It was Saturday again, a Hogsmeade visit day. Harry had decided to visit Hagrid before he headed into the village. Hagrid always managed to make him feel better.
Harry trudged through the snow down to Hagrid's cabin, listening to the playful shouts of the younger students as they threw snowballs and forgot their troubles. He smiled wistfully. Oh, to be carefree.
Fang's booming barks greeted him as Harry pounded on Hagrid's door. It swung open to reveal Hagrid peering out. His face split into a huge grin when he saw who it was.
"Harry! I' bin worried 'bout yeh. Though' you mighta forgot about me." Hagrid pulled him in for a (quite literally) crushing hug.
"Cuppa tea, Harry?"
"Sure." Harry sat in a chair that was rather too large for him and stroked Fang's ears while his head rested, drooling, on Harry's leg. Hagrid served him a plate of biscuits that were hard enough that Harry suspected they were the same ones he had been served five years earlier. He smiled again, this time at Hagrid's consistency, and for a while, he, too, forgot his troubles.
"Come visit again soon, Harry!" Hagrid shouted as Harry made his way towards Hogsmeade. He waved back at the half-giant.
A few minutes of walking had him nearing the edge of the magical village. He could see other students as they made their way around the shops and pubs. They all seemed to be as joyful and careless as the younger ones.
As he was walking down the only main street in the village, he saw a familiar blond head near the Three Broomsticks. His mind flashed back to last night's message, and the encounter after.
Malfoy was walking hunched over, as though he didn't want to be recognized, and glanced behind him before quickly ducking into the pub. Odd.
Harry quickened his pace and a minute later, he stepped into the warmth of the popular gathering place. He saw no sign of Malfoy. Peering through the crowd, he did see Ron's red hair over the other heads. He made his way over to the table. As he approached, he caught what seemed to be the tail end of an argument.
"Honestly, Ronald. They're only holding hands," Hermione said, then glanced toward the corner. "...and snogging."
Harry peered into the corner and saw Ginny sitting with Dean Thomas–so it was Thomas, after all, Harry thought. He resolved not to look at that particular corner of the room again, although it was clearly agitating Ron.
Hermione sighed. "What if Ginny came in here and saw you and I snogging, Ron? Would you expect her to leave?"
Ron didn't say anything, but his ears started to turn pink.
"Anyways. Hello, Harry. How was Hagrid?"
"Um, good. Did either of you happen to see Malfoy stepping in?"
Hermione and Ron shared a look. "No, Harry."
"I saw him duck in here not a minute ago. I wonder what he's up to..."
Hermione slid an extra mug of butterbeer across the table to Harry. "Well, Harry, it's sure to be a part of his devious plan to get warm. It's wretchedly cold out there, in case you were unaware. I don't know what we'd do without Madam Rosmerta's butterbeer."
Harry wrapped his hands around the warm glass mug and took a long pull. Delicious as always. "Yes, but he looked suspicious. Like he was afraid of being followed."
Just then, Harry felt a hand fall on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Professor Slughorn standing behind him.
"Harry, m'lad! Wonderful to see you here."
"Erm, likewise, professor," Harry said.
"I say," Slughorn paused to burp, "Next Saturday, I'm throwing a small get-together–just for a select few individuals, you see–and I'd be delighted if you would come."
"Of course, Professor Slughorn."
"Hermione, m'dear, of course you're invited as well," Slughorn said happily. "And you can bring someone along, if you'd like."
"I'm sure it'll be a riot," Hermione responded, with a hint of irony too subtle for Slughorn to catch in his slightly inebriated state.
"Excellent. Excellent. Oh, and nice to see you, Wollsby," he said to Ron. "Good day, then."
"Goodbye, professor," said Hermione.
"What's that all about, then?" Ron asked.
"Dumbledore told me that Slughorn used to befriend the students he thought would make it big after they graduated. Apparently he makes a lot of connections that way," Harry said.
"Why didn't he invite me, then?" Ron asked angrily.
"Ron..." Hermione started.
"Whatever. I wouldn't want to go to one of his stupid parties anyways."
"Well, I was going to invite you to go with me, but if that's how you feel." Hermione ignored the look on Ron's face. "Perhaps I'll invite Cormac."
That was a low blow, Harry thought as Ron's expression immediately changed to one of stony, determined indifference.
"Are we all finished with our butterbeers, then?" Hermione asked, once again ignoring Ron's expression.
"Yeah," said Harry. After taking one last look around for Malfoy, he continued. "We might as well head back up to the castle."
They emerged from the pub behind a pair of students also heading back to the castle. The snow obscured the figures ahead, but the wind whipped bits of their conversation back into Harry's ears.
"Katie, what... don't you think... stupid!... Katie, please..."
Through the snow, they could make out the figures as they appeared to shout back and forth. One of them reached over to the other and attempted to rip something out of her hands.
Suddenly, the girl holding the object began to shriek. She rose in the air gracefully, but her eyes were rolling back and the howl coming from her mouth was unearthly. The other girl was tugging at her legs, trying to bring her back to the ground. Harry and the others ran forward and saw that it was Katie Bell hanging midair.
"What happened?" Harry shouted.
"I don't know, I don't know!" the girl sobbed. "Katie! Katie, please!"
"Harry, go get help!" Hermione said. "I"ll try to get her down!"
Harry took off towards the castle in a sprint. The flying snow made visibility not more than ten yards. Suddenly, a giant figure coalesced among the flakes. Harry ran headlong into the dark shape.
"Whoa, there, Harry. Watch where yeh're goin'."
"Hagrid! Hagrid, please, we need your help! Katie's been cursed or something." Tugging on Hagrid's massive hand, Harry began running back towards the group. One second he was pulling Hagrid along and the next his feet stopped making contact with the frozen earth. Harry realized Hagrid had picked him up and was now running at a terrifying pace towards Hogsmeade.
"There!" Harry shouted.
Katie laid in a sprawl on the snow. Her friend was sobbing uncontrollably next to her. Hagrid set Harry down and gently lifted Katie up and cradled her in his arms. "What done this to 'er?" he asked.
"That," Hermione said, pointing at the ripped package on the ground. On it lay an opal necklace.
"Bring it t' the castle, but don' you dare touch it!" Hagrid said, before beginning a trot that could have outpaced a flying Thestral.
Harry reached down and gingerly grasped the necklace, using the package as insulation. He wrapped it up tightly and clenched it in his fist. "Let's go."
After ten minutes or more in the whirling snow, the group managed to get back inside the castle. They hurried to the infirmary, where Hagrid was waiting with Filch.
"She's alive. But she'll have t' go ter St Mungo's," said Hagrid.
"Where's the necklace?" Filch demanded.
"Here." Harry brandished the package. "Don't touch it."
"Do you think I'm stupid, Potter? Heh?" Filch glared at Harry before continuing. "I'll get this to Professor Snape straightaway for his inspection."
"Snape?" Harry asked. "Why Snape?"
"Because Professor Snape is the premier source of knowledge of the Dark Arts in this school, Potter." Filch shuffled off, muttering to himself.
Harry turned to Leanne, Katie's friend. "Where did she get that necklace?"
"Um, I... I think it was in the bathroom. She came back acting all funny. Distant and eyes kind of glazed. And she was holding that package."
"Harry, that sounds like she was under the Imperius Curse," Hermione observed.
Harry clenched his fists tightly. "This was Malfoy. I know it. I saw him sneaking into the Three Broomsticks before I went in. That would have given him time to go... hide in the bathroom."
Harry gained momentum as he spoke. "He waited in the bathroom for a student to enter. When Katie went in, he Imperiused her. Then he gave her the package and told her to take it to the castle... so she could..."
"Yes?" Hermione asked coolly.
"...give it to Dumbledore!" Harry finished triumphantly. "It makes sense! He wouldn't suspect a package given to him by Katie. He'd have opened it and touched the necklace."
"But Harry, according to your theory, Malfoy has been trying to kill Dumbledore. Katie isn't dead."
Leanne piped up. "Katie was wearing gloves when it happened... I think it only touched a tiny part of her hand."
"Yes!" Harry said. "Because it was such a small contact, the necklace wasn't able to kill her."
"And now," he continued, "I need to go find Malfoy."