With Christmas – and Harry's budding relationship with Giovanna – over, Harry took to the skies on his Firebolt daily. He managed to get in some duelling sessions, alone and with Tracey, but it was his flying that Harry really focused on over what remained of the holiday. While Hooch wasn't holding any hazard racing sessions due to the holidays, Harry was able to get in a lot of speed race practise.
He managed to avoid Giovanna and the Durmstrang students as they did their own flying practises – it was, after all, a big sky and the Hogwarts grounds were expansive. The Durmstrang lot were secretive anyway and had erected all sorts of privacy spells around the Quidditch pitch for their official practises, although many of the flyers did go off on their own at times. Harry didn't mind.
Harry flew as often as he could from morning until night, sometimes spending the whole day up in the air on his broom. The one exception was New Year's Eve, when his friends managed to convince him that it would be nice to spend the day inside with everyone else. In the end Harry was glad for it, and even if the party in the Slytherin Common Room to mark the turn of the year was rather more festive than Harry felt, he had a good time.
Just about.
With the Christmas holidays well and truly over Harry was happy for school to resume. If it did nothing else, it did at least give the rest of the school something to think and talk about that had absolutely nothing to do with Harry. Not that the stupid rumours that followed Harry – peddled by Skeeter and her on-going columns – ended, of course. They were there, like always, passed around in the background by the same students who were always interested in that sort of thing. But Harry at least could let those get lost amongst talk of everything else.
On the first day of the new term Dumbledore announced the dates for the first of the flying events, and after a solid week of drills run by Madam Hooch, by the middle of January it was time for Harry to compete.
The first of the competitions was held on the fourteenth of January, a Saturday. Just as with the Gauntlet's first event a section of the grounds had been dedicated to the affair, with a spot for spectators erected along the beginning part of the racecourse.
In the chilly morning air in front of a large crowd of students and whichever members of the public had managed to get tickets, Harry stood with his broom waiting for the race to begin – along with a selection of other competitors. Although several from Hogwarts had got through to the free speed race, Harry knew – without any arrogance – that his competition came from outside of the school.
For one, Harry had the best broom out of anyone in Hogwarts. The next best was Draco on a Nimbus 2001. But apart from that, Harry had outflown them all before during practises. No, it was a handful of flyers from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons on professional-grade brooms who would provide the real competition – Krum and Giovanna chief among them.
It's not just about the broom, Harry reminded himself as he looked up and down the line of waiting flyers. True, the Firebolt was a solid choice and a massive advantage over something like Draco's Nimbus, but a poor flyer would be unable to get the best out of a top-notch broom regardless.
Harry had flown dozens of practise speed courses put on by Hooch in the weeks leading up to the event. He had the procedure down, could probably fly it in his sleep, so ignored Bagman as he prattled on giving the spectators a taste of what would come. It was all the standard stuff, anyway – points off for missed markers, three laps, all of that. Rules Harry had memorised months before. The course was fairly long, circuitous, and woven through the Hogwarts grounds making full use of the expansive space. Hooch had hinted at the likely setup beforehand, although she hadn't given away much. Harry knew, at least, that it would be a damned sight shorter than the marathon racecourse – that would span the entire length of Scotland and then some. From what Harry could see the speed course would be tricky to fly, with lots of sharp turns and some odd twists in direction. He'd have to watch the speed on those…
Harry tuned back into Bagman. The man should have been mostly done with his introductions to speed racing, and Harry didn't want to miss the start.
"We've assigned a Whizzer—Whizzler? Damned things are new, I don't know the name—to each of our competitors," shouted Bagman to the crowd with the aid of his charm, "which will show their location and what they're doing on that big fancy mirror over there. This sort of setup is state of the art, first appeared in China a few years ago you know—they've got some sort of awful Chinese name which is why we—" He coughed.
"Well, I'll just get the event started, shall I?" said Bagman. "I'll count you down to one, then you'll get going—up in the air and away on the course. There are markers along the way and officials doing sweeps of the course in case you get lost, but once you're up in the air and away, that'll be that."
Harry didn't think he'd get lost, not in the skies above Hogwarts anyway. Still, the course did extend over parts of the grounds most students never saw, so it was possible.
Bagman paused to allow the competitors to get ready. Harry slipped his new flight goggles into place and checked that his gloves were firmly on, then mounted him broom.
"So! Get ready—three! Two! One! Go!" shouted Bagman.
At the signal to go Harry kicked off and rose into the sky. Of the twelve competitors in the speed race, most were left behind as Harry, Giovanna, Viktor Krum and two flyers from Beauxbatons accelerated to top-speed on their high-end professional sports brooms. The first set of markers hung suspended in the air, great big circles that barely moved at all.
Harry cleared them with ease.
In the moments after he passed them by he scanned the horizon for the next set of markers, conscious that Krum on his Firebolt – Krum, with his professional training and experience – would be quick to get ahead. The next set of markers moved lazily through the air, swaying from left to right as if buffeted by the wind.
Harry corrected his course and pushed through them, overtaking Giovanna as he did so. The Firebolt at top speed was just too fast for the Hayami to keep up. The competitors on slower brooms – Draco and a handful of others – were left back at the start. Harry ignored them.
He glanced into the distance, checking over the course ahead. It wound away from the stands near to the Forbidden Forest towards the castle itself. Harry cleared the next few markers, Krum always just a few feet in front. He leaned into a smooth turn, jerked the nose of his broomstick into a particularly sudden shift in direction, then dipped down to meet the next marker.
The course reached the castle itself. Markers had been strung over the roofs, along the battlements, and around the castle's many towers. From what Harry could see the distance between markers, along with the positioning of the markers themselves, varied. Far too much for him to just come barrelling in at top speed – there were twists and turns tighter than a hag's knickers up ahead. Twists and turns Harry thought would be difficult even on a Hayami.
Harry coaxed his broom forward, slowing just slightly on his approach to the main battlements. Krum was just ahead, with Giovanna and the two Beauxbatons flyers not far behind – and catching up. He nipped through a close-together set of markers, then slowed again to make a sharp turn upwards around one of the castle's minor towers.
Giovanna and the Beauxbatons flyers – one on a Hayami and one a Firebolt – shot past him. They turned on the edge of knut and wound their way through the markers around the tower while Harry grappled with the wide angle of his approach.
Fuck, Harry thought as he watched them go. He'd come in too fast, had to slow too much, took too wide of an angle… and dropped into fifth place for his troubles. He glanced back and saw Draco gaining ground.
Sod that, Harry thought. He pushed his broom forward and made the circuitous climb to the top of the tower, pushing his Firebolt through each of the markers. Harry passed through each marker as they wound tightly up to the top of the tower, each marker closer to the next than the one before, until he reached the very top.
Harry shot through the last marker – a vertical climb – and then twisted in the direction of the next. Harry angled the nose of his broom down, dropped into a dive. With the next marker at the very bottom of the tower on the other side, Harry edged the Firebolt closer to its top speed.
He shot right past the Beauxbatons girl at the back of the pack. Even her Firebolt couldn't save her, not when she wasn't using it properly. He sailed through the marker at the bottom of the tower and jerked his broom upwards into a climb. Giovanna just in front, with the Beauxbatons boy ahead of her – and Krum in the distance.
Not for long.
The markers had been lined up along the ridge of the roof over the castle's long West Wing. Harry had flown that stretch of roof many times over the Christmas holiday, knew just how fast he could get before coming too close to the squat, square tower at its end.
So Harry pushed his broom forward. The Firebolt had superior technical specs, at least when it came to speed and, crucially, acceleration. On such a straight span of markers the Hayami would struggle to make use of its better handling, and Harry intended to exploit that to its fullest.
Or not quite – nought to one hundred and fifty miles within ten seconds was overkill, at least for such a short stretch. But he could beat the top speed of the Hayami within seven seconds.
Harry shot forward.
Seven… he thought as he sped past the first two markers. Giovanna not far in front, then the Beauxbatons pair, and then Krum.
Six…
Giovanna was up ahead, glancing back at the other racers occasionally.
Five…
Giovanna, a blur behind him, left in his wake.
Four…
The Beauxbatons girl right ahead. Too close to swerve left or right, Harry dipped down – then back up in front of her. She went careening off-course, nearly missed the marker.
Harry ignored her. No time to rest.
Three…
He was close to the end of the roof, almost at the square tower. Three markers left before the tower, the Beauxbatons boy just in front. And Krum at the tower in a crazy vertical climb at more or less top speed.
Two…
And the Beauxbatons boy gone, eating Harry's dust. Speed climbing and climbing… squat little tower right up ahead. Not long until Harry had to make a turn in as tight an arc as possible.
One…
Harry pulled the tip of his broom and shot up in a mirror of Krum's manoeuvre. Not quite as smooth, not as fast, but it did the job Harry wanted. He shot through the markers along the side of the tower, just inches from the face of the wall itself.
He'd made it to second place. A nice recovery, but with Krum just ahead and the both of them on Firebolts, Harry couldn't see a way to get ahead. Krum's experience showed. He handled the Firebolt like someone born to it, took corners faster than Harry would even dream of and pulled off manoeuvres Harry thought for sure were literally impossible.
Krum slipped through one marker, did a little spin to meet the rotating pair of markers after that, then made a hairpin turn to sail through the next without so much as a wobble.
Harry followed him. He didn't quite manage the elegant spin Krum had, instead making his way through the rotating markers with a clumsy zigzag motion, and shot off towards the next set of markers above the greenhouses.
Harry emerged into a cloud. Wet, misty, and cold, it seemed that the course organisers had put on a little spot of localised rain. Nothing quite so bad as Harry would expect from a hazard course, the cloud did make it more difficult to see.
At least I've got my gloves and goggles, Harry thought.
Thank you Sirius.
The goggles were a godsend, as they automagically got rid of any stray water, and with the gloves, at least his hands weren't wet. He climbed just above the raincloud to get a better grip of where he was, then shot off after Krum.
Harry didn't think he had anything to worry about from Draco and the others on slower brooms – Chang, a lad from Durmstrang, Montague – but he didn't want to stick around for any of the flyers on the Hayamis to catch up. From what Harry had spied of the course, there were too many places up ahead where the Hayami's agility and finesse could give its riders the edge.
So Harry kept his Firebolt as close to its top speed as he dared, watching ahead to see if Krum had given any opportunities for overtaking. The course wound its way over the tops of the castle, around the towers, and then back out onto the grounds proper.
The perfect location for Harry to at least try and catch up to Krum.
In theory.
In practice, Krum was able to maintain top speed even over trickier bits of the course, and even where he slowed down – like where the course wound through the standing stones at the far side of the lake – Harry had to slow even further.
Maddening.
And then he had to content with Giovanna just behind him, always looking to catch up herself.
The last stretch of the course wound around the edge of the lake, up over the nearby hills, and then back down the road from Hogsmeade towards the stands. There were enough spots where the markers were evenly spaced and stationary that Harry thought it would be possible – if difficult – for him to catch up to Krum.
I can catch up, Harry thought. It was tricky, of course – if Krum noticed Harry coming, he'd accelerate to maintain his lead and as their brooms were identical, Harry wouldn't be able to catch up. So Harry tried to keep out of Krum's sightline, a feat aided by the fact that Krum wasn't looking back.
Whether through confidence, arrogance, or the sheer thrill of the race, Krum didn't seem too bothered by his competition.
Krum kept up a relaxed cruising speed, unaware of Harry sneaking up behind him until Harry reached right to the tail of Krum's broom. With a marker just ahead, Harry coaxed the last little bit out of his broom and—
As soon as Krum noticed Harry behind him, he dropped into a tricky little roll manoeuvre and cut right in front of Harry.
Harry pulled up hard, and entered a vertical climb to avoid Krum, whilst Krum went ahead on through the course, his lead – though much shorter – protected.
I can try again, Harry thought. He knew Krum would have all sorts of tricks ready to deploy – tricks which Harry had either seen him perform at the World Cup or had read about in the magazines – but that there was also little reason to drop into a Wronski Feint or a Chapman's Wobble over the course of a speed race. At least not the parts of it that were left, anyway.
So as far as Harry was concerned, it was just a matter of dealing with Krum's tactics as and when he used them.
Krum yelled something as Harry attempted to overtake him, and then performed a complex loop movement that made Harry jerk his broom and veer off-course. Harry swore. It took Harry more time to right himself than it took Krum, even though it was Krum performing the movements.
They both shot through the remaining part of the first lap, past the stands where Bagman was commentating, and back out into the course again.
"…Oho! Potter and Krum, fighting for first place! Doubt we'll see…" Harry heard Bagman say, although the sound soon died off as the stands disappeared into the distance.
The flyers on the slowest brooms were quite far back, Harry knew. No competition there. But Giovanna and the two from Beauxbatons on their Hayami's were close in, and Harry knew there were several spots on the course that would be more than suitable for the Hayami.
But having done one lap already, Harry knew he could deal with them. Krum was managing, after all, hadn't even dropped his lead once.
So what if he's a bloody Quidditch player, Harry thought. I know my broom, too.
The second lap was easier. Harry knew the route, knew the twists, the turns, and the trickier parts… and the confidence of having done the course already was a help, too. He kept a careful watch over Giovanna, who'd bagged third place above the two from Beauxbatons, but paid more attention to Krum.
Giovanna, even if she got ahead of Harry around the twisty tower markers, could be overtaken at the final stretch. Harry felt confident of that. Krum was much harder.
On the approach to the squat tower the second time around Harry coaxed more from his Firebolt, pushed it just that little bit harder… and jerked up at the last possible moment, carrying his momentum into the upward climb.
Through it all Krum remained tantalisingly close, within touching distance at times.
But always just ahead.
Harry slowed gently as he made his way through the standing stones. Krum zipped through with an almost reckless abandon, but Harry had to go slower, slipping through with a janky zigzag. As Harry moved through the markers arranged around the central stone, Giovanna came past in a series of elegant, fluid spins and pushed him into third place.
Harry's broom spun; his rhythm broken by Giovanna's speedy manoeuvre.
"Shit!" Harry swore. He wrestled the Firebolt for control over his broom and by the time he'd righted himself, Giovanna was long gone.
Harry didn't stick around. The Beauxbatons girl was coming up the rear, and Harry reckoned she was chomping at the bit to pay him back for his little trick on the last lap. He shot away, accelerating to top speed to catch up to Giovanna.
Wind whipping through his hair, Harry caught up to Giovanna at the castle docks. There was a good, long stretch of straight markers around the lake, markers that didn't move very much and which were all of a standard width. If Harry just edged—
Giovanna flew in a tight little loop across Harry's path, sending him off course.
He righted himself as quickly as he could, then pushed forward again. Krum had been doing the same sort of thing, but Giovanna was nowhere near as aggressive with the manoeuvres.
That, Harry could deal with.
Harry sped forwards at an angle to Giovanna, broom pointed as if he was going to cut across her left. He crept closer and—
Giovanna executed a loop again, and then again, but Harry was ready. He shot through the second loop, just narrowly missing her broom's tail end – and just narrowly missing a foul, too. He sped up, hitting the hundred and fifty miles per hour top speed of the Firebolt.
Then, Harry turned his attention to Krum.
Third time's the charm, Harry thought. He'd managed second place position in the first two laps; those were training, he told himself. Practise. The third lap, Harry was going to overtake Krum.
Somehow.
He just needed to catch up to Krum. Easier said than done, perhaps, but Harry had been watching, and whenever Krum reached the markers at the top of the Astronomy Tower, he hesitated. Something about the layout of the markers gave him pause, and that was Harry's chance to overtake.
He just had to get into position.
Harry sped across the lake, over the hills, and then down the path from Hogsmeade just behind Krum. They shot past the stands again, this time so fast Harry couldn't even hear Bagman's prattling.
The third time around was almost effortless. Harry knew just where he had to lean harder, slow down, make a tighter arc… and he executed each manoeuvre perfectly. Even if that was only his own opinion.
With the Astronomy Tower just up ahead, Harry got ready. Krum would slow down and wobble at the top. It was a small advantage, but Harry knew it was the only chance he'd get… so he waited. He kept flying forward, just at the tailtip of Krum's broom…
And then shot past Krum.
Immediately, Harry felt giddy with elation. He'd snagged first place! From Viktor Krum!
He just had to keep up the pace and—
Krum came barrelling at Harry like a madman. Harry dipped down to avoid a collision and Krum went through the next of the barriers, lead once again secured.
"Oh, fuck off!" Harry shouted after him.
But Krum wasn't too far ahead, fractions of a second if that, so Harry kept at it. He took a sheaf out of Krum's stack and performed a series of aggressive manoeuvres designed to force Krum to the side.
It worked, and Harry found himself in first place again.
The trouble was, for every trick Harry tried, Krum had a counter. If Harry tried to force a collision, Krum did a pirouette. If Harry dipped down, Krum spun up.
Harry and Krum continued like that for the rest of the course, occasionally trading places with each other, until they reached the air above the Hogsmeade path. Krum edged just ahead, and Harry felt a renewed need to win.
Harry brought his broom right up to the side of Krum, who—for once—didn't execute a stalling tactic. Instead, Krum kept on going, just inches ahead of Harry.
Harry could hear the roar of the crowd as he sped towards the stands. He could hear Bagman, even.
"...and the first of our speed racers are on their way back as Potter and Krum—both on top-of-the-range Firebolts—make their way back to the starting point!" said Bagman. "There's only a couple of inches in it! Who'd have thought it would come down to this?"
Harry pushed forward and dipped his broom just slightly. There was a chance he could just edge the win from Krum, so long as Krum didn't—
Krum rolled across Harry's path and nearly sent him careening off past the markers. As Harry struggled to get back on course, Krum crossed the finish line.
"Oh-ho! That's it, folks! Krum crosses the line and wins the first speed race of the Tournament!" shouted Bagman. "A good showing from Potter but I'm sure he's disappointed! The perils of flying against a professional, eh? A good outing for the both of them, but Krum will want to keep up the good pace for the second round of the speed race…"
Harry forced himself to stop listening as Bagman prattled on. Harry sailed across the finish line and landed just next to where Krum had. Harry didn't have to wait at the finish line, thankfully – there was a space just off to the side where the finished flyers could sit and watch the rest of the race, so Harry went to join Krum on the bench, broom still in hand.
Krum stood when Harry arrived at the bench and offered Harry his hand.
"That vas a very good race," said Krum once Harry had shaken his hand and they'd both sat back down. "You are very good. But I am more practised, I think, so do not be disappointed."
"You deserved to win," Harry said. "Your blocking manoeuvres were just too good."
Not long after Harry had finished the course Giovanna landed, securing herself third place in the competition, followed by the two flyers from Beauxbatons on professional-tier brooms. After that it was a long – and as far as Harry was concerned, boring – wait for the sixth and final qualifier to the next round to cross the finish line. Draco secured himself a place in the second round just ahead of a girl from Beauxbatons.
"The hazards will be much more exciting for the crowd," Giovanna said while they waited for the judges to tally the scores. Harry knew he hadn't hit any markers, nor missed any, but it could change who qualified if Draco had lost too many points.
"I'm looking forward to flying in them," Harry said. "Just that little bit more thrilling, isn't it?"
"I am sure," said Krum. "I vill enjoy vatching, I think. I vould have liked to fly in them, but I vas not allowed." He shrugged. "Good luck to you both."
With the match over Bagman announced the results.
"We'll reconvene next week for the second round of the speed race, where our twelve competitors have been whittled down to just six! But a round of applause for Viktor Krum, who came first; Harry Potter, who came second; and Giovanna Fantoni who came third today!"
Bagman dismissed the crowd, and with that the competitors were freed, too. Harry stayed back a bit just to congratulate the others in getting to the second round.
It would have felt churlish to just dash off.
"It's good to see another flyer from Hogwarts go through," Harry said, turning to chat with Draco. But Draco ignored him and hurried away. He hadn't even stopped to speak with Krum, and Harry knew Draco had been waiting for an opportunity to make some sort of connection with the Quidditch superstar. Harry watched him go, then went back to the group of second round flyers to congratulate Giovanna on her placement.
"Well done," Harry said to Giovanna. "You flew really well. That broom's going to be a real hassle for me in the hazards, you know."
"This is where I will excel," Giovanna murmured. "But thank you, Harry. You flew very well, too."
Harry had a response ready but stopped when he felt a hesitant tap on his shoulder. Harry turned to see Lucius Malfoy stood behind him, a deep frown across his face and dark bags under his eyes. Lucius Malfoy had never been fat, at least not any time Harry had seen him, but that afternoon he looked positively gaunt.
"Potter," Malfoy said. "I would not usually—well." He waved a hand about absently. "You share a dormitory with my son, Draco, do you not?"
Harry nodded slowly.
"Yeah. Er, yes, I do," Harry said. "And we're in classes together, too."
"Yes, yes," said Malfoy. "Is he... What I mean to say is, have you perhaps noticed..." Malfoy paused and seemed to consider his next words carefully. "Tell him, if you would, that his mother and I expect him to respond to our next letter, and that we would very much like to speak with him after his next event."
"I—er, yeah, okay, Mr Malfoy," Harry said eventually. It wasn't a task he especially wanted to do, but with the elder Malfoy right in front of him asking, Harry couldn't exactly refuse. It wasn't too far out of his way to do it, anyway. Draco literally slept in the same room as Harry. "I'll let him know."
"Excellent." Malfoy turned to go, but then stopped. "Congratulations on your recent successes in the competition, Potter. You have some talent."
Then Malfoy left, leaving behind a very bewildered Harry. Once he'd recovered from the unexpected chat with Lucius Malfoy he turned to speak with Giovanna and Krum again, but they'd both gone. Harry didn't stick around for long after that and met up with his friends on their way back to the dungeons from the event.
"Lucius Malfoy just came up to me for a chat," Harry said quietly to Theodore as they walked with the rest of the group towards the Common Room. "He was—well to be honest he was quite weird. Asked me to ask Draco to answer his letters and to meet with him after the flying tomorrow afternoon. Did you notice Draco's been ignoring his dad after the events? Mr Malfoy didn't say, but I realised after the first round of the duelling."
Theodore shook his head.
"I hadn't. But I don't really pay attention to—er, you know what I'm like," he said. "But I did know Draco wasn't answering his parents' letters. Whenever he gets one he hides it in his trunk. My dad said to tell Draco to answer the letters, too. But Draco never listens to me."
"That's weird though, isn't it?" Harry said. "Draco loves his family. Er, I mean, obviously—people do, don't they—but Draco always writes home. He gets those sweet boxes and stuff from his mum all the time, doesn't he? So he's just been..."
"I suppose so," said Theodore. "He's been acting strange this year, though, hasn't he? And my dad said... well, he didn't really say, but whenever he went over to the Malfoys' house in the summer he came back and it was—well it was weird," Theodore said. "And he didn't want me going over to their house either."
"There must be something up if Lucius Malfoy asked me to say something," Harry said. Harry assumed it had something to do with Voldemort, who had fled with Wormtail at the end of the previous school year. Neither Voldemort nor his lackey had been sighted since, as far as Harry knew, but the Malfoys' strange behaviour coinciding with Voldemort's flight felt more than a little suspicious.
And given Theodore's news on his own father – and the rumours that had surrounded Sinistrus Nott – Harry thought Voldemort's involvement likely. And even if Voldemort himself wasn't involved, whatever was going on with the Malfoys, something which Sinistrus Nott clearly knew about if he'd been asking Theodore to make Draco respond to his parents, couldn't be anything good.
"Probably," agreed Theodore. He changed the subject. "You did well in the flying, by the way. I thought you were going to come third after—well, you know, that Giovanna girl. But you did really well."
"I was a bit worried about that, too," Harry said. "She's good. But over those longer stretches…" By then they'd made it back to the Common Room, and Harry wanted to discharge his duty to the elder Malfoy as quickly as possible, so left the group in search of Draco.
Harry scanned the Common Room for the other boy but didn't find him anywhere – not sat with Pansy and the others in his little group, or with Montague or anyone else in the Common Room – so went back to the dormitory to see if he'd gone there.
The dormitory was empty except for Vince's cat, which slept curled up amongst a pile of Vince's socks.
That means I'll have to ask Pansy, Harry thought. Harry returned to the Common Room where he stopped to ask his friends if they'd seen Draco, just in case they had just so he wouldn't have to ask Pansy.
"Anyone seen Draco?" Harry asked. "I've got something to tell him, that's all."
"Ask Pansy," suggested Millicent. "She usually knows."
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to," Harry said, but nobody else had any other suggestions so Harry crossed to where Pansy sat with Victoria Runcorn, Vince, and Greg to ask.
"Alright?" Harry asked, though he didn't pause for a response. "Pansy, have you seen Draco? His dad left me a message for him, nothing bad..."
Pansy turned to look up at Harry, regarding him with a wrinkled nose and a little frown.
"He's gone off to do duelling practise," Pansy said. "Because he's very dedicated to making good progress, unlike some people."
Harry fought the impulse to roll his eyes. As if he cared about anything Pansy had to say.
"He's only just left though, Harry," said Vince, "so you might be able to catch him if you hurry! He goes up on the seventh floor somewhere, don't know where exactly though."
"Nice one, Vince!" Harry said. "See you later."
Harry left without another word to Pansy. He couldn't be bothered, and he didn't feel like chasing Draco all the way up to the seventh floor unless he absolutely had to. He set off at a quick pace but didn't see Draco until he reached the top of the stairs to the seventh floor and saw the other Slytherin emerge from a hidden passage onto one of the lesser-used corridors.
Harry opened his mouth to shout to grab Draco's attention but decided not to when he realised Draco was sneaking – or trying to sneak, anyway – about. Instead, Harry hung back and followed Draco at a slower pace, curious to see just where the other boy was going to practise his duelling. Harry saw a handful of other students, mainly Gryffindors, as he attempted to casually walk along the seventh floor corridors without looking out of place, but fortunately none were anyone he'd have to stop and talk to.
Draco had led Harry to an area of the castle Harry never had to usually go. The only time he used the seventh floor was to go to lessons like Divination or Astronomy, and both of those were in different parts of the castle.
Draco came to a stop in a corridor with a tapestry depicting a wizard teaching trolls to dance. Harry ducked behind a statue of an elderly witch to watch. Draco looked around, clearly checking that nobody was watching – and utterly failing at being in any way sneaky given that he had yet to notice Harry and Harry could see exactly what he was doing – then started to pace along the corridor.
What are you up to, Draco? Harry thought as he watched Draco. Draco's actions appeared purposeful to Harry, and not at all like he was just wandering about the castle aimlessly. I wonder if there's another secret passage up here...
"Hey, Potter!" said a voice from behind him.
"Harry. What are you doing all the way up here?" said another.
Harry nearly jumped out of his skin but turned to face the owners of the voices and was met by two identical grinning ginger boys.
"I—er, alright?" Harry said. He glanced back at where Draco had been pacing, but the other Slytherin boy was gone.
Shit, Harry thought. Well, it wasn't a total loss – he knew Draco was up to something on the seventh floor, probably involving a secret passageway. And Harry still had the little passageway Draco had emerged from on the seventh floor to have a look at, so that was something for his troubles at least.
"So... what were you doing up here? Don't get many Slytherins this high up," said one of the twins – Harry thought it might have been George.
"I was just looking for someone," Harry said. "But it doesn't matter anymore, they'll be gone by now..."
"Oh yeah? Who?" asked the twin Harry thought was Fred.
"Doesn't really matter," Harry said. He didn't want to mention the Malfoys in front of the Weasley twins. From what Harry understood Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy had some sort of feud and he didn't want to get caught up in any drama surrounding it.
He had enough going on himself.
"If you say so," said George, although he didn't look especially convinced. "Anyway, we saw you and we wanted to say congratulations on the race today. Mustn't have been easy flying against Krum, but you came second anyway. So well done."
"Oh, er—thanks," Harry said. He was unsure how to respond until he remembered both of the twins had qualified for the standard speed racing, too – although their event wasn't until the next day. "Good luck with your first go at it tomorrow."
"Thanks for the advice," said Fred. "We're planning to smash it, obviously," he said, grinning.
After that Harry didn't know what more he could say, but both Weasleys just stood there, arms crossed, silently watching him.
"Right, well... er... I'd better get going back to the Common Room," Harry said eventually. "It was, er, nice chatting with you," he said.
"Yeah, you too," said George.
"Be seeing you," said Fred.
Harry slipped away back towards the direction of the staircase, and the secret passageway Draco had used to get to the seventh floor. He looked back to check whether the twins were still watching, but they'd gone, so Harry felt safe enough to look for the entrance to the hidden passage. Harry checked behind several thin tapestries but found nothing until he came to a false wall at the back of an alcove next to a portrait of an obscenely fat wizard.
Harry pushed at the wall gently to try to open the passage, but nothing happened. Next, Harry tapped at it with his wand, but it still wouldn't budge.
If it's a password I'm out of luck, Harry thought. He could spend all day guessing and never find the right word. But Draco had obviously figured out how the passage worked, so it couldn't be that difficult...
"Open!" Harry said to the wall, and it did. The panels of thin stone slide apart from one another to reveal a narrow passage that led downwards. Harry stepped inside and the wall closed behind him, leaving him in darkness.
"Lumos," said Harry. He used the light from the end of his wand to guide himself through the passageway which had an opening onto the sixth floor, but which also continued going down through the castle. Harry followed it right to the end where he emerged in the dungeons not too far from the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room.
Harry hadn't quite managed what he'd set out to do, but he had at least discovered that Draco was up to something on the seventh floor involving at least one hidden passage and possibly even some sort of secret room, too. Harry nipped back into the Slytherin Common Room and sat down amongst his friends.
Harry kept a look out for Draco for the rest of the afternoon, but as Draco skipped dinner, Harry had to wait until long after while all five boys in the dormitory were getting ready for bed.
Harry waited until it was just him and Draco in the bathroom cleaning their teeth to broach the topic.
"You did well in the race today, Draco," Harry said. "I wanted to say so earlier—after the race I mean—but you went really quickly."
"Thanks," said Draco.
Draco didn't say anything more, so Harry pressed on.
"I saw your dad after the race today," said Harry in what he hoped was a casual and conversational kind of tone. "You'd already gone, so you only just missed him."
Draco just shrugged, so Harry continued.
"He, er... well he told me he wants you to answer his letters," Harry said. This wasn't the sort of conversation he wanted to have with Draco at all. He could have managed it with Theodore or Blaise, if either of their parents had asked him to, but Draco was difficult to deal with and they weren't especially close either. Still, Harry did think whatever was up with the Malfoys had something to do with Voldemort and Wormtail, so he felt like it was a thread worth pursuing. Draco's odd behaviour, coupled with the fact that Lucius Malfoy had approached Harry with this task rather than just owling Snape to arrange a parental visit, pointed to something stranger than normal family woes.
"I know it's none of my business," Harry said, "but he did ask me to say to you. And your dad said he wants you to go meet with him and your mum after your next event."
"You're right," said Draco, "it is none of your business."
"Yeah, well, it's not like I volunteered myself for the job, is it?" Harry said. "I don't give a shit whether you send letters to your parents, do I? But your dad asked me to tell you, so I told you." Harry shrugged. He'd finished cleaning his teeth, so he turned and left Draco alone in the bathroom, his job done.
Although Harry hadn't managed to get Draco to reconsider his stance on his parents – which, honestly, he didn't actually care about at all – he was now sure that something more unusual than the kind of ordinary teenage rebellion against one's parents was happening with Draco.
Harry just needed to figure out what.