"It's time for you to go back," Harry watched as the light slowly dawned outside the window. Ron and Hermione nodded, "It would be bad if anyone sees you."
"Do you think they will let you go today?"
"I hope my arm doesn't hurt. And it seems the bones fell into place," the boy carefully moved his hand.
"We'll be back after breakfast if Madam Pomfrey doesn't let you go before."
"Are you serious about spending your day off in the hospital wing?" in the voice of the young magician sounds of distrust sounded.
"Why not?" Ron shrugged.
"Besides, we spent the whole night with you."
"Good. Be careful, okay? I don't want you to get in trouble because of me."
"Don't worry about it," Hermione pulled the robes over her and Ron, "even if we get caught, it was worth it."
"Besides, we have a robe in case we need to sneak out."
At the end, the friends smiled radiantly, which made Harry very warm, and disappeared as if they had never been here.
The boy looked at his watch. There was still a little time before the morning tour. The room was empty, became somehow quiet and cold. So lonely His eyes flickered to the petrified figure of Colin. It even made it a little creepy. Potter quickly pushed that thought aside and crawled under the covers.
"Maybe I can get some sleep?"
Suddenly, drowsiness overtook him as soon as his head touched the pillow. Still, the sleepless night paid off. The next time he was awakened by footsteps. Still, the sleep was not sound enough; any slight noise could wake him up.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Potter?" As Harry sat up in bed, the man handed him his glasses.
"Thank you... I'm feeling better now and my arm almost doesn't hurt."
"Will you allow it?" Severus pointed to the broken arm. Potter nodded weakly, still wary of Snape. The man was surprisingly very cautious, even despite Harry's statement that everything was in order, "If Madam Pomfrey allows, then after breakfast you can be free."
"Thank you professor."
Madame Pomfrey had indeed let him go after breakfast. However, before that, I had to drink another disgusting potion. But it was a small price to pay for an almost completely free day.
With friends, the young magician met almost at the very hospital wing.
"I'm glad you were released. How about chess?" Ron suggested. Potter didn't mind at all, he hadn't played chess for a long time.
They played and chatted until dinner time. Then Hermione decided to go and try to find something about the Chamber of Secrets and the monster, and Harry and Ron decided to go to the lake. They agreed to meet near the central corridor to go to dinner together.
The lake was almost deserted except for the twins. They were busy with something right on the shore.
"What are you doing?" The twins jumped in surprise and quickly turned around.
"There's no reason to sneak up so unexpectedly."
"What do you think it looks like?" George pointed to two iron buckets that stood side by side.
"We brought some yummy for the Big Squid." Fred poured the fish into the water. This fish was not found in the lake, but the monster liked it very much, so sometimes students who were not afraid or Hagrid brought it here.
Immediately, the water began to boil and a tentacle appeared from there. It hit the ground several times and landed softly.
"Not at all," the twins smiled. Fred stroked the sprout from which a very quiet joyful gurgling came from the water. And George poured another bucket full of fish into the lake.
Another tentacle emerged from the water and flopped beside him. Harry and Ron also decided to join the twins. The shoots were surprisingly warm and covered with small scales that shimmered in the sun.
How about some fun? Fred suggested. The boys nodded in interest. George pulled Harry towards him and gently patted the tentacle. Fred did the same. Suddenly, the monster's limbs fluttered, wrapped themselves around the guys and raised them relatively low. It reminded Potter of the strange merry-go-round at the Maglav amusement park. Regardless, it was fun. The Dursleys never let him have fun. When they went to the amusement park, they always gave the boy the tone of household chores or locked him in a closet.
In the late afternoon, as the sun slowly approached the horizon and it became too cold near the lake, the twins sent Harry and Ron to the castle.
"Apchi!" The young man wiped his cold nose with the sleeve of his robe.
"Looks like it's time for someone to head back to the castle," Fred chuckled.
"It seems too cold for Harry," George agreed.
They were still sitting on the shore, but now they were just stroking the warm scales of the monster, which was lazily tapping its tentacles on the shore, demanding a little more caress.
"What about you?"
"We'll sit a little longer."
"And you get back before Harry gets sick." The twins smiled that innocently annoying smile and waved goodbye.
Harry and Ron sat on the stone windowsill, waiting for Hermione. When more than fifteen minutes had passed, Weasley sighed softly.
"She seems to be getting too carried away again."
"It looks like her. Shall we wait or shall we go to the library?"
"Five more minutes and we'll go."
As the boys expected, Hermione never came, so they decided to spill. Harry followed Granger into the library, and Ron went into the kitchen to steal something delicious. There was no point in going to the big hall anyway.
Potter quietly opened the massive door and slipped into the library. Madam Pince was sitting at the counter reading a book. She gave him a cold look, but after a few seconds she went back to reading. Harry tiptoed along the bookshelves to the reading room. As he expected, Hermione was sitting at the table, bent over a pile of books, she was studying something intently.
"You got too carried away again," Harry sighed and sat down on the bench next to him. The girl jumped in surprise.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, looking at her watch, "I got distracted and didn't notice how time flew by."
"How like you," the boy teased and smiled.
"That's not funny," Granger nudged her friend lightly on the shoulder, Harry chuckled, "Better tell me, where is Ron?"
"He went to the kitchen, because we were late for dinner anyway," the boy looked meaningfully at his girlfriend, "We agreed to meet in an abandoned office. Did you find anything? he asked in a serious tone."
"So far, nothing, the archive is simply huge, it's even more difficult when you don't even know the approximate date," the girl sighed and stretched. She sat almost motionless for several hours, her muscles aching terribly. Although she did not notice it while reading.
"I hope you find something. This is what you do best. Okay, let's go quickly. Ron must have been waiting for us," Hermione nodded.
They sorted the books into two piles and took them all to Madame Pince. She gave them a stern look, glanced at the books quickly, and nodded. The children almost ran out of the library.
"She's still creepy though. Snape in a skirt," Harry muttered as they got a good distance from the library.
"Come on, I'm more hungry than I thought."
"Yah? Ay!"
Harry and Hermione went up to the third floor and darted into the old office. Lighting was provided by several candles. The pleasant smell of hot chocolate wafted through the room. The boys smiled involuntarily.
"Finally. The chocolate is already almost cold," Weasley jumped off the windowsill.
"It smells delicious," Harry licked his lips. Weasley's hot chocolate recipe was delicious. Given that the boy had never tasted any other hot chocolate. Aunt Petunia made hot chocolate, but Dudley always got it. Although Potter was still convinced that the Weasley family's recipe was a hundred times better.
"First dinner, then chocolate." Hermione sat down at the table. Harry and Ron rolled their eyes, Hermione was such a Hermione, but joined the meal anyway.
The trio finished their dinner quickly and started on dessert. Chattering in the semi-darkness with a cup of sweet drink made for a pleasant drowsiness.
"It's time to... Leave," the young witch yawned widely.
"Lights out soon," Harry agreed.
"Caramel," Ron called softly. At the same moment, an elf appeared. She smiled warmly at the trio.
"Did you like dinner?" she asked as she picked up the dirty dishes.
"Thanks, everything was delicious."
"Glad to hear it. Can... Can I ask you to do something for me?" The elf seemed very excited.
"Certainly."
"Come, sometimes have dinner in the kitchen."
"Of course." The trio smiled. Caramel jumped for joy and bowed deeply.
"Thank you very much," the happy elf disappeared with the plates at the same moment. The children looked at each other in slight bewilderment, but did not betray this much importance, they hurried back to the tower.
In the common living room, the trio sat in the far corner. Hermione was reading a book on magical creatures. Ron, next to him, was playing with Hermes, and Harry was leafing through the Seeker Weekly between them. Well, or tried. With each leaf turned over, the boy wanted to sleep more and more. He didn't even notice how his eyes closed for a few minutes.
Suddenly, someone pulled him up. Potter tried to pull away, only to hear a soft hiss in response.
"Shhh... It's just me," the familiar voice was right next to his ear.
"Percy... Let me go, I'm on my own..."
"You know, I have three younger brothers and a sister. And every time I hear something like that," Percy spoke so quietly that only Harry could hear him," Nothing will change if I have another little brother, right?
"What are you talking about?"
"Think about what I told you some time ago?"
"He's just unbearable," Ginny growled. She dropped her bag on the floor near the bench and sat down next to Hermione at the table.
"What happened, Ginny?" Percy asked as he leafed through an advanced magic textbook.
"Cleon," the girl said through clenched teeth.
"Is that the Slytherin that's bothering you?" Ron pushed the plate of her favorite berry pie towards his sister.
"Yes. We had potions together today and that idiot ruined everything. Because of him, I now have to go to work with Snape," the girl blurted out in one breath.
"How about teaching him a lesson?" suggested Fred, who was sitting opposite.
"Don't be silly." Percy shot a stern look at the slyly smiling twins and turned back to his book.
"Don't worry, brother."
"We won't do anything wrong. Promise."
"Just don't get caught," Percy sighed, "I don't want points taken off the House."
"Of course, brother."
Time passed very slowly and boringly until Lockhart announced the dueling club. Although the man was a completely clueless wizard, many of the students perked up at the idea. After a magical duel between Snape and Lockhart, obviously who won, they were paired off. Harry wanted to practice with Ron, but Severus pulled him away due to a broken wand that could harm both Ron and his opponent. He had to sit on a bench in the far corner of the hall and watch the fights of others.
And of course, his opponent should be Draco. The boy was acting strange again, every time Potter tried to look into his eyes, he immediately looked away.
When it became clear which side the advantage was on, Malfoy shouted:
"Serpensortia!" a huge hissing snake began to look around.
"She's scared and annoyed," Harry thought, and stepped closer as she turned to Justin.
"Don't do this," the boy began to whisper, not even noticing anything around him.
I had to make several attempts before the snake obeyed him and retreated. Snape's sudden spell snapped Harry out of his trance. He looked around, catching the distant glances of other students and even teachers.
This only lasted a few seconds until Severus ordered everyone else to continue. And Ron and Hermione took a friend to a secluded place.
"Why didn't you say you were a serpentine?"
"Who?"
"You can talk to snakes."
"It is so unusual?" the boy frowned. His friends seemed too excited.
"This is a rare magical gift. The gift that Salazar Slytherin held," Hermione explained, tugging at her jumper nervously.
"Oh..." Harry sighed.
"Why is it always me?"
After the snake incident, Harry's relationship with the other students became somewhat more complicated. For the most part, others believed that Potter was the heir of Slytherin.
"We need to finish the potion quickly," the scarred boy whispered to Ron. These strange looks had already begun to annoy him.
"How long will it take, Hermione?"
"Almost everything is ready. Up to a week."
"For a long time..."
The only funny thing that has happened in a boring and long week is the revenge of the twins. Cleon, the boy who keeps pestering Ginny, has received an unusual gift from Fred and George at breakfast. The Slytherin tried the twins' new invention, the Rainbow Hair Pop. His white hair, which he had always been so proud of, first turned red, then completely black, then green, and finally fell off like autumn leaves. Oops, the pop still had the side effect of temporary baldness.
"Is this your doing?" In a flurry of laughter and loud discussions, Percy whispered to the twins.
"Who knows? Who knows?" The couple shrugged and winked at the giggling Ginny.
"Eh..." Percy let out a long sigh, but didn't bring the subject up again.
