Chapter 7: Among Eyes and Ears
Annoyed, I leave the Great Hall. The prank Fred, Roxanne and Louis played is not even that funny. I would have added something more.
"Mr. Potter!" A gruff voice says behind me just as I'm about to ascend the grand marble staircase.
I turn around and see Professor Popov standing there.
"Professor," I say, turning around, facing him.
"I need to speak to you," Popov says, walking over to me.
"Then say what you have to say," I say warily. For some reason I do not trust him. Dad always said to trust your instincts, and my instincts are telling me that Popov is hiding something.
"Not here, ze valls have ears," Popov says, looking around.
"And eyes. Dad always told me to never talk to strangers where there are no eyes and ears," I say. It sounds childish, even in my ears, but something tells me I should not be alone with Popov.
Popov looks at me strangely before he approaches even closer.
"I know vat happened to your father," Popov says in a soft voice.
"Then perhaps you want to tell that story where there are eyes and ears?" a second voice asks from behind Popov.
Popov turns around so quickly that it amazes me that he didn't crack his neck. I look over his shoulder and see Professor Zabini standing there. She has just exited the Great Hall.
"Vat happened to Harry Potter is none of your business, Zabini," Popov says irritably.
"You'll find that it is my business!" Zabini says dangerously, straightening her back and glaring at Popov.
Zabini continues talking before Popov has a chance to react. "I might not have counted myself among Harry's friends, in fact, I counted myself among his enemies if truth be told. But you know what? When it came down to it, Harry forgave me and gave me a second chance. It is thanks to Harry that I have a job here. There are many others like me, who might not count themselves as Harry's friends, but respect and love him nonetheless. Yes, love, Mr. Popov," Zabini says, approaching Popov.
Popov takes a step back as though slapped.
"Harry Potter might have been famous for defeating some dark wizard and other stuff he has done, but that didn't make many people respect and love him. Harry was loyal, kind, noble to a fault, and he even had a sense of humour. Harry always fought for what was right. He might not always have been successful, but when he fought and lost, he had given everything. It was mostly thanks to some corrupt politician that he lost, my father among them. So yes, Mr. Popov, why don't you tell us among eyes and ears what happened to Harry Potter?" Zabini says. She now stands toe to toe with Popov.
"I have a lesson to prepare," Popov says before turning around and going up the stairs.
"So it is you who killed Harry Potter? Is that it Mr. Popov? Were you trying to get young Mr. Potter here alone to finish the job?" Zabini shouts when Popov is halfway up the stairs.
Popov stands stock still, slowly turning around to face Zabini again, looking past me.
"You don't even deny it!" Zabini says, narrowing her eyes.
"I did not kill Harry Potter!" Popov says harshly before he storms up the stairs and out of sight.
"Be wary of that man, Potter," Zabini says to me before she descends towards the dungeons.
"Well, that certainly gives food for thought," a voice says from beside me. It is only then that I notice a small crowd gathered in the Entrance Hall. Lysander looks towards the giant staircase and the dungeons, shakes his head and walks away. Slowly I shake myself free from the shock of the last couple of minutes. Lysander is right. This certainly gives food for thought.
~O~
"Well, that could have gone better," Lily says as Albus, Lily and I walk back from the first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Griffyndor just suffered its worst defeat in the last decade. Both Lily and I had resigned from the team at the beginning of the year, and only Albus still flew of the Potters. But he flew so badly that I heard Fred, the new Quidditch Captain, discuss replacing him.
"No need to rub it in!" Albus says, annoyed.
"You will do better next time, I'm sure," I say reassuringly.
"No I won't, I resigned from the team," Albus says glumly as we arrive at the Fat Lady.
"Well, there goes any chance we have this year for the Quidditch Cup," Lily says scathingly before she enters through the portrait hole.
"What is wrong with her?" I ask, perplexed. Normally Lily would be the first to try and comfort Albus.
"Lily still has a rough time of it, and she is not the only one," Albus says, shaking his head, and he too enters the Common Room.
I follow Albus through and find the Common Room unusually quiet. Everyone is still down from the defeat in Quidditch.
I go and sit down in my usual chair in the corner and look around the Common Room. Scorpius, as is usual these days, sits near Lily, who is sitting near her room mates but isn't participating in their conversation. Instead she is looking solemnly out of the window.
Albus is sitting alone in a corner, pulling a lot of parchment out of his bag, and by the looks of it getting ready to do homework.
Lysander sits down in a chair near me. He doesn't seem to have noticed me as he grabs a 'mobile mirror' from his pocket. A mobile mirror is an old invention from George. It works like a sort of 'telephone' as Rose would call it.
"What is it, Lorcan?" Lysander says into the mirror, telling me that Lysander is speaking to Lorcan. Using the mobile mirrors is one of the ways the twins keep in contact while in different Houses. I stand up to leave Lysander alone when his next sentence stops me short.
"What about Lily?" Lysander asks.
I stop and look back towards Lysander, he still does not notice me. Unconsciously I walk closer to Lysander to try to catch what Lorcan is saying, but I'm not successful.
"As usual you are just seeing things, everything is going right," Lysander says.
'Everything is going right?' I ask myself, are the twins up to something?
"Relax, Lorcan. Everything will work out," Lysander says soothingly.
Now I'm growing suspicious. Are they still talking about Lily? And what will work out?
"Don't worry about the Elder Wand, I got it all under control," Lysander says.
And that is when I have heard enough. It all makes sense to me now: Lorcan's and Lysander's sudden interest in the Elder Wand, them showing up in all places. They are after the Elder Wand, and they want somehow to use Lily to get it. I roughly hit Lysander on the shoulder to get his attention.
"True, hang on. It looks like James wants to talk to me, I'll contact you again," Lysander says into the mirror before turning to me.
"You and Lorcan stay away from Lily, all right?" I say roughly.
Lysander looks at me confused.
"Don't play dumb, Lysander! Whatever you are planning, it is not going to work! If you harm one hair on Lily's head, you will have to deal with me!" I say threateningly before turning away, leaving a very confused looking Lysander behind.
I storm up the stairs to the boys' dormitories and take out the Marauders Map, as I'm used to doing every single day since term started.
First I locate Albus. He is still sitting in the Common Room. Lily is now sitting alone with Scorpius in a corner. It is not uncommon these days to see them together. I can imagine now how Albus will be throwing venomous looks towards the pair. I don't really mind it. It just means that Lily is moving on. I can always keep an eye on her by using the map.
Looking at the map, I see Albus standing up and walking towards Lily and Scorpius. That is a first. I quickly go back to the Common Room to intervene if necessary.
I come down just in time to hear Albus shout, "Malfoy!".
"Yes, Potter?" Scorpius asks coldly.
I still don't know what happened between Albus and Scorpius. It seems their friendship really has been destroyed beyond repair.
"I thought I told you to stay away from my family!" Albus says harshly.
"Well, I think your family can make their own decisions, Potter!" Scorpius says, crossing his arms.
"That is enough, Scorp. I will handle my brother!" Lily says dangerously. I recognise that tone, it means that Albus is very close to getting hexed. But it seems that my brother does not see the danger.
"I told you before, Lily, Malfoy is evil! He will use you for his own means sooner or later. He will do nothing but lie to you!" Albus says.
"I can take care of myself, Albus! If I choose to hang out with Scorpius, there is nothing you can do about it!" Lily says, fingering her wand. This is where I choose to intervene, before we have to send Albus to the hospital wing in pieces.
"Okay, that is enough!" I say loudly.
"Stay out of this, James!" Lily says hotly, rounding on me.
I open my mouth to say something, but Lily grabs Scorpius by the hand and drags him towards the portrait hole.
"Come on, Scorp, let's leave these Neanderthals to themselves!" Lily says loudly before she disappears through the portrait hole, Scorpius following her.
"Great going, James!" Albus says, rounding on me and storming up the boys' staircase.
"I don't think I'm the one you have to keep away from Lily," Lysander says from beside me, before he too goes up the boys' staircase.
I stand there in the middle of the Common Room, wondering how everything is suddenly my fault.
~O~
"James," Professor Longbottom says from behind me while I'm sitting at breakfast the following day.
"Professor," I say, acknowledging him.
"I heard from Professor Boot that Professor Popov has been giving you and your siblings a lot of detentions this term," Longbottom says.
"You never approved them, so we never went," I say, not looking up.
"I just heard about it," Longbottom says crossly.
"Well, then there isn't a problem, is there?" I ask innocently. It is true that Popov has been trying to get Albus, Lily and me in detention, but I have been taking Zabini's warning to heart. It is only thanks to a new Hogwarts rule that every detention has to be approved by your head of house that we have been able to keep away from the 'detentions'.
"I know you aren't in his lessons, James, but did you, Lily, or you, Albus, give him any trouble?" Longbottom asks, looking from Albus to Lily who are sitting next to me.
"As long as the detentions are not approved by you we don't have to go," I say.
"True, so I can assume that everything is as it should be between the three of you and Professor Popov. That there is nothing I should know about, since I never received any paperwork concerning any detentions," Longbottom says shrewdly.
"That is correct, there is no trouble," Albus says quickly.
"Look," Longbottom says, lowering his voice. "There is something odd about Professor Popov. I had to find out from another professor that something was even going on. Just be careful around him, okay?" Longbottom says softly, before he straightens himself and moves off.
"Well, he didn't tell us anything we didn't know already, right?" I ask wonderingly.
"Honestly, James, you sometimes can be very blind!" Albus says hotly, before he stands up and leaves the Great Hall.
I look after Albus, wondering what the hell he is on about. I look at Lily and see that she is following Albus with narrowed eyes. I think it is official now. The world has gone crazy.