CHAPTER FOURTY-SIX

The Investigation Continues

Whatever Malfoy had done to the owls, Harry was sure Michael Corner had something to do with it. With what he discovered from his last duel with Draco, Harry knew that he had to make a visit to see Hagrid. And whatever concoction Michael gave Draco in return for the submissive potion, Hagrid knew about it.

Harry found some spare time in the afternoon before dinner to sneak down to Hagrid's Hut. Luckily, he wasn't teaching a class. The roof of the hut was piled with snow and there was smoke coming from the chimney. The old place actually looked quite cozy by the time Harry made it down to the grounds. His feet were soaked and his fingers were numb when he knocked on Hagrid's door.

"Who's there?"

"It's Harry, Hagrid," he called.

The door flew open, nearly knocking Harry backwards. Hagrid grabbed him and gave him a big, rough hug. All the breath was squeezed out of Harry, but at least he was warm.

"Come in, come on in outta ter cold." Hagrid pulled Harry inside and helped him take his jacket off. Fang pounced on Harry, trying to lick his face, until Hagrid pulled him off and threw him a bone from a platter on the table. "Sorry 'bout that, 'Arry. Bin so long since he's seen yeh. Since I seen yeh!"

Harry realized that Hagrid was getting a little emotional. It was true; he hadn't visited Hagrid since before winter break. "I'm sorry. I've been really busy with school and…other things."

The apology seemed to sober the giant up. "So I've heard. I swear, 'Arry, if yer parents could see yeh now, they'd be right proud. Studyin' er… yer studies, and doin' yer assignments…" He winked when he said the last part. "They couldn't have done a better job raisin' yeh themselves."

Harry felt his face grow red. "Thanks, Hagrid."

"Besides And where 'ave 'Ermione and Ron got to? Not fightin' with 'em, are yeh?"

Harry shook his head. "No, it's just hard when I can't tell them what's going on. We're sort of growing apart." The truth was that whenever Harry saw either of them, he felt an enormous pang of guilt because of what he was hiding from them. Lately, he'd been doing his best to avoid them. It was easier than constantly feeling guilty.

"That'll happen, that'll happen. But I'm sure things will work out," Hagrid replied. "Wan' a cup o' tea?"

Harry nodded and stayed silent as Hagrid found him a giant-sized teacup and saucer and filled it with some hot tea. "So what brings yeh down 'ere? Come to check on yer bike?"

He took a sip of tea, burning his mouth a little. He'd almost forgotten about Sirius's bike. "No. Actually, I wanted to ask you a question about the Owlery."

Hagrid drank some of his own tea and nodded. "Quite a scene we 'ad there in the fall. With the dead owl an' all. 'E was scorched up pretty badly."

"Do you know why?"

Hagrid shook his head. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that bird ran into a dragon," he chuckled.

Harry's heart stopped for a moment. A dragon? Where had he heard about dragon deliveries before?

"Dumbledore was a tad concerned," Hagrid continued, "but after I cleaned the Owlery out and all them owls came back, 'e said not ter worry."

Harry took a deep breath. Now was the time to use what he had learned from his Legilimency with Draco. "When you cleaned the Owlery, did you happen to find any Ubreadit? With Dried Scaag?"

Hagrid's eyes lit up. "I did. How did yeh know, 'Arry?" Harry shrugged in response, and Hagrid seemed to understand that meant he couldn't tell him. "Do yeh know what it does?"

"It keeps owls away, doesn't it?"

"Very good!" Hagrid exclaimed. "Yer a quick study, 'Arry. That's somethin' I only teach ter my sixth-years. It's on the N.E.W.T.s. Tricky question if yeh ferget the Dried Scaag."

Suddenly, Harry realized why Draco had approached Michael for help in the first place. "Hagrid, is Michael Corner in your class this year?"

Hagrid nodded. "Sure is. Not the most clever bloke for bein' in Ravenclaw. Likes to hurry through everthin'," he muttered. "Yep, I did find a bit o' Ubreadit when I was cleain' the Owlery. Figured it was one of my sixth years foolin' around. Maybe even practicin' fer the exam."

But Harry knew different. It was Michael who'd given the Ubreadit to Malfoy, and Malfoy had put it in the Owlery. But why? Why would he want to get rid of all the owls? And apparently, the first attempt hadn't worked—one of the owls had been killed by whatever Malfoy had planned.

"Hagrid, can you think of any reason why someone would want the owlery to be empty?" Harry questioned.

Hagrid shrugged. "Not particularly. The Olwery's only used for outgoin' mail."

"So nothing ever arrives in the Olwery?"

"If an owl can't find the person who the mail is fer, it might bring it back to the Olwery. Or if a piece o' mail was sent directly to Hogwarts without a name. But that only happens every once in a while."

"I see," Harry replied.

He smiled, despite himself. Now he knew exactly what Draco was up to. He ordered some substance with help from Snape. Whatever it was, it could only be touched by dragon skin or hide. Only a dragon could deliver it. However, if a dragon arrived in the room full of owls, he would certainly try to eat them all. So Draco needed to get rid of the owls for the delivery. Things were starting to fall into place. But what the hell did Draco order?

It was Friday, Valentine's Day and the last day of his detentions, and Harry found himself face-to-face with a very pissed-off Draco Malfoy.

He was brutal with Harry. Malfoy had been interrupting his Legilmency so often that he barely had time to make out any of Draco's memories. At least he'd been able to confirm through one of Draco's flashbacks with Snape that he had ordered some kind of substance that could only be handled with Dragon's hide. In fact, only trained dragons could deliver it properly. So Harry assumed that Malfoy wanted the Owlery deserted to receive the substance. He didn't address it to himself in case the dragon was intercepted. He merely had the dragon bring it to Hogwarts. However, when he did receive the substance, one of the owls had been killed because of Michael's carelessness.

Without hesitation, Malfoy thrust his wand towards Harry, and shouted the conjunctivitis curse. He spat when he said it, his eyes red with fury. Harry felt the spell hit him, but he was already far away. His concentration was so intense that he felt removed from the situation, as though he were floating on the ceiling of the room and watching the duel from afar.

Why are you so infuriated, Malfoy? Harry wondered.

In a flash, Harry was taken to a place that was now quite familiar to him: the Slytherin common room. He was staring at the hearth, the fire burning brightly. He could barely make out the image of Malfoy's mum in the flames, her nose upturned.

He—Malfoy—was seething with anger. It shook him to his core. Draco's voice was a harsh whisper, on the verge of shouting.

"He betrayed us. He's tarnished the family name. Our blood is no longer pure. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"It means everything to me…"

"He does not belong there. He cannot just stumble back in through the door and take everything that is rightfully mine."

"It was his once…"

"But it is mine NOW!"

He shouted the last part. He glanced around the common room to make sure that no one was there. He turned back to his mother, damning her for always being so fragile and pathetic when it came to his father. Suddenly, she let out a soft cry as she was pushed away from the fire. Her image was replaced with his father's pale face. Clearly enraged, Lucius's eyes were blazing even more brightly than the hearth.

"Listen here, boy. You may think you have everything figured out, but I promise you, you are still just a miserable little wizard in training. Do not fool yourself into thinking that you're ready for the real thing…"

"And you listen to me, father. You've had your turn. You've failed. You're nothing but a washed-up old man hanging on to what little dignity he has left."

There was a blinding pain in Harry's stomach as he doubled over and lost the image from Malfoy's mind. However, he heard Lucius's last shout of warning.

"Watch your back, you foolish boy."

And then Harry was on the floor, and when he tried to recover, Malfoy hit him again. "Petrificus Totalus." It was his current favorite spell to finish him off with. Tonks was forced to intervene and fix up Harry for round two.

So Draco's father had taken something from him—but what? And why was it so important? Whatever it was, it had Draco pissed off and in a particularly sour mood. Taking his anger out on Harry in the form of magical spells didn't seem to make matters any better.

For the second round, Harry used a new spell that Tonks had taught them in Defense Against the Dark Arts. The blinding caught Malfoy off-guard; Harry could tell he was surprised that he'd use it against him so quickly. Thanks to his meetings with D.A., Harry had managed to master the spell in a small amount of time. It would blind Malfoy for a good 30 seconds, even longer once Harry perfected it.

Harry took the second round, just to save face with Malfoy. However, he still needed to find out more about Malfoy. This was his last detention. He had to find out as much as he could.

He decided to concede round three to Malfoy. It was the first time that he was going to let Malfoy walk away with a winning match for the week. Harry would have to swallow his pride and take one for the good side.

Draco was tiring, and Harry was glad. If he wasn't so active with his wand, he would be able to read more of Malfoy's thoughts. He found that Draco's fury made him project all of his feelings and memories even more so than normal. Sometimes, it felt as though Malfoy was mentally shouting at Harry. Up until now, Harry had been too busy defending his physical self to do anything about it. But now that he was tired from his own rage, perhaps he wouldn't be quite so quick.

Harry could see and feel so much about Draco's terrible relationship with his father. It was not one of camaraderie or unity under the Dark Lord's name. It was a competition of power and vengeance. Draco would do anything to get his father out of the way. He wanted to be more powerful. More hateful. More evil. He wanted the name Malfoy feared as much as Voldemort.

Tonks said they'd had enough of a break, and Draco sprang back into action. However, he was more subdued. Harry took the opportunity to open his mind to Malfoy's projections.

"I will be a Death Eater. No matter what it takes."

Draco was still talking to his father through the heart in the Slytherin common room. Harry got the sense that this memory was fresh, perhaps even from today.

"You may have taken away my slave, but I have something else the Dark Lord wants."

"My money and power may have spoiled you rotten, Draco, but you cannot buy your way into the inner circle. There is nothing you could possibly offer him that he doesn't already have in me."

Draco merely smiled. An arrogant, thin-lipped smile.

"We'll just see about that, won't we father?"

Suddenly, the Draco of the present physically poked Harry with his want. "Incendio!"

Harry cried out in agony as pain erupted on his chest. He was vaguely aware of the sound of sizzling and the smell of burnt flesh as the pain spread. He had been so locked into Draco's memory that he hadn't realized how close he was.

That will teach you to make eyes at me, Potter.

Harry still had a strong enough connection to understand Malfoy's thoughts. Tonks gasped and got up from her desk and rushed to Harry's side. She had her wanted out in a flash and quickly muttered the counter-charm to douse the flame on Harry's clothes.

She was furious. "Mr. Malfoy!" she boomed. "Do you know how dangerous that was!" Malfoy merely grinned in response. "I want you out of here this instant! You're lucky I don't give you another week's worth!"

Draco snickered and quickly left the room. Tonks was fussing over Harry's shirt, which actually appeared to be sticking to part of his skin. Harry winced when she pulled it away, a bit of his flesh still sticking to the cloth.

"Ooh, that was rotten," Tonks said. "I'm afraid you may have to pay a visit to Madam Pomfrey, Harry."

"No way." Harry shook his head defiantly. "I've got to go see Dumbledore." And the sooner he got done talking to Dumbledore about this last detention, the sooner the headmaster would take him to see Eva. He had big plans for tonight. Plus, he already had his bag packed with the Marauder's Map and his father's invisibility cloak. He didn't want to make another trip up to Gryffindor Tower. "Can't you do something?"

Tonks sighed. "I'm afraid it's been a while since I've done any magical first aid—but I can try." She hesitated a moment, thinking of a spell. Then she pointed her wand where Harry was burned and muttered a charm.

Almost immediately, the burning sensation around Harry's chest eased. His skin was still a bit red and sore, but it felt cool and soothing. "Thanks," Harry said. "Er… Got any ideas for the shirt?" The entire front of his shirt was scorched and quite crispy.

Tonks rummaged around in a nearby open trunk and pulled out a navy blue button-down. Harry was quite sure he recognized it as Remus's. "Here, take this. But I want it back." She tossed it to him, blushing. Harry tried to hide his smile. "Now, get a move on. I know you must be in a hurry. And Happy Valentine's Day."

Harry grinned. "Happy Valentine's Day, Professor."

He quickly left Tonks's office and changed his shirt in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. He threw away his old one and was surprised to find that Remus's wasn't too big on him. In fact, Harry thought his shoulders broadened it out quite nicely. However, he didn't have time to dwell on it. He sprinted out of the classroom and straight to Dumbledore's office.

"Ton-Tongue Toffee!" he cried hoarsely, a bit out of breath. The stone gargoyle twisted to reveal a staircase, and it seemed to take forever for Harry to reach the headmaster's office.

"Come in, Harry," Dumbledore said, gesturing for him to join him in the back room. It only took a few strides for Harry to reach Dumbledore. He quickly went inside and sat down without being asked to.

"In a hurry, are you?" Dumbledore questioned, his eyes twinkling.

"Sorry sir," Harry replied sheepishly.

Dumbledore smiled. "No need to apologize. We all have been in love once." His eyes seemed far away for a moment. Then he took his seat at the desk. "So what can you tell me?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Malfoy hates his father. They got into some kind of fight—I'm not sure when, but I almost can guarantee it was today or yesterday. Lucius took something back from Draco. I think he called it a slave, but I'm not sure what it is at all. Draco was furious about it. He was going to use it as a bargaining chip to join the Death Eaters."

"And now he has nothing?"

"He's got something. He said he did. But I don't know what that is either." All Harry seemed to find out from Draco was more questions. He thought back to Draco's memory. "And he said something else about Lucius. Something odd."

"What was it?" Dumbledore pressed.

Harry hesitated. "He said that Lucius had tarnished the family name. Knowing Lucius, he would do anything to make sure that the Malfoys were held in the highest respects of any wizarding family. But Draco said that he'd done something to hurt their reputation. And his mother agreed, but said that Lucius had a right to reclaim what was once his."

"I see." Dumbledore stroked his beard. "Did you find out what Mr. Malfoy ordered that could only be delivered by dragon?" Harry had told him his hypothesis about the empty Owlery and his visit to Hagrid's the night before.

Harry shook his head. "No. But I did manage to confirm that it was Snape who told him how to order it. Maybe you should ask him," Harry spat.

"Indeed, I will," Dumbledore replied.

This was the point in the conversation where Harry would ask Dumbledore over and over again why he trusted Snape. And each time he would say that it was between him and Professor Snape and that it was none of Harry's business. Instead, Harry remained silent. Dumbledore seemed to see this as a sign of maturity.

"Even though your detentions with Mr. Malfoy have come to a close, I want to ask you to continue your assignment with him, Harry. By any means possible."

Harry stared at the headmaster. He didn't need him to elaborate to know what Dumbledore meant. However, he didn't think he could go on lying to his friends. If anything, he needed their help. "Professor, please, I know that this all needs to be very secretive, but trying to do all of this alone is quite difficult."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley have been left in the dark for long enough now. You may tell them."

Harry felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulders. All he'd been doing since Christmas was keeping secrets from his closest friends. Now everything would come out in the open. "Everything?" Harry questioned, just to be sure.

"Everything you wish to tell them," he said, smiling. He glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. "I suppose we ought to head down to meet them. Are you ready?" He rose from his seat.

Harry felt like he'd been waiting for years for tonight. If Dumbledore knew that he'd spent the night with Eva last month, he didn't seem to disapprove. In fact, Harry felt like he was down right encouraging their time together. "Wait, Professor. I have one more question."

"Yes?"

Harry hesitated. Maybe Dumbledore hadn't realized how wonderful he'd been to Harry and Eva. If he pointed it out, would Dumbledore take his kindness away? "Why… Why are you letting us… be together?" he asked quietly. "It's breaking school rules."

"If there's one thing I've learned from you Harry, it's that some rules were made to be broken." He grinned. "Also, I know how happy she makes you. How happy you make each other. When you find happiness like that, you've got to hang onto it for as long as possible."

Harry smiled, but he couldn't help thinking that Dumbledore was sounding quite ominous. Did this have anything to do with the blonde woman he'd uncovered in Dumbledore's memories?

"Come, Harry. We don't want to keep them waiting."