Chapter 70: A Buckbeak Appearance, Sort Of

The next morning four letters arrived for Hermione and three others that had signed up for Snape's craft club. Hermione decided that she needed something to take her mind off of how much of a git that Harry had turned into. And so after dinner she headed down to the dungeons and quickly found the right classroom. The others joined her and then they were let in.

The room was small, but Hermione saw that everything that they needed to do different projects were already there. They took their seats and then Severus got started.

"Today were going to attempt to sculpt a head, which will be enchanted not to break," he explained. "Find a subject to sculped into a head and then we'll fire it up when finished and add the charm."

He handed them each clay and at once Hermione had a sudden idea. She raised her hand and Severus rolled his eyes before calling on her.

"Sir, can we have any kind of enchantment that we want?" she asked.

"Yes, Mrs. Lupin, but why?"

Hermione grinned.

"You'll soon find out," she answered.

Severus was about to make a comment, but decided against it.

For the next several hours each of them worked on sculpting a head. Hermione made a perfect model of Harry's head, including the scar. Severus then took each of them into the firing room and they all waited. While they waited Severus cornered his co-workers wife.

"Mrs. Lupin what do you exactly want this head to do?"

"Insult Harry," Hermione said. "I want it to tell him exactly what I think of him."

"And what do you think you'll get out of that?"

"Seeing the shocked look on Harry's face," Hermione said. "That's worth everything."

Severus decided to mentally ask the hat if it had made a mistake with her.

When the heads where ready to come out Severus did the promised enchantments and then added the one that Hermione wanted. Hermione put the head in a box and then they all left. When she got back to Gryffindor tower she showed Pavarti the head that she had made.

"That is too creepy," she commented.

"I know, but it will be just the thing that will fix his train."

The next morning Hermione put the head next to Harry's bed and then hurried off to her Advance Charms class.

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"That bloody Hippogriff," Severus snarled as Madam Pomfrey cleaned his cuts. "I swear the moment Hagrid returns I'm going to kill him."

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. Severus had come in her wing complaining that Buckbeak had attacked him. To her it sounded a lot like he was taking a leaf out of Draco Malfoy's book.

"Why do you think that it was Buckbeak?" Dumbledore asked.

He gave him a strange look and then hissed at Madam Pomfrey as she healed his cut.

"We need to find out what's going on with him," Dumbledore said. "So has Tom called you yet?"

"No, sir," Severus said. "And I'm not too happy about that. It has been at least two months since he summoned me. He's up to something, I just know it."

Dumbledore thought this over.

"I think you might be right," he said.

He looked at the old man.

"I know I'm right," he told him. "Woman, stop poking me."

He had said this just as Madam Pomfrey tapped him with her wand.

"I'm not poking you, I'm tapping you," she defended herself.

"Felt like poking to me," he pouted.

His wife shook her head.

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Note: I wonder what our vial mastermind has been up to. Next chapter: Harry gets the shock of his life, Fred sends Hermione another letter, and Eileen is taken to St. Mungo.