Chapter 16: A Ravenclaw's Quest
The following three days of classes were useless. With the excitement of the Acromantula attack, the end of midterms, and the Triwizard tournament, the professors gave up on teaching and let the students have fun. Flitwick showed his students some cool duelling tricks, while Tonks let the students play Exploding Snap at their desks. Slughorn gave a lecture about the quest for self-discovery in modern literature, and encouraged students to achieve their dreams.
With less work to do than usual, Hermione decided to clock in some duelling hours with Auror Lee.
Hermione liked practicing with him. He was an easy-going teacher and rarely corrected her duelling, but when he did, it was always useful advice. She wished she could ask him to be her mentor, but she didn't think he'd want the responsibility. After his last class on Friday, he always left school to be with his family in Munich, and he didn't return until Monday morning.
After he signed her duelling log, Hermione prepared to leave. Upon opening the door, she bumped into Harry, who stumbled away like he'd been caught peeking in the girls' bathroom.
"Harry? What are you doing here?" asked Hermione.
"Umm…" said Harry, straightening up and pinning his hands behind his back. "I came to talk to you."
"About what?" asked Hermione, though she already knew. She'd kept to herself these last few days.
He took a deep breath. "I'm not here to apologize," he said. "Since I didn't do anything wrong. But I don't like it when we argue, so tell me what I have to do to fix it."
Hermione sighed, realizing this was their pattern. She'd get upset, he'd come and beg for forgiveness, and she'd mete out some kind of punishment. It was stupid, but more importantly, it should only be reserved for when he really messed up.
She offered him a timid smile. "I'm not angry with you. I'm…scared, I guess."
"Why? You're not afraid of an Acromantula attack, are you? McGonagall informed me that they'd all been taken care of."
She shook her head. "No, it's not about the spiders."
He frowned at the stone floor. "Is it…because I got angry?"
That was part of it. Whenever he went into a cold rage, he became dangerous, like a ruthless fiend fyre that would scald her if she got close. Even now, the memory made her shudder. But in reality, it wasn't that he'd tried to psychologically torture the spider that scared her the most. It was that he might have been right. Hermione didn't know how to explain this to him in a way he would understand, so she'd spent the last few days trying to deal with it on her own.
She didn't say anything, but her silence seemed to speak for itself. Harry winced and said gently. "I'm sorry I scared you. I'll try not to in the future."
He reached out and gave her an awkward shoulder pat, and Hermione couldn't help but smile. Sometimes, the things he did were so unusual that she found them adorable. "You're so cute, Harry."
His hand fell off her shoulder. "I'm not, though," he replied.
"Yes, you are," said Hermione. "And I'm sorry I made you worry. Next time you're being annoying, I'll just tell you so."
"Good, I much prefer that," he said, then grimaced. "Cute? Really? I'm fairly certain I haven't been called cute since I bit my maths teacher."
She laughed, and that seemed to break the last of the tension. His face broke into a warm smile that went all the way to his eyes. "Well, since we're both here, want to go do some science? That project isn't going to finish itself."
"Ok," said Hermione, her voice teasing. "But only a little science."
"Err…did you want to do something else?"
Hermione wanted to smack herself. She'd forgotten his habit of taking things literally. And, also, the fact that he might be into guys.
As they walked down the hallway, she could feel the unexpected tug on her insides. It was the call to adventure.
Harry glanced at her, and she knew he could sense it too somehow. He raised his eyebrows in question.
"Oh, I don't know," she grumbled. "If it's another Hufflepuff quest, I'll scream."
"Bet you a sickle that it's not," he said, lifting his eyebrows, a smirk egging her on.
"Well…." She contemplated for a moment. "I suppose we could always do science after."
"Exactly," he said enthusiastically. "We can do all the science you want."
The quest door was studded with glowing blue sapphires. As they solved the riddle, light flooded the cave. The walls glimmered with an iridescent sheen, like they were inside of a pearl.
Before entering the Ravenclaw room, Harry cast a forlorn glance at the unlocked Slytherin door. He made a passing comment about getting two quest prizes instead of one, but Hermione shook her head.
"What if I need help with the Ravenclaw quest?" she said innocently.
He snorted. "Ridiculous. And besides, if we—"
"Merlin says," said Hermione, smiling sweetly. She felt a little high off the fact she could say that to him, and then that made her feel Bad.
"Oh…fine," grumbled Harry, growing thoughtful. "I wonder how doing a quest as a team might affect the quest prize."
Hermione took his hand and led him inside the quest door. She knew there were Ravenclaws who would pay good money to have a locked, secret room where they could take their boyfriends, but Hermione firmly shoved that thought from her mind.
The first quest was a giant scavenger hunt set in a Victorian style mansion, where they had to solve clues to unlock new doors. The challenging puzzles had them scrambling for paper to draw diagrams, and knocking on the bases of plants to see if doors would open. Bouncing with excitement, Hermione told Harry that if she ever bought a mansion, she was going to hold puzzle parties every year.
The final puzzle unlocked the door to a giant library. The bright light of a chandelier revealed row upon row of ancient looking books that had Hermione salivating.
"Is this the quest prize?" asked Hermione, breathlessly. "If so, I'll take everything!"
She didn't care if she had to empty her pouch to do it. As she approached a shelf, Harry grabbed her shoulder.
"Wait, Hermione," he said. "Don't touch anything."
"Why not?" she replied.
In response, he pointed to the spines of the nearest shelf. "What do the book titles say?"
Hermione read the glistening golden spines. "This one says, 'The Ancient Magic to Casting Patronus' and this one says, 'A Veela's Guide to Sedu—UMM…." Her face flushed red, and she trailed off. "Stuff."
Harry's shoulders slumped in resignation. "They look different to me. This one says, 'The Wizards Who Achieved Space Travel' and this one says, 'Source of Magic.'" He turned to Hermione, a bitter look on his face. "Our task is to exit the opposite door without touching anything. As soon as we open a book, we'll likely be stricken blind."
"Oh…well…" Hermione glanced back at the bookshelf longingly. "That's fine, we can just use the read aloud spell, right?" Her fingers glided towards a book. Harry caught her hand, his grip telling her he struggled as much as she did.
"I understand," he said. "Really, I do, but we have to consider the facts. There is no conceivable reason for there to be so many enchanted books related to our deepest desires, unless it's a trap. Besides, telling a Ravenclaw not to read books because it'll bring their doom is just…how wizards think."
Hermione gave the books one last, longing look, and then spun to face the exit door.
"For the record," said Hermione, trudging away from the bookshelves. "It's a stupid test."
"Agreed," said Harry.
Her arms folded against the unfairness of it all, Hermione passed through the door.
The new room they found themselves in was completely dark. Hermione and Harry lit up their wands, but the darkness remained impenetrable. Harry explained that sometimes it took time to determine the next quest, so they were basically in limbo.
Suddenly, stage lights flooded the room, and Hermione squinted against the brightness. As her eyes adjusted, she stared across what looked to be a wooden stage, set with three chairs. Hermione could hear cheering and clapping from off stage, but the light shone in such a way that she couldn't see anyone.
Harry cursed. Before she could ask why, a goblin appeared, smiling and waving to the crowd as he took his place in center stage. "Muggles!" he said. "Love them or hate them, they have such interesting quirks. How much do you know about Muggle trivia? Hermione and Harry, come on down! You're the first contestants on Muggle Mayhem!"
They walked all of three steps towards centre stage, and the goblin gestured for them to sit down. "Welcome! I'm your host. Nice to see you again, Harry! Always a pleasure."
"Let's get on with this," said Harry, slumping into the chair and folding his arms.
"Right! As you know, I will give you 15 questions, and you have three lives. First question: What is the capital of New York State?"
"Albany," blurted Hermione.
"Wrong!" said the host. "The answer is New York City!"
"But that's…not right," said Hermione, confused.
Harry had his head in his hands. "I should have warned you. It's Muggle Studies, Hermione, not Trivial Pursuit. You've got to answer each question like a Ravenclaw who got dropped on their head as a baby."
"Next question! Who won the War of the Roses?"
Hermione knew the answer was the House of Lancaster, but she bit it back, glancing at Harry. "What do we do?"
"Think of something stupid and answer."
"Umm….the Gardener?"
"Correct! You have one point! Nine more to win!"
Hermione opened her mouth, and closed it. She hadn't expected that to work. But, she decided that, while it might be incorrect trivia, as long as there was a pattern they might have a chance.
"Question 3: What giant animal terrorizes young children in the United States?"
Harry and Hermione held a whispered conference, where they listed all the animals they knew of from storybooks and movies. "Snuffleupagus," Harry said.
"Wrong! The answer is Barney the Dinosaur."
"I knew it!" cried Hermione. They'd dismissed that option on account of it being a rather new show.
"You answer the next one then," Harry muttered, sitting back and folding his arms.
"Next question: What terrifying nursery rhyme is actually based on killing people?"
Hermione only had to think for two seconds. "All of them."
"Correct! Two points. Next question: What monster inhabits the Pacific Ocean?"
Hermione could tell he was still sulking, but she pulled Harry towards her and whispered, "Two clues: ocean name and monster. What could it be?"
"Marianas trench," said Harry. "Uhh…Cthulhu?"
"What's in the Atlantic Ocean?" Hermione asked.
After a few more seconds, they decided on the most random answer, "Bermuda."
"Correct! Three points."
This continued for a while, with Harry and Hermione debating each question before answering. They got a streak of four questions right, which was exhilarating, and then the next question was, "How and where did hot dogs get their name?"
Hermione took in a sharp breath. "Can we pass?"
Harry shook his head. "This quiz game seems to like brutal answers too."
"Well…" said Hermione, struggling to find the words.
Harry didn't hesitate. "Hot dogs come from dog meat, first invented in Asia."
"Wrong! The first hot dogs came from France, eaten by the Franks, who smelled like dogs!"
"Oh, fuck you," said Harry. Hermione jumped as a metal Bludger hit him on the head, knocking him off the chair.
"Language!" cried the goblin. "Sorry to say, that was your last chance, so I'm afraid you've lost this round. As punishment, you will be consigned to the Desert of Despair. Join us next time on Muggle Mania!"
Hermione sat on a hill, shielding herself from the sun, as Harry occupied himself kicking sand dunes.
He'd been at this activity for the last five minutes. When she'd asked him why, he'd just explained that she ought not to talk to him for the moment. So, she'd remained silent, watching him cover his robes with sand and mutter curses that she'd quieted out.
She raised her gaze beyond the sand to the cloudless blue sky in the horizon. A trickle of sweat ran down her brow, and she wiped it as the dry heat clogged her throat. It was unnerving how well Hogwarts could simulate an actual desert, considering that there were none in England. Unless, of course, the castle had teleported them, which was even more disconcerting.
After a short time, Harry trudged back over towards Hermione and sat two feet away from her. He sunk down into the sand and put his head on his arms, glowering at the world.
"So," Hermione said, bracing herself for a biting response. "How long are we stuck here?"
"An hour at least," he muttered.
Hermione knew he hated losing, but even for him this reaction was over the top. Probably something else was bothering him. She wanted to get him to talk about it, even though she knew he'd probably snap at her. It would hurt her feelings, but she could bear it if it would help him feel better.
"Did you know I created a wormhole?" said Harry.
"Huh?" said Hermione.
"Yeah, I did," he said. "I connected my trunk to my pouch, so I could access items from either one. Technically, I think what happened was I stretched the two spaces and linked them to each other, but under any definition that seems like a wormhole."
"That's…good, I guess?"
He grunted. "Yes, well, wait until you hear how I did it. You see, I knew what I wanted to do, so I set out looking for the appropriate spell. I must have looked through every charms book in the library. I wrote down the spells that looked promising, and upon reviewing them, I noticed something strange."
He paused, drawing his wand to blast away the scorpion that was crawling nearby. "One incantation was used to enchant magic necklaces. Its purpose was to link two people, allowing them to immediately send objects and messages to each other. It was too difficult for me to cast, since it required phoenix tears and the bonds of eternal love, or something. Then I found another spell, called Bookends." His face twisted into a wry grimace. "This spell was created by a wizard who was annoyed at the house elves knocking over his bookends while dusting. So, he created a spell that would always link the two together, to keep them on his mantle. It turned out that this spell was remarkably similar to the necklace spell, and after making a few changes, I cast it and it worked. Now I can draw anything from either one as long as they aren't more than 1000 meters apart, and they aren't at a 45 degree angle, for some blasted reason."
When Harry didn't immediately continue his story, Hermione said, "I don't understand. Are you annoyed because it worked?"
Harry sighed, his fingers digging into the sand. "No, it's not that. It's one of my greatest successes, to be honest. I even was able to cast the same spell on my pocket, but that, unfortunately hasn't been as successful. I've been able to modify it somewhat using extension charms and by updating the parser, but it's still a work in progress.
"No, what annoys me is that I can't figure out how I did it, which means I can't easily apply what I did to any further research, such as space flight. I mean, even if I do end up traveling across the galaxy through strategically placed trunks, I need to know how it works so I don't kill myself. Also, there's the fact that I created a wormhole using a Bookends spell."
"Well…" Hermione tried to be positive. "A lot of important discoveries began with serendipitous accidents. Penicillin was discovered from bread mold in an open petri dish. With some time, you should be able to figure out why it works."
"Yes, but there's an important difference. That open petri dish was the launch point for further research. Scientists could study it and figure out why it was killing bacteria, because we had at least a century of research in biology and how microbes work. They didn't just stuff bread mold down people's throats and pray it would heal people. They analysed samples, created cultures and isolated the antimicrobial compound. But I can't do that, because magic doesn't follow any consistent rules of science or logic that I'm aware of.
"Take this Bookends spell, for instance. It required the sacrifice of a favourite book memory. Tell me, why would a wormhole require memories to operate? I've found literally no connection with other magics to apply this to. And why do the laws of physics bend their will to a wizard who wants bookends, but don't allow me to create a vacuum chamber? Why does magic work fine at the North Pole, but not a few miles above the Equator?"
He rubbed his head in his hands.
"Since I started at Hogwarts, my goal has been to harness the secrets of magic using the power of science. Instead, I've collected an entire notebook full of equations and data that contradict each other. Every new discovery I make seems to add to the confusion." He sighed. "Maybe magic is crazy because humans designed the rules, but the fact is, for the purposes of my research, I have to learn to play by those rules. And so far, my experiments have shown me that everything I know is wrong, and all the laws of physics need to be rewritten. That means I have 500 years of work to do all by myself, and if I can't figure out the important things in time, then death will win in the end, taking everyone I love with it." He trailed off, grinding his teeth. "Sometimes, I feel like all I'm doing is trying to answer those stupid Muggle Studies questions. No matter how hard I work, I can never get it right."
Hermione placed her hand over his, feeling a pang at the vulnerability she saw in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Harry."
He swallowed, and said, "This air is so dry."
Hermione transfigured a cup and cast Aguamanti. Harry drank the water, then set the cup down in the sand, staring for a long moment. "I don't want you to get the wrong idea," said Harry. "I'm not giving up. And I'm not complaining because I want pity."
"I know," said Hermione.
"But, in the spirit of honesty, I will say that I'm jealous of you." Hermione blinked, watching him scratch a pattern in the sand with his fingers. "I want to laugh at the kid who used to daydream about low hanging research fruit. I knew it would take time to figure out magic, I didn't realize it would be an endless, uphill battle. Whereas you, on the other hand," he turned to her. "You're an Auror-in-training, a leader, and you inspire people. There's proof that what you're doing is working. Meanwhile, I'm spinning my wheels and floundering. If I at least had some sign, maybe, that I was on the right track, it would be easier."
There was a moment of silence as Hermione considered what to say. "I know this is frustrating, Harry," she said, gently squeezing his hand. "But I do think you're being too hard on yourself. Most 5th year students don't even do their homework, and you're pioneering magical research and making progress. I know it seems impossible right now, but I think if anyone could solve this problem, it would be you." She nudged his shoulder with hers. "I mean, with your brains, you could probably rewrite all the laws of physics in 300 years at the most." She caught his smile. "And you know, if you ever need me, I'll be there to help you."
He put his arm around her shoulder, tipping his gaze towards the setting sun. "With you on my team, we'll get it done in 150 years." They sat that way for a moment, and then Harry said, "And just so you know, I am proud of you too."
Hermione smiled gently, feeling the warmth of his arm spreading into the rest of her.
They sat that way a few moments, quiet and peaceful, and then Hermione made the mistake of asking Harry what he was thinking about.
Harry launched into a long presentation on his latest theories about the Source of Magic and the Immortality Problem. One of his favourite theories at the moment was that they were all inside a simulation of the real world, which explained the strange rules about magic and the reason for magical exhaustion, aka "magical system conservation mode."
"See, if we're all living in a simulation, then the use of too much magic would overload the system, thus necessitating an artificially induced 'magical exhaustion' to put a cap on things. Of course, magical exhaustion could also be explained by nanobots, which would be controlled by the Source of Magic—"
"Umm, Harry," said Hermione, before he could launch into another theory. "I have a question."
"What's up?"
"I know your research is important to you so…why did you spend half of last year playing this game? You mentioned it's to help with the fundraising, but is it giving you truckloads of Felix Felicis or something? Because so far all I've seen is weird stuff we can't use."
"Well, part of it is the spell books and potion ingredients, as they have been useful in cutting production costs with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. But aside from that…" Harry paused a moment, chewing his lip. "Have you ever heard of Slytherin's monster?"
"The basilisk? I know it was found dead in Hogwarts sometime in the 1950s."
Harry nodded. "Professor Quirrell told me that the basilisk once held all of Salazar Slytherin's knowledge, a treasure trove of high level magic that can only be passed on from one living mind to another. The creature was killed by Voldemort to horde those secrets to himself, and now it's lost for good." He sighed, as if he couldn't think of this without pain. "Still, while there is no way to retrieve that information, I am strongly inclined to believe that Salazar was not the only one to leave ancient knowledge within Hogwarts." Harry stretched his hand out to the mysterious desert. "As you can see, this castle is full of powerful, forgotten magic. I have a hunch that there is an important secret in Hogwarts that I am meant to find, something that will explain everything."
"The missing link," said Hermione.
"Exactly," said Harry. "Hopefully regarding immortality or the Source of Magic, though Ravenclaw's diadem would be a nice consolation prize."
Hermione stretched her legs out into the sand. "Not to mention, the quests are a bit more exciting than lab work."
"Well, that too," said Harry. "And it's nice to get a prize at the end, instead of inconclusive test results. I've got my whole life to study magic, but only two more years to explore Hogwarts. So, I've allotted a suitable amount of time for the quests in my schedule."
Hermione tilted back her head as a cool breeze blew over them. It was almost too dark for them to see each other now. Harry glanced at his watch, and said, "Dinner's in five minutes, so our punishment time is almost up."
As they sat together under the stars, Hermione wished they didn't have to leave. The cold around them made his presence at her shoulder feel that much warmer. As they made their way through the quest door, Hermione was preparing herself for the crush of first years who loved swarming her over dinner, when Harry turned the wrong way at a corner.
"The Great Hall is that way," said Hermione, pointing.
"I'm not hungry," he said. "I'm feeling inspired to do some research. You can stop by after dinner, if you want."
Hermione smiled and skipped to his side. "Let's go together."
That evening, Hermione and Tonks stood together in the Forbidden Forest, keeping guard over the dragons. The greatest danger would be meddling Gryffindors, but unfortunately, they were all keeping their mischief contained to the Hogwarts castle.
Tonks knew this task would be awfully dull, and in order to avoid boredom induced mischief, she looked for a distraction. Usually, Hermione was good for that sort of thing, as she would at least listen while Tonks rambled about something.
Tonight, however, Hermione was a million miles away, staring off at nothing. Every so often, she'd giggle to herself and then fall back into contented silence.
"Well, somebody's happy," Tonks said. "Did you ace a test or something?"
Emerging from her happiness cloud, Hermione said, "No, I just did research all night."
"Oh, exciting," said Tonks. "Potions…boring textbooks…okay, what were you really doing?"
"Studying charms to increase 'database' size within a spell. We didn't make any progress, but we did find 59 ways that don't work." Her eyes brightened with laughter, and she covered her mouth with her hand. "And one way that explodes in your face."
"Oh?" said Tonks. "What happened?"
She couldn't seem to stop giggling. "Harry was trying to...link the spells and then it backfired so bad his hair turned bright red! His face was so shocked, you should have seen it." She tried to mimic it, but her giggling kept it from looking right. "Then I started laughing, and he was so indignant! I couldn't help it, he's so cute when he's angry. And then he was teasing me and trying to get me to blow it up in my face too, but I was like, 'Some results don't need reproduction, Harry.'"
"Ah…hmm," said Tonks, frowning at the sudden feeling of disquiet. "You've been spending a lot of time with him lately."
"Yes, I've been helping him research, and we study together, of course."
"Is that all?"
"Well…some other things too, but I'm not sure if I should mention that yet." After a few seconds, Hermione flushed in realization. "Nothing inappropriate, I promise."
Tonks took a deep breath. "Hermione, I'm your friend, right?"
"Yes."
"So, then, I want you to listen to me. Experience has shown me that if your friends don't approve of a bloke, then it's for a good reason. Trust me, I learned that the hard way."
"Wait…you think…me and Harry…?" Hermione laughed. "Oh no, it's not like that. We're just good friends. I mean, he might even be gay."
"Hermione, if you actually were a unicorn, you'd be sparkling right now. It's obvious you have feelings for him."
"Umm…well…just a little bit. But it's not serious."
Hermione had never been a good liar. Maybe she believed the lie, but Tonks didn't. "I've heard things about Harry. Most of them aren't good."
She rose to his defence. "He can be a bit abrasive, but he's just honest, and—"
"He manipulates people. He's arrogant and has anger issues. You've studied psychology, what does that sound like to you?"
Hermione let out a huff of disbelief. "He's not a psychopath."
"Well, if he's not that, then he's at least a jerk. Those boys can be fun, but they don't make good boyfriends. And I know you aren't the type to play around." Hermione's face crumbled, and Tonks put a hand on shoulder. "I don't want to see you get hurt."
Hermione shook her head. "Harry would never hurt me."
"Not on purpose, but it wouldn't have to be. Love makes you vulnerable." Tonks worried she was messing this up. She'd only ever been on the receiving end of the Talk, and it had taken three broken hearts before she realized she didn't always know best.
"Well," said Tonks. "I've said what I need to say. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong about him. All I'm going to ask is that you come to me if you need advice. I did all the stupid things so you don't have to." Hermione smiled as Tonks nudged her arm. "Also, if he ever hurts you, let me know so I can knock him into next Tuesday."
"Oh don't worry," said Hermione. "If he does anything stupid, I'll punch him myself."
"Atta girl!" Tonks beamed.
Before Tonks could say anything else, she heard a twig snap. Her face twisted into an expectant grin. She turned and fired a hex with her wand, illuminating two boys who fell to the ground.
"Ha ha! 20 points from Slytherin. Did you really think you could get past not one, but two brilliant Aurors?"
The boys scrambled up, and Tonks recognized one as the 7th year who had challenged her on her first day. "Aww, come on, we just wanted to help you out. Have mercy, Professor."
Tonks frowned. That 7th year was giving her the sort of look that she wasn't comfortable with. "If you want to give us detention, we're okay with that though. We can serve it right here on the grounds, patrolling for Gryffindors."
She wanted to hex them both for insolence, but her intuition told her that's exactly what they wanted. "Well, I suppose I could call Madam Bones over to see what she thinks of that."
The look of horror in their eyes was totally worth it. "No, it's okay, we were just kidding. See you in class, Professor."
As they ran away, Tonks sighed and turned to Hermione. "Just a word of advice. If you ever have to teach a class, don't tell the boys you'll go on a date with them, even as a joke. It's apparently the sort of thing they can't let go."
Hermione thought a moment. "Call the boys to your office. Morph into a middle aged man, and tell them you're finally comfortable being yourself, and hope they still accept you. Bonus points if you offer ambiguous candy, and weep into a monogrammed handkerchief."
Tonks smirked. "You know, it's probably a good thing you're so mature, otherwise you would be raising a whole lot more hell than I ever did."
As soon as Draco finished his last class, he returned to his room and closed the curtains around his bed. The writing materials and letter paper were already laid out. Dipping his quill, he began to write.
Dearest mother,
I was very happy to receive your letter, and that you felt well enough to write. I hope your medicine continues to keep you in good health. I know Healer Blithe is confident he has the right formula this time, but you know healers always say that. Let me know right away if your health changes.
A few days ago, I started working on a project with some very powerful people. If everything goes according to plan, we should be able to find a cure for you. Not a medicine, Mother. A real cure.
This will keep me busy, so I won't be able to come home as often. However, tomorrow I plan to visit Hogwarts for the Triwizard tournament. I hope to meet you afterwards, and we can spend the afternoon together. I'll tell you all about my new employment then.
Love,
Draco Malfoy
He carefully folded the letter and gave it to his owl, then watched her wing her way south to Malfoy Manor. Draco waited up for a while, doing his homework, but he didn't receive a reply. He knew his mother retired early, so she'd probably not read the letter until morning.
With a last glance out the window, Draco sighed and got ready for bed.
Author's Note:
Heya! So, I've heard there was a little confusion about the character's ages, so I thought I'd clarify things. Harry is fifteen and in his 5th year at Hogwarts. Hermione is sixteen and also in her 5th year, but is taking some upper level classes.
Thank you to my betas, DarthRevanette and Arenavanera.
The next chapter will be posted on October 21st.
