolled over onto her side, Harry jumping in heightened fear. Breathing slowly, he slipped back to his bed. How could it be? Unless the girl in Diagon Alley wasn't the same one… But Dumbledore said that it was the same person! And why was Katrina being attacked? Harry shuddered as another thought occurred. Katrina was in Slytherin, the only house that had ever turned out a Dark wizard or Witch. What if she became like Voldemort?

"… I don't get it either, Harry!" said Hermione. "I don't know how she could know you were Harry Potter in Diagon Alley but not know anything about you at all here… Unless she's got amnesia or something…" Ron was still in a state of shock; perhaps his preference of pretty girls that needed protecting had something to do with it.

The rest of the school was buzzing about the identity of the girl could be. Some speculated that it could be Katrina, but when Professor Dumbledore informed them that Katrina was recovering from injuries suffered by being 'too close', like Harry, they thought the Headmaster meant that Katrina had just been hit by the collateral damage of the attacks. Harry glanced at Hermione, who was looking quizzically at Katrina, a thoughtful look on her face. Opening his mouth, he turned to Ron, but closed his mouth again when he realised that Ron was looking at Hermione pretty much the same way Hermione was watching Katrina.

Looking at the both of them, Harry realised the full meaning of 'love chain encircle', noticing how one of the third years was looking and talking about the 'incredibly hunky red-head guy'. The change that Quidditch had brought about on Ron had led to his very own fangirl group, and although Harry didn't realise it, he had his own, much larger fan group.

He heard the volume of chatter rising behind him, and as Harry turned, he realised that Katrina's fanboy group was nearing the Gryffindor table as their idol neared Harry and his friends. Hermione blinked up at Katrina, mouth slightly open as the latter looked straight at her. "You're the one who made the DA coins, aren't you?" Hermione stared at Katrina, and then finally realised what had just been asked and nodded vigorously. Harry smirked and turned to watch how incensed the fanboys were acting. Here she was, talking to someone that hadn't done all those favours for her, and here they were, being utterly ignored!

"I do have to congratulate you; it was a remarkable Protean charm. From what the Sorting Hat said, I really wonder why you're not in Ravenclaw." Katrina extended her hand, and Hermione stared at it, then her mind clicked and she hurriedly shook it. Laughing that tinkling laugh, Katrina bid her goodbye and strolled off, with the fanboys shooting furious glances Hermione's way, although she did not notice as she stared off into space, right hand unconsciously rubbing against the palm of her left hand, the one that she had used to shake hands with Katrina.

Harry laughed, the sound jogging Hermione out of her trance. She blushed as she realised what she had been doing, and leapt out of her seat and rushed away, then hurried back as she realised she had forgotten her book bag. Ron was gazing disconsolately into space, and Harry really wondered if Ron liked Katrina or Hermione… He exited the Great Hall, when he heard someone call his name.

"Harry!" It was Cho, hurrying to Harry's side.

"Hey, Cho." He answered.

"I'm really sorry about accusing you about Hermione… I guess that's kind of impossible, hey?" Harry stared at Cho. "What are you talking about? I mean, I'm not with her, but what do you mean by impossible?" Cho looked at him suspiciously. "Surely you noticed it from where you were sitting! Hermione was totally scatter-brained when Katrina was talking to her!"

Harry looked at Cho in utter horror. If Cho had seen it from the Ravenclaw table, then who else had? Hermione, although she constantly said to the contrary, could and would be affected by how the rest of the school would react about her being seemingly 'different'. "Uh… I have to go, bye!" Harry rushed away up the stairs, leaving Cho behind. If Harry had glanced back, he would have seen her sporting a distinctly ugly look on her face.