Time-turners did more than let you be in two places at once. Under some circumstances, the mere fact of having access to one gave one a certain type of knowledge of the future. Harry was hit by the full extent of this realisation sometime after seeing Dumbledore walking up the marble staircase, but before hearing what the headmaster had to say to him.
Harry and his friends had only just stepped away from the statue of the one-eyed witch, walked along the third-floor corridor towards the great staircase while they talked. Harry had still been trying to puzzle out why it appeared as though he had not gone back in time, even though he had still been planning to do just that. He had only delayed to hear about Pettigrew's break-in into Hogwarts during those hours he had been away. Hermione had actually been cautioning him, warning him not to run into Pettigrew accidentally-on-purpose while back in time.
Dumbledore caught Harry's eye as soon as he saw the boy, and walked purposefully in his direction. Harry had no way to avoid the meeting, no way to go back in time before talking with the headmaster. He and his friends took the hint and approached Dumbledore.
"Did you leave the castle today to go to Hogsmeade, Mr Potter?" asked the headmaster as soon as he had reached the three friends.
"What?" Harry felt his mouth go dry, tried to think of something intelligent to say, but his thoughts felt frozen.
"Considering your penchant for sneaking out of Hogwarts, this is hardly an unusual circumstance. However, considering the day's events, I believe a little – update – on both our sides might be in order. Could you please come to my office after the Hallowe'en feast? The password is 'sherbet lemon'. Oh, and I believe you've all been asked to stay in the great hall for now." And that was that. He had walked away from them a moment later.
Harry was the first to break the tense, worried silence he left behind. "I guess that's why I didn't use the time-turner. Dumbledore knows something, and he knows I have access to a time-turner."
"Yes, even if you go back in time, it won't undo what Dumbledore already suspects," Hermione said slowly. "And if he has a way of telling if you used the time-turner recently—"
"Yes, better not use it. It'd only make it look like you've got something to hide," said Ron.
"But he does have something to hide," said Hermione.
"Maybe it won't be so bad," said Harry after a beat. "Dumbledore thinks I was in Hogsmeade. At least, that's what he said."
Neither Harry nor his friends were entirely reassured by this. They tried their best to prepare for Harry's upcoming meeting with the headmaster as best they could. While walking back to the great hall, Ron and Hermione handed over the sweets they had brought back with them for Harry to eat. Harry had returned quite a bit later than anticipated, and had missed lunch. Meanwhile, his friends gave him a detailed account of what had happened in Hogsmeade, and what they knew of the happenings at Hogwarts.
It was not a whole lot. Hermione repeated in as much detail as she could recall what the aurors had said. After that, she had agreed with Ron to stay in the village, and they had done some shopping to distract themselves. Before too long, though, the teachers who had gone along to Hogsmeade had assembled the students there, and told them of Pettigrew's suspected break-in into Hogwarts.
"What exactly happened, though?" asked Harry. "Who saw him? Where was he seen?"
Ron's groan ended in a chuckle, as his and Hermione's eyes met.
"Crookshanks found him," said Hermione with unmistakeable pride and glee. "Some of the first- and second-years saw him chasing madly after a rat in the common room. The rat – Wormtail – got away, ran out the portrait hole, but, well, Ginny knows Crookshanks, of course, and she followed him to calm him down."
"Ginny?" exclaimed Harry. "Is she alright?"
Ron nodded. "She caught Crookshanks quickly enough. Not sure if that was for the best, but…"
"What about Pettigrew, then? How did they know it was him?"
"Dumbledore was passing by close to the Gryffindor tower," Hermione said slowly. "When he saw Ginny running after Crookshanks, he asked her about him. As soon as he heard about a rat, he was on alert – or so Ginny said. He – investigated. I'm not exactly sure how, or what he did, but he figured out it was Pettigrew."
"Dumbledore went into our dorms, Harry, and cast all sorts of spells," Ron said with a frown. "I think Pettigrew might've been in there."
"It was so lucky you were away, Harry," Hermione said with a little shudder.
"Lucky?" Harry frowned. "I don't know… Lots of coincidences happened today, don't you think?"
Ron and Hermione considered this, before slowly nodding.
"Even Dumbledore just happening to be outside the Gryffindor tower… And now he wants to talk to you," said Hermione.
Ron went back to updating Harry on what had happened in Hogsmeade. After being told of the break-in, the students had all been forced to stay in large groups, accompanied by a teacher. A couple hours later, they had received word that Pettigrew had not been found inside the castle, and the teachers had insisted on taking all the students back. It would not do to leave the younger students in an almost empty castle.
Once they reached the great hall, the three friends settled in a quiet spot along the wall, a little ways away from everyone else, for privacy, but close enough to hear what was being discussed. It looked like all the students were there, and the great hall was filled with the buzz of conversation, reminiscent of mealtimes. The usual high-spirited banter was replaced by more sombre tones, however. There were several teachers there as well, some walking around the hall, some seated at the high table.
"We're still supposed to stay together, because the teachers haven't finished searching the grounds yet. I think there are some aurors helping them as well," Hermione continued the explanation. "But as soon as we saw you on the map, we sneaked away to talk to you," she ended on a whisper.
Ron nodded. "We'd better be careful now, though. Pettigrew's definitely not on the map – Hermione and I checked everywhere. But the dementors have been allowed on the grounds. They'd have liked nothing better than to search the castle as well, but Dumbledore wouldn't let them in. He told so to Percy, who actually asked him why the dementors weren't helping." Ron shook his head in exasperation at his elder brother.
Harry decided not to mirror-call Sirius until he knew if there was reason to worry. Besides, he had been absent for long enough. Sneaking away again, out of the great hall, did not much appeal to him. He also refrained from asking Ginny too many questions about her run-in with Pettigrew. She was sitting close by, but Percy, Fred and George were right next to her, doing their best to distract her from just that.
The time until the feast dragged on. Harry, Ron and Hermione tried to join the conversations around them, centred on the day's events. There was a sense of relief among the rest of the student body, that it had been Pettigrew and not Black, who had made it inside the castle. (Harry and his friends were somewhat less reassured by this.) Everyone was asking the same question: "How did he get in?" Some Ravenclaw suggested he had apparated, another Hufflepuff thought he might have disguised himself. Dean Thomas even said he could have flown in.
Hermione shook her head, reminding them of the enchantments put on the castle, including the anti-apparition wards, and the alarms on the entrance and secret passages. "And I'd like to see the disguise that'd fool the dementors. They're guarding every single entrance to the grounds. They'd have seen him fly in too," she said.
"Would they, though?" Harry told his friends very quietly, making sure only they heard him. "They're not very good at dealing with animagi, or they'd never have believed Sirius had died. And they've never met Pettigrew – as either a human or a rat."
Harry received tense looks from his friends at his mention of Sirius' name, but he did not explain himself. It only took them a moment to remember that this was all well-known to everyone now, and would not sound suspicious.
Hermione frowned. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore and the aurors have thought of that…"
The time for the feast finally arrived. More of the teachers started trickling into the great hall, taking up seats at the high table. Considering it was the day after the full moon, Harry was surprised to see Lupin make his way there as well, flopping down into a seat ungracefully. He looked ill and exhausted – even worse than he had on the Hogwarts Express. Snape had been one of the last professors to arrive. Throughout the meal, his eyes kept flickering towards Lupin.
Dumbledore also arrived, though he did not stay for long. He gave them all a quick update, telling them that the search had ended without Pettigrew having been found. He was reassuring, telling the students that the school was safe – safer than before, and that they could once again move around safely within the walls of the castle.
The feast was a subdued affair, despite the excellent food. The hall had been decorated with candle-filled pumpkins and a cloud of fluttering live bats, and flaming orange streamers, which were swimming lazily across the stormy ceiling like brilliant watersnakes. It all looked a little out of place. The affected spookiness clashed with the actual danger and mystery of the day's events.
The feast finished with the ghosts attempting to entertain them with a bit of formation gliding. They did not quite manage to distract them from their worries, but Harry still thought Nearly Headless Nick's reenactment of his botched beheading had been a success. It had taken his mind off the meeting with the headmaster, if only for a few minutes.
Afterwards, Harry convinced his friends to follow the rest of the Gryffindors to the Gryffindor Tower, before walking to Dumbledre's office by himself. The headmaster was waiting for him in the circular office, and offered him a seat. Harry sat on the edge, trying and failing to keep his nervousness under control.
It was a different atmosphere from the ones he remembered from his visits the year before. No matter how nervous he had been, the office had always felt welcoming somehow. At the moment, Dumbledore's piercing gaze was directed at him across the claw-footed desk, while Harry was averting his eyes. He felt the need to start explaining himself, but did not know where to start, so he remained silent. Fawkes, sitting on the perch behind him, was also oddly quiet.
"Mr Potter, it is under difficult circumstances that I must speak with you," Dumbledore finally began with a sigh. "As you know, I'm not unaware of your penchant for getting around – and out of – school undetected."
"I—" Harry swallowed, noticing his mouth had gone dry. "I haven't been to Hogsmeade today, Professor." A paltry excuse, and his quiet voice reflected it. He did not sound convincing to his own ears.
"You have also shown a great deal of independence in your actions," Dumbledore went on, in that same level, considered tone. "A great deal of trust in your own judgement." Dumbledore paused there.
Harry's thoughts were racing, trying to piece together what Dumbledore was alluding to.
"We've had some very enlightening conversations last year, and I believe I, myself, also showed a fair amount of trust in your judgement and assessment of the situation. I also believed your judgement led you to rely on the adults responsible around you, like your teachers. Like me."
Harry was feeling lost, unable to guess where the conversation was going. "You're the greatest wizard of our time," he said the truth as he saw it during the small pause. He felt himself frowning in incomprehension.
There was a moment of silence, interrupted by Fawkes shifting in the background. He gave an odd mournful sound, before falling silent again.
Dumbledore shook his head slowly. "The last time we had one of our conversations was in the Leaky Cauldron this summer. And… it gave me much to think about."
Harry's heart started racing. "About me sneaking out of school and taking the Knight Bus?" he asked, hoping that was the case—
"Among other things." Dumbledore sighed again. "I thought a great deal about the way you described your confrontation with Pettigrew and Black – during our conversation in the Leaky Cauldron, but later I also remembered what you and your friends said after the event, in Professor McGonagall's office."
Harry's heart skipped a beat. By now, he feared his face was giving away much of his inner turmoil, but he felt paralysed, unable to think of something helpful to say.
A moment later, he realised with dawning horror that he need not have bothered. Dumbledore began with Harry's comments in the Leaky Cauldron, when he had suggested that the aurors were needlessly worried about hunting down Sirius. Then Dumbledore brought up the confrontation in the Chamber of Secrets, when Sirius had turned up at virtually the same time as Ron and Hermione.
This Harry had managed to explain away before, and might have attempted to again, but then the headmaster went on to tell him about having asked the Knight Bus conductor about him and his friends.
"It was a vague hunch, but the thought that I might be right was disturbing enough that I had to ask. It was still with some surprise that I learned that the driver recalled picking up three Hogwarts aged children from Hogsmeade last year. The reason he remembered was of course the astounding – creature – that was accompanying them. The very image of the grim, or so I was told."
Harry swallowed convulsively under Dumbledore's piercing gaze. He tried to ask – unnecessarily – what the headmaster was getting at, but his mouth was too dry.
"I believe you told Professor Trelawney that you thought the grim was misunderstood? Professor McGonagall told us all about it with obvious pride. Her opinion of you has been very high ever since those events in the Chamber of Secrets."
Harry could hear the admonishment, the deliberately disappointed tone, could see the serious, sombre expression on the headmaster's face. There was no trace of the usual twinkle in his eyes. On the contrary. At that moment it was very obvious that Harry was talking to the chief warlock, the wizard that even Voldemort feared. Even Fawkes added a volley of protesting sounds as the moment lengthened.
He had to speak, Harry thought despairingly. He had to think of something – some way to explain. Perhaps the whole truth of the matter—
"What if he is misunderstood?" Harry forced past his lips. He wanted to go on, but the headmaster's abruptly averted gaze stopped him.
No, it would not be that easy. Dumbledore had already realised that Harry believed Sirius to be innocent. The problem was that he did not seem inclined to believe Harry's judgement on the matter.
And did Harry have conclusive proof? he thought frantically. There had been that very first confrontation between Padfoot and Wormtail, in the Weasleys' paddock. Harry tried to remember what exactly Pettigrew had said, what had finally convinced him and his friends of Sirius' innocence. In the end, it partly came down to trust. He had begun to trust Sirius.
But if Dumbledore did not trust Harry's judgement—
"I'm sure we'll be able to see if that is indeed so, if we get to the bottom of this," Dumbledore said quietly, drawing parchment and quill closer. "I do believe you understand why this is something that needs to be investigated—"
Fawkes shrieked, interrupting him.
Harry's heart gave a lurch, and he jumped to his feet, ready to start ranting—
"Now hold on a second!"
The new voice was so unexpected that it took Harry a moment to place it. There, on the familiar spot on the shelf, was the Sorting Hat, now with the gap in its brim visibly open.
"What do you think you're doing?" the Hat went on in a loud, brash voice.
"I'm going to write to the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Dumbledore told it in a mildly curious tone, not quite taking objection to being questioned. "I believe you know of Madam Bones?" he added, turning to Harry.
As soon as Dumbledore turned back to the parchment, just as Harry had sat back down, to try to think of a way to convince the headmaster of Sirius' innocence, there was the sound of the birdcage being opened behind Harry's back. A moment later, Fawkes flew over their heads, picked up the Sorting Hat and dropped it on Dumbledore's head. Then he landed on Harry's lap, cosying up to him.
"You'll do no such thing!" the Hat said smartly. "Really, Headmaster, such a singularly ill thought-out idea – I'm not going to deign to call it a plan—"
"Now, that is quite enough," Dumbledore interrupted.
Harry remembered suddenly that the Sorting Hat had looked into his mind the year before, and knew from him of Sirius' innocence. For a moment, he felt like he had been given an unexpected reprieve. But as the Sorting Hat went on, he felt his hope fade. Its rude interruption was hardly going to help him—
Dumbledore carefully straightened the Hat, pulling it above his eyes. He regarded his phoenix with a curious expression, and ever so slowly, his grim expression began to soften. "Yes, you did have another look into Harry's head…" he spoke absently, apparently communicating with the Sorting Hat.
Harry knew the Sorting Hat was not in the habit of sharing what it saw in someone's head. Besides, would Dumbledore believe it? If Harry could be tricked by Sirius, then why should the Sorting Hat be any different?
"It seems, I'm being overruled," Dumbledore said, sounding surprised, yet genial. "Of course, if there were reason to believe that you haven't been misled to put your trust in the wrong person, Mr Potter—"
Harry opened his mouth to speak, beginning to feel hopeful again. Fawkes was warming him from the inside out, renewing his courage. Maybe the headmaster was willing to listen after all—
"Weren't you talking about trusting that boy's judgement a minute ago?" the Hat interrupted again, before Harry had managed to speak. "Besides, just how do you suppose those reasons are to be discovered? By passing volatile information to the officials under Fudge's government and hoping for the best?"
"Really now, that is hardly a way to speak about the minister—"
"I'm only saying what I find in your head. I'm just a hat, after all—"
Dumbledore pulled off the Sorting Hat at that point, turning with a firm stride to the shelf to deposit it in its place. Fawkes, in Harry's lap, began making protesting noises right away.
"Alright, alright," Dumbledore said in a conciliatory voice. "I concede the point. This matter is too important, and too full of mysteries, to approach with anything but the greatest care. I'll investigate myself—" He regarded his still distressed phoenix, before turning his attention to Harry. "—and let you know before taking any further action," he added.
Harry nodded. He thought of telling Dumbledore everything, but decided against it. The headmaster could have asked Harry but had not. He had questioned Harry's judgement instead. Harry was fairly sure nothing would convince him as much as finding out for himself. "Uh, yes. And, maybe, then we can talk," he said.
Before Dumbledore could dismiss him, Harry thought of something else. "Professor, can I ask – What was it that made you tell me about this today? Or – or – what made you think I'd been in Hogsmeade?"
"Ah," Dumbledore said after only a moment's hesitation, "of course. As usual, you have questions for me as well. Very well." He leaned back in his chair, beginning to look more relaxed. Fawkes chose that moment to fly over to him, making himself comfortable in the headmaster's lap. "I'd like one more thing clarified before I answer. Your belief that the grim is misunderstood – it doesn't extend to his acquaintance, the rat, does it?"
Harry vehemently shook his head.
"I see. Well, then. To answer your question—" Dumbledore gestured to the portraits of past headmasters and -mistresses along the walls. "It is virtually impossible for anyone to enter this office without me knowing about it. Oh, it's possible to hide who came in, or what they did, but the fact that someone was in here is nearly impossible to hide.
"I was gone for an hour this morning, and when I returned, I knew that my office had been invaded in the interim. The culprit had managed to cover his or her tracks, even from the portraits – a useful little charm that made it impossible for them to see.
"So I tried to discover a possible reason for the break-in." The headmaster gestured to some of the curious silver instruments spread all over the office. "These keep track of a number of – projects – that I'm interested in. Among other things, there are some that keep track of the well-being of students – those inside Hogwarts grounds, that is."
"Ah," said Harry. "Your instruments told you that I wasn't at school?"
"Indeed. At that point, I still did not know that it had anything at all to do with Pettigrew, but following a hunch, I decided to investigate if your absence – and the most likely place where you should've been – your dorm. I hoped it would help me discover more about the break-in. And indeed it did. I almost managed to run into Pettigrew in his animagus form outside of Gryffindor tower. So was it purely by chance, then, that you were in Hogsmeade today?"
"I wasn't in Hogsmeade." Harry deliberated for a moment how much to reveal. "I… was in Godric's Hollow." He grimaced.
The headmaster's eyebrows travelled up his forehead. "I see… That rather leaves me with more questions…"
"Professor, do you know how he got in?"
"I'm afraid I don't. Neither do I know what exactly he was after. Not that there were no traces – Pettigrew's magic was all over my office. As to what he was actually after…"
"Dean Thomas thought he could've flown in. And Hermione had to agree that the dementors mightn't have been able to stop Pettigrew in his animagus form."
"The dementors mightn't have noticed him – especially with all the attention they were paying to the students walking to and from Hogsmeade. It is true that the aurors rely a little too much on them for my preference. But there are enchantments put on every window and entrance of the castle – even the secret passages – to ward against intruders."
"Even the owlery?" said Harry. He and his friends had come up with this idea after talking it over all throughout the dinner. It had not been Harry's favourite theory, because it meant that Hedwig had not been able to stop Wormtail, when Crookshanks had. But it had been the only theory that even Hermione had been unable to dismiss as impossible. "The owls are – kind of – like intruders, aren't they? At least the ones that don't belong to any of the students."
Dumbledore began to shake his head. "No, no. The owls are a special case. No other being can come through the owlery—" He stopped, frowned. "Unless he was inside a parcel. Keeping the privacy of correspondence means that there are limits to the sorts of spells private post can be subjected to. Even so, it would've required very sophisticated warding—"
"If he's still working with Malfoy, that mightn't be so difficult," said Harry.
"Yes… Considering that the break-in was timed to coincide with the exact time I would be away, that is quite likely the case…" Dumbledore was regarding Harry in a much friendlier way than he had when Harry had first entered his office. "As always, conversations with you, Mr Potter, prove most enlightening."
Harry left soon after that. For the second time that day, he had to force his still wobbly knees not to give out under him, as he walked back to the Gryffindor tower.
~HP~
Hermione nearly panicked when Harry told her and Ron. The three of them talked for hours, until their fear slowly subsided and they finally agreed to wait things out.
The mirror call with Sirius that night was tense, as expected. Harry had to tell him everything the headmaster had figured out, on top of Pettigrew's break-in into Hogwarts, which Sirius did not know about. It immediately put him on alert – almost as much as the headmaster's investigation. Regarding Dumbledore, Sirius wanted Harry to save his own skin and put all blame for his involvement on Sirius, but Harry cut him off, recounting the Sorting Hat's interference. Sirius was surprised, relieved, but still cautious to hope. He advised Harry to wait and see what Dumbledore would do, to trust that the headmaster would keep his word and not take any drastic action without letting Harry know first.
Then Sirius had news of his own to share. "The aurors not even guarding the graveyard just didn't sit well with me. So I went back to check things out – Don't worry. I was very, very careful. And I was right." Sirius scowled. "There were enchantments put on the grave after all. No alarm – that's what I checked for in the morning. But rather something subtle, and possibly not due to the aurors. Now that you told me about Pettigrew getting into Hogwarts at virtually the same time, it all makes more sense. The enchantment was simple, but very well hidden, something that would've let someone know that I was there, in Godric's Hollow."
"Let me guess: something Pettigrew couldn't have done himself," said Harry. He was beginning to see a pattern, and not liking it one bit.
Sirius nodded. "Exactly. Someone went through a lot of effort to set it all up." He sighed. "At least we didn't apparate and leave them with actual proof that you were there. The aurors, Dumbledore and Pettigrew, together with whatever cronies he's found, were all on our trail. Just because we're being paranoid…"
Harry then proceeded to tell Sirius all he had found out about Pettigrew's break-in into Hogwarts. Sirius was far more bothered by the fact that Pettigrew had been inside Harry's dorm than the boy had anticipated, leading him to warn Harry of every eventuality he could think of, before they said goodnight.
The school talked of nothing but Pettigrew the next day. For once, he was the one talked about most, despite Sirius' run-in with the aurors having made it into the newspaper. Pettigrew had been much nearer to them, and wilder and wilder theories about how he had entered the castle began to circulate among the students.
Harry, Hermione and Ron had been on edge, but as the morning wore on, it became obvious that Dumbledore clearly had not told any of the staff about his suspicions. No one was reacting strangely to them.
However, they were in for another surprise that morning. Hermione spread her copy of the Daily Prophet in front of the boys during breakfast, blocking all the food on the table. She pointed to the lengthy article about Sirius and Pettigrew.
"Read this. A break-in in St Mungo's on early Friday morning!" she said. "And they think it might've been Pettigrew—"
"What? And we're only hearing about it now?" Ron even let go of the sausage on his fork, to take a closer look.
"I don't think there was an article about that before now." Hermione frowned. "I kept looking for everything written about him…"
Harry noticed a few faces of fellow Gryffindors looking their way curiously. He stared back until they looked away. "Never mind, Hermione," he said a little more quietly. "What are they saying now?"
It was not much. The mention of that break-in was only tacked on to the much larger story of the previous day's events. The article mostly said that the aurors were suspecting an animagus had done it. The author then went on to guess that it must have been Sirius, with or without Pettigrew's help. Harry was sure that they were a little off about the identity of the culprit, but he had to agree with Hermione that it was a very curious fact, worth keeping in mind.
Harry noticed a rather unpleasant effect of Pettigrew's break-in during the day. He was being closely watched by the teachers, who found excuses to walk along corridors with him. If that was not enough, McGonagall asked him to her office at the end of lunchtime, with such a sombre expression on her face that Harry began to fear Dumbledore might have told her something after all.
It turned out she had been considering taking him off the quidditch team, so he would not have to practice outside in the evenings. Apparently having Pettigrew inside Harry's dorm warranted such extreme measures. Harry had to valiantly refrain himself from pointing out that Pettigrew – as Wormtail – had lived in that dorm for Harry's entire first year at Hogwarts.
It took a little persuasion, but considering how much McGonagall wanted 'her' team to win, she finally agreed to let Harry carry on playing – provided Madam Hooch was supervising during every one of his practice sessions.
By the time Harry had finally managed to settle that issue, he realised that he was ten minutes late for defence against the dark arts. He ran all the way to the classroom, skidded to a halt outside the door, pulled it open and dashed inside with an apology to Professor Lupin—
Only to discover to his dismay that Snape was teaching the class, who promptly took ten points from Gryffindor because Harry was late to class, and ordered him to sit. Harry did not bother to explain about McGonagall's summons, resigned to the fact that Snape was as nasty as ever in class.
"Where's Professor Lupin?" he asked instead.
"He says he is feeling too ill to teach today," said Snape with a twisted smile. "I believe I told you to sit down?"
Harry walked slowly to his seat. As soon as he had sat down, he turned to Ron to discuss Lupin's absence. It was the second day after the full moon, after all, and Harry had not expected him to miss teaching their class.
"I reckon he tired himself out too much yesterday. He looked pretty bad at the Hallowe'en feast," said Ron.
Harry would have said more, but Snape interrupted them, docking another five points for talking in class.
Then Snape proceeded to dismiss everything Lupin had taught them. First, he claimed Lupin had not left any records of the topics they had covered – entirely possible, thought Harry, if Lupin had not expected Snape to substitute for him – and why would he have? Snape silenced Hermione as soon as she began to tell him the topics they had covered, instead claiming that Lupin's teaching was too easy in response to Dean Thomas' declaration that Lupin was the best teacher they had ever had. He looked more menacing than ever as he forced them to open their books to the very last chapter about werewolves.
Harry could not believe it. Even knowing that Snape hated the Marauders, this seemed a horrid thing to do. He was risking someone finding out that Lupin was a werewolf—
Snape was asking about how to distinguish real wolves from werewolves, ignoring Hermione's raised hand as usual. Parvati tried telling him yet again that they had not covered that topic yet, and therefore could not possibly know the answer—
"Silence!" snarled Snape. "Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third-year class who wouldn't even recognize a werewolf when they saw one. I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very behind you all are…"
Snape was actually trying to get them to figure it out, thought Harry. For months now, he and his friends had been making excuses for Snape's horrible behaviour, because he was a spy. But trying to ruin Lupin's teaching career had nothing to do with spying! Harry was so angry, he felt he needed to say something. Only, he did not want to draw more attention to the topic, did not want anyone else to notice that the topic of werewolves was making him react that way—
Then Hermione began to speak out of turn, answering Snape's question. This only made Snape take another five points from Gryffindor, while calling Hermione an 'insufferable know-it-all'. She went very red and looked down, close to tears.
Ron would not stand for it. "You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don't want to be told?" he said loudly.
This landed Ron with a detention.
No one made a sound throughout the rest of the lesson. They silently took notes on werewolves while Snape walked through the rows of desks and made disparaging comments about the work they had been doing with Professor Lupin. When the bell rang at last, Snape held them back, to give them homework – even though Harry knew Snape knew he would only be substituting for one lesson. It was to write an essay on how to recognise and kill werewolves.
Harry and Hermione left the room with the rest of the class, while Ron stayed behind to arrange his detention. Harry was barely out of earshot when he began to rant about Snape. For once, Hermione did not try very hard to stop him, even going as far as to say that she hoped Lupin would be better soon.
Ron caught up with them five minutes later. They could tell he was being weird. Harry would have expected him to be in a towering rage. Instead, he looked sheepish.
"He wanted to make me clean out the bedpans in the hospital wing without magic," Ron told them. "I thought, of course, he's doing it so I'll notice that Lupin's not there. And I got really mad. I mean, cleaning out the bedpans! And without magic! And I blurted it out."
"Blurted what out?"
Ron grimaced. "Well, that he was only doing that so I'd notice that Lupin's not there—"
"But, didn't he guess—"
"That I – we – know that Lupin's a werewolf? Uh, yeah, kinda."
Hermione and Harry exchanged disquieted looks.
"What? But, but—"
"That's not all," Ron added hastily, before Hermione could begin berating him. "Uh, I may have said we didn't think it was a big deal, and he, er," Ron took a deep breath. "He began ranting about Gryffindors being too stupid to know what danger is. He started accusing Lupin of all sorts of things, even helping Pettigrew break into the castle yesterday. But then he also said it was a big deal for him, because he's forced to brew Wolfsbane – which takes a lot of time and effort. And, well, I volunteered to help – as part of my detention. Sort of. But, maybe, I volunteered you two to help as well."
Ron grimaced and ducked away from his friends' shocked stares. He attempted a sickly sort of grin. "Oh, and I finally found a word – or maybe two," he added sheepishly.