Chapter 67

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Rebekah was not looking forward to Care of Creatures in this horrible weather. It was cold, still snowing, and instead of nice snow, it was so sludgy that she had to waterproof her shoes and trousers and keep her robe from touching the ground or have it ruined for the day. She had a fat scarf wrapped around her neck before tucking it into the sides so she could be even more warm.

She even tugged on a beanie, and Rebekah Potter never wore hats.

For once, she was early for class so she and a few of the Gyffrindors were the first to see the Unicorn tied to a post. The poor thing didn't look cold, luckily. The Unicorn had such a beautiful white coat that it made all the snow look grey.

As the rest of the Slytherins slowly trudged up the hill towards the class, Rebekah rubbed her hands together as she felt Enyo softly blow into them with a tiny puff of warming fire. Enyo was huddled into her neck and scarf, using it as bedding for the moment as she used Rebekah's body heat to keep warm.

"Why do we have Grubbly-Plank?" Rebekah asked the group when they joined the class. Draco jerked his head up.

"Don't you know?" He took out a newspaper and gave it to her to read.

DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE

Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures.

Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates.

An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures…

"Did you know he was a Half-Giant?"

"I just presumed he was," Rebekah blinked, trying to process this. "After all, he was abnormally large and he and Madam Maxime seemed to hit it off on Yule."

"Oh, I remember," Pansy said with a sigh. "Snape caught me with one of the Durmstrang boys. I remember eventually listening into Hagrid's conversation with Maxime. She sounded very disgusted by what he presumed."

"Understandably," Daphne said as Grubbly-Plank spoke louder so everyone could hear. All the other girls had reached the front. "Have you figured out what you're going to do with the next task, Rebekah?"

"Yeah," Rebekah nodded. "I've got a potion lined up. I just need to wait for the new moon before I can even start making it."

"Which potion is it?"

"Beverage of Brilliant Bermuda,"

"Never even heard of it."

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The Beverage of Brilliant Bermuda was a potion made by a Potioneer from the Bermuda Triangle. The potion was very similar to the Gillyweed ingredient it had inside, and would allow the consumer to take an even more advanced form that the Gillyweed alone would have provided. It was also extremely hard to create as it was time sensitive, and heat sensitive, and cold sensitive, and light sensitive.

It was not an easy potion to do.

"Hair UP, Miss Potter," Snape swatted a thin Potioneers of the Year magazine over her head as she began to place her ingredients on the table.

"OW!" Rebekah exaggereted by pouting as she dropped a water lily onto the table.

"Your GodFather once left his hair down, mind you it reached past his armpits," Snape gestured to Rebekah's barely waist length hair, having Potion grown it out for the Yule Ball, and narrowed his eyes at her and the mini fire pit to the side. "And, in the fashion of Sirius Black, he caught it on fire."

Rebekah snorted and laughed as she took her wand and began to twirl the wooden stick until it gathered all of her hair and left it in a strange wrap in her hair. She wouldn't need her wand for this potion.

Rolling up her sleeves, she began to make the potion.

Snape sat down at his main desk.

His private labs were very rarely seen by students but Rebekah Potter was an exception. If she wasn't allowed to do something, she would do it without supervision anyway. So it was a much safer bet to let her use his private labs as she needed and in a suitable time of the day instead of the four AM potion session he had caught her in before.

Better to be safe than sorry with her education and extracurricular activities.

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Half way through January was a Hogsmeade visit, and the group decided to go to the Three Broomsticks. Even though Rebekah wasn't a fan of this pub, she found the trip worthwhile when Bagman tugged her to the side.

He began to complain in a low tone as he watched the Goblins across the pub. "Absolute nightmare! Their English isn't too good… it's like being back with all the Bulgarians at the Quidditch World Cup but at least they used sign language another human could recognize. This lot keep gabbling in Gobbledegook and I only know one word of Gobbledegook. Bladvak. It means 'pickax.' I don't like to use it in case they think I'm threatening them."

"So what do they actually want?" Rebekah asked when she noticed that the Goblins kept a close eye on Bagman.

"They're looking for Barty Crouch."

Him again. What was it with the name Crouch this year? It kept coming up and won't go away!

"Shouldn't he be at the Ministry or ill, as Percy Weasley told me during the Yule Ball?"

"I actually have no idea where he could possible be…" Bagman confessed, looking grief stricken to even say this. "He's sort of… stopped coming to work. Been absent for a couple of weeks now. Young Percy, his assistant, says he's ill. Apparently he's just been sending instructions in by owl. But would you mind not mentioning that to anyone Harry? Because Rita Skeeter's still poking around everywhere she can, and I'm willing to bet she'd work up Bartys illness into something sinister. Probably say he's gone missing like Bertha Jorkins."

"Any news on the Bertha Jorkins case?" Rebekah asked. "My GodFather said she went missing a while ago."

He shook his head. "I've got people looking, of course, and it's all very strange. She definitely arrived in Albania, because she met her second cousin there. And then she left the cousin's house to go south and see an aunt. She seems to have vanished without trace en route. Blowed if I can see where she's got to. She doesn't seem the type to elope, for instance… but still… What are we doing, talking about goblins and Bertha Jorkins? I really wanted to ask you something." He leaned a little closer and lowered his voice, "How are you getting on with your golden egg?"

Rebekah suddenly smiled pleasantly. "Sorted. I've got a potion lined up already, just need to let it brew for the next twelve days and it will be ready for the task. Quite clever, that egg. Most of Hufflepuff regret opening the egg straight away, we could hear from the dungeons."

"Good, good…" He trailed off before starting again with a hand on her shoulder. "Say, I feel very bad about all this. Fourteen and thrown into this tournament which you even want to be in. if I can help at all, perhaps a prod in the right direction if desired. I've taken a liking to you. Just the way you got past that Dragon! Well, just say the word and you can have help."

"Thank you, sir," Rebekah nodded in thanks. "But I think it's only fair that I see how far I can get without help."

"Of course, of course. Please excuse me, I think the Goblins are becoming very much frustrated with me…" Bagman sighed as he walked away towards them.

It was very much worthwhile, it seemed.

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"I was looking at the map the other day," Rebekah said one day at lunch on the rare occasions Daphne could take her out of the Library or her dorm. She stabbed her fork into the caesar salad fiercely as the Book of Morgana Le Fey floated in the air just above her plate.

"The Marauders' Map?"

"Yeah, I wanted to sneak out, like usual," She paused. "Guess what I saw? Well, I saw Crouch for some reason down in Snape's private storeroom. And I doubt he was given permission."

"Why would he be in there?"

"Hasn't he been ill recently, enough so to not be able to judge and that's why they have Weasleys' brother?" Blaise asked, shoving the blueberry jam over to one of the Third year who had asked for it down the bench.

"Even Bagman said the Ministry didn't know where Crouch was."

"Didn't Crouch have a son?"

Tracey nodded as she finished off the sandwich. "He died in Azkaban not long ago. Convicted Death Eater."

"Yikes,"

"Poor family," Theo said. "First son and then wife? Poor man."

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