Ch. 21: Detention
Harry and Ron were as thrilled about the detention as she had expected them to be. In fact, they were possibly even happier than she had hoped, because they even forgot to ask her where she got the information from, which was good. In her glee to share Malfoy's misery, Hermione didn't think what she would tell them about the reason for the detention.
She knew, of course, that Malfoy would spread the gossip about Shion to the best of his abilities and she was sure that he would insinuate that it was Mrs Phantomhive's curse that did the damage. Hermione shuddered at the thought that it might have been true because, she didn't even want to imagine how it would make Ciel and Nezumi feel. It was bad enough when she found out that their mother has been a Deatheater.
Rachel Phantomhive's true allegiance has been discovered during the summer, in consequence of the "nationwide Auror investigation". Those were the official words that shocked the wizarding community. Mrs Phantomhive was hardly a typical criminal, after all, with her gentle smile and caring eyes. According to the short note in the Daily Prophet, the day after her trial, she admitted to all the charges, claiming that she had done it for her family who would otherwise be brutally pursued by Voldemort for refusing to serve him.
Hermione wanted to believe her. The "investigation" produced astounding results and Phantomhive's trial was drowned in similar news that appeared in the Daily Prophet daily for a better part of July. On the plus side, at least for Ciel, Nezumi and their father, that meant that many people barely noticed their sudden connection to Voldemort. Nearly one fourth of the pure-blood wizards was convicted and thrown into Azkaban for life, to make an example and a warning for the rest. Hermione wanted to think that not all those who carried the Dark Mark were evil.
Now, however, thanks to Malfoy's insinuations, the whole school would be forced to remember about Mrs Phantomhive and Hermione was sure that Malfoy would not portray her as a nice person in his stories. Still, she didn't want to be the one to add to the spreading of the gossip. She was grateful for her luck when managed to avoid telling Harry and Ron, although only because they immediately went on to the other sixth year Gryffindors, to tell them the good news.
Malfoy, on the other hand, didn't waste time. Hermione found that out already the day after the incident in the library, when she was having lunch, together with Harry and Ron. Ginny rushed up to them, eyes wide and panting from the run.
'You will never guess what I heard,' she exclaimed, getting the attention of not only Hermione, Harry and Ron, but also a bunch of other Gryffindors. She didn't seem to mind and, with a sinking feeling, Hermione realised what she was going to say.
'We will not, so just spill it,' Ron said when Ginny didn't continue immediately. His sister rolled her pretty eyes at him and looked at her audience, positively glowing with the importance of the news she carried. Hermione wished that she never had her conversation with Shion the day before.
'I heard the Slytherins whisper before the lesson today,' she started, ignoring somebody's biting comment about Slytherins. 'Apparently they have figured out what happened to Shion Allen,' she exclaimed and all eyes, except for Hermione's were on her. Hermione looked at her plate, feeling guilty. I have figured that out, she thought.
'Well what?' Dean Thomas asked when Ginny made another theatrical pause. She was obviously enjoying being the centre of attention.
'They called it the "entrance curse",' she said and it was obvious that she didn't know what it was, but the sixth-years gasped collectively. Hermione pursed her lips. 'But that's not all because you will never guess who cast it in the first place: Mrs Phantomhive.'
'No,' Lavender Brown exclaimed, her eyes so wide that Hermione thought they might jump out of her head any moment. Somebody murmured that they remembered her being found to be the follower of You-Know-Who. Somebody else wondered if this could have been true if Shion was friends with the Phantomhive twins. A wave of whispers rolled along the Gryffindor table.
'Hermione, what if they are Deatheaters?' Ron asked worriedly, looking at Hermione after a moment of listening to the theories that popped up like mushroom after the rain, all around them. She looked at him incredulously. 'The Phantomhive twins I mean,' he explained, probably mistaking her expression. 'You shouldn't hang out with them.'
'Do I need to remind you again how that stupid "investigation" looked like in the summer?' she asked rhetorically. Everybody knew that all the pure-blood wizards, even the Weasleys, who were outraged at the injustice of it all, were forced to go to the Ministry of Magic at their appointed time and date and, in the presence of the Minister, a judge, three witnesses and a bunch of Aurors, roll up their left sleeve. In case of doubt, the Aurors cast revealing charms and cancelling charms to ensure that there really was no tattoo. Should anybody be proven guilty of being a Deatheater, they were immediately seized and carted off to Azkaban, to await their trial.
Even Ginny had to live through that and she had told Hermione that it has really been quite an embarrassing procedure, especially when she knew that no one of her family was a Voldemort follower. She had said she had felt a little bit sorry for those who didn't have that kind of security in the face of the unforgiving Aurors. The idea of discovering that either of her parents were Deatheaters in this kind of circumstances sent chills down Hermione's spine. She felt honestly sorry for all the students who had to learn the truth like that.
'You can hardly call it a stupid investigation, Hermione,' Harry said quietly. 'It did reveal many Deatheaters that would otherwise remain hidden,' he pointed out and Hermione really couldn't argue. It had worked splendidly, it had surpassed all expectations. It terrified Hermione when she thought about the scale of Voldemort's popularity. However, at the shy questions about the allegiance of half-blood and Muggle born wizards, the Ministry insisted that Voldemort would never welcome those in his ranks.
'Yeah, but Ron should know that, after that "investigation", it's impossible that any of the students at Hogwarts are Deatheaters, so he could restrain himself from such idiotic comments,' she replied through gritted teeth. She noticed Harry kick Ron under the table, after which Ron apologised and said that he forgot about that little fact.
'I'd still keep away from them if I was you,' he added almost immediately after, destroying his own effort. Ginny hid her face in her hands. 'They could be sympathetic to You-Know-Who's cause, like Malfoy is.'
'And that's why they are best friends with Muggle born students?' Hermione asked coldly. 'I can't believe you are saying that,' she added, but Ron wasn't the only one who seemed to think like that. As she listened to the conversations that started around, she could hear that many students wondered about the sympathies of the Phantomhive twins and whether all the Slytherins were as evil as them.
Hermione looked to the Slytherin table, where the twins were sitting, having lunch together with Safu, Shion and Elizabeth. They were seemingly ignoring the glances, glares and whispers that surrounded them, chatting about something like they would on any normal day, although Hermione noticed that they didn't quite laugh as much as usual. She wondered again if it was true what Malfoy so quickly deduced the previous day and whether she would ever find the guts to ask.
'Hey, Hermione, you said that Malfoy was in detention this weekend,' Harry started suddenly, making her look back at him. 'You never said what for,' he pointed out.
'Malfoy's in detention this weekend?' Lavender, the biggest gossip of Gryffindor, who had dutifully carried on the story of Hermione's New Year's party a couple of months earlier, asked looking interested. Hermione grinned.
'Yup, he's going be shovelling dung for Hagrid the whole weekend,' she said, not caring that it wasn't exactly true. The ones who heard it, laughed, and the gossip travelled onwards along the table. Take that Malfoy, Hermione thought with grim satisfaction. It wasn't much, but it was the least she could do.
'You still never said why,' Harry insisted. With a sigh, Hermione looked at him and Ron and Ginny. She was on the verge of asking if they would keep the secret, but then decided against it and simply said that he attacked another student in the library and he got caught by Professor Kruspe. It seemed to be enough for them.
She ate the dinner at the Slytherin table, together with her "study group", in a wordless show of support for them. They made fun of her, as she sat down, for losing her resolve to not eat at this particular table again and she countered that it was not her fault for their bad choice of décor for a meal. Afterwards, the conversation resumed, with Lizzy telling them about some accident on the Herbology lesson the previous day, Safu butting in with comments every couple of words. They didn't make a single comment about the encounter with Malfoy or the gossip it resulted with and they didn't utter any thanks for her support, but she could see it in their faces and it was enough.
All in all, she discovered, it wasn't that hard to ignore the unfriendly whispers and covert glances. She kept that in mind for the next time that the school would turn against Harry.
In the evening, Harry and Ron got an idea to visit Hagrid during the weekend and make fun of Malfoy. As much as Hermione wanted to make the Slytherin miserable, she didn't think that Professor Kruspe would be impressed if she showed up there. After all, he knew that she knew about the detention and he would probably immediately assume that she came to gloat.
Rather than that, she wanted to warn the teacher about Hagrid's peculiar attitude towards dangerous creatures. However, Ron and Harry informed her that Hagrid has told them that he had talked a couple of times with Professor Kruspe, who seemed to be very interested in dragons. She was surprised that she had never heard about that, until Harry reminded her that she had spent a better part of December ignoring them.
Unhappy about being reminded of those days, Hermione still made a point of telling Harry and Ron that going to see this detention would have similar conclusion as their shower stunt: it would be a disaster. She said that she didn't think Professor Kruspe would be impressed by their attitude and they had really no ways of concealing their presence. They agreed grudgingly, complaining about the missing Invisibility Cloak.
'McGonagall said that I would be getting it when I graduate from Hogwarts,' Harry told her when she gathered the courage to ask. 'She said that Dumbledore made a grave mistake of simply giving it to me without explaining the moral limitations and such stuff,' he added with resignation.
'I still think that she had no right to take it,' Ron grumbled and Hermione decided, for the sake of having a nice evening, to not say anything. 'We cannot do anything without it. We cannot get anywhere close to Malfoy to figure out what he is plotting.'
'Yeah, about that,' Harry interjected and Hermione allowed herself a mental curse. 'Did you have time to ask the Phantomhives about Malfoy's plans? After these revelations from today I imagine that the Slytherins should all be pretty familiar with the House Curses,' he added and Hermione shivered.
'I wonder if the Slytherins forced Allen to keep it quiet, you know,' Ron suggested suddenly. 'Maybe that's why they hang out with him? To know that he doesn't tell anymore the truth,' he added.
'Ron, it's the Slytherins that leaked the information,' Harry pointed out.
'You guys,' Hermione whined. 'I've been hearing about that for the whole afternoon. Can we talk about anything else?' she asked. 'I haven't had time to ask the twins, I'll try to do that this weekend when we'll be studying,' she added.