Disclaimer: view Chapter 01 for that one
Author's Notes: See Chapter Seven ^_^.
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~...~ = Parseltongue
/.../ = Telepathy between Harry & Carya (in italics)
' ... ' = thoughts
~*~*~ ... ~*~*~ = Flashback or changing POV
Chapter 13 - Cat's Story and Ron Returns or Talks and Survival Class
The friends once again vanished towards the Founder's Chambers and discussed their plans for the next weeks. Somehow they started talking about the relationship of Snape and Karkaroff.
"I wonder what Karkaroff is so afraid about? Do you know what he and Snape have in common Draco? I mean, he is your godfather even if it doesn't seem that way right now," Harry asked carefully as not to hurt his adopted brother's feelings.
"Yeah, I think I know what this was about. You two have told us about the Dark Lord, right? Okay, okay, but I just can't say his name ... Well, anyway. When ..." Draco said but Carya interrupted him.
"Hey Draco, just call him Voldie. Makes it a bit easier, don't you think?" she threw in and Draco choked.
"What did you call him? You're joking, right?" Tom asked shocked but knew she was dead serious about it.
"Alright, when 'Voldie' is really coming back then you two and his Death Eaters are the first to notice it. Each of them has a tattoo on their left forearms that connects them to the Dark Lord. The nearer he is or the more powerful he becomes the more it will become visible.
I know that Lucius' was almost gone when you kicked Voldie's ass nearly fourteen years ago. But I'm sure it's starting to come back now," Draco told them.
"Are you saying that Snape's a Death Eater?" asked Hermione frightened.
"Uhm, yeah, I think so. But something's wrong. I doubt that Dumbledore's stupid enough to hire a loyal Death Eater, ..." the Malfoy boy started but one raised eyebrow silenced his train of thought.
"And what about Quirrell?" Ginny asked, "He was loyal and yet, Dumbledore still let him teach. The old man might know most things that go on in this castle but he's not omniscient!"
"Right, and don't forget that Moody's not one hundred percent clean too. We'll only find out once it's too late, like with Quirrell but that should not be our immediate problem. In a few weeks I'll have to keep my temper in check more than ever.
That'll be when Weasel's coming back from suspension. You'll help me not to kill him once I see him, okay?" Carya asked almost pleading.
"Yeah, we'll help you. Back to the topic. I think we should just watch Snape and look for changes in behaviour. That's the only thing we can do," Harry added.
Their last free day was quite uneventful. The children mostly slept in and then enjoyed the last day before the new term started. The guests from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had stopped criticising everything around Hogwarts and had become quite comfortable at the school.
Viktor and his fellow champion were often found in the library while Fleur and Armand mostly sat with their new Ravenclaw friends. The 'Slytherin Six' were rarely seen at all during the weekends and during the week you would find them either in class or in the library if they could be found at all.
The Champions had been trying to find out whether or not their opponents had figured out the golden egg. The first day of the new term would bring a new shock for the twins. Rita Skeeter seemed to have found out about the Yule Ball and wrote about it.
It was disgusting what she assumed in there. Carya was accused of toying with the hearts of the boys she had been dancing with and she even attacked Draco for being with Ginny. Although no one understood a word of what she was saying.
Draco had enough money to provide everything for himself and Ginny's father wasn't that high in the ministry to bring Draco any advantages at all. It was said that the six of them were always together and that there probably was no doubt that they practised the Dark Arts together.
Thankfully Tom's name wasn't mentioned in there. Skeeter was still going on about the twins living with a former escaped convict and a fully grown werewolf. All in all it was nothing new but Skeeter had somehow found out that Ron had been suspended from school.
Though no one had told her why she made assumptions about it as well since Ginny was one of the twins friends. Skeeter seemed to think it was some kind of plot to keep Ron out of their business. Once the readers in Hogwarts reached that part they knew the reporter had probably made up the whole article.
Everyone in the school knew why Ronald Weasley had been suspended and no one had told the slimy woman. Once again the whole attention was on the six friends who sat frowning at the Slytherin table. Nothing happened though since they were only glaring daggers at the newspaper.
The friends discussed everything on their way towards Transfiguration.
"How could she know about the dance? She's banned from the grounds. Dumbledore would know if she was here. And I'm pretty sure that Moody can look through invisibility cloaks with that magical eye," Carya growled.
"No idea but you have a point. She couldn't have done that. Perhaps she had been disguised? But that seems unlikely because the headmaster would have known that someone was there who wasn't a student or teacher," Draco said in thought.
"Or maybe ... hell, if that what I think is true then we have a chance on getting back at her," whispered Hermione, "We'll meet after class in our usual spot, okay?"
The other's agreed an they headed towards their classrooms. Hermione ran towards the dungeons for her Potions class with the Hufflepuff's. They met again before Charms and once again thought about the second task.
The next Hogsmeade weekend was now scheduled and they would most likely be able to go to 'Diagon Alley' if they were very careful. It would have to happen on the 12th of February. That gave them enough time to order it by owl if they couldn't get away.
In the afternoon Hermione told them what she'd figured out so far.
"Listen, we know she couldn't get in as herself or in disguise because Dumbledore would've known and found her. Moody would rule out the invisibility cloak too. She either has a spy in Hogwarts but that's unlikely because there are too many details from various events or she's an Animagus.
I know that she certainly isn't registered as one because I looked it up before Charms. Ernie 's cauldron exploded and Snape threw us out early," Hermione explained when they'd looked at her questioningly.
"Hm, now we have to find out if we have seen someone or something at all those places. Or we wait for an opportunity to act a bit and give her something to write about," Ginny suggested.
They all agreed to that and carefully observed their surroundings since then. Classes were going nicely and no Champion gave any indication that they had figured out the second task. This had the different teachers a bit worried because the task was difficult after all.
On Monday, January 9th Ron Weasley returned to Hogwarts. He had missed many assignments and the teachers were sure he would fail during the exams. The boy was very pale and didn't talk to anyone aside from Lavender.
He didn't look at the 'Slytherin Six' either and avoided the Gryffindors too. The next day Carya received a letter from Molly Weasley. She didn't read it until the late afternoon when the friends were once again hidden in the 'Founder's Chambers'.
The woman once again told her how sorry she was that Ron had done such a thing but she also told her that she had made sure the boy regretted his actions thoroughly. Carya didn't want to imagine what someone like Molly would do.
Somehow Carya didn't feel like retaliating anymore. She decided to ignore the Gryffindor and her friends agreed to that unless Ron started acting like before the whole incident. That didn't happen though.
During dinner Carya received a note from the headmaster to meet him in his office after she had finished eating. Tom wanted to accompany her but she refused at first. He finally persuaded her and she hoped Dumbledore wouldn't mind.
She didn't see the amused smile on the headmasters face about this argument. Albus had already suspected that Tom would want to go with the girl. He seemed to be overly protective of Carya.
When Carya told her friends about that they wanted to go too but the Potter girl made clear that the headmaster had only requested her presence. She and Tom walked towards the stone gargoyle when they had finished eating.
It sprang aside immediately and the two kids wondered why but their musing were interrupted when they reached the door to Dumbledore's office.
"Come in," he said from the other side before they had the chance to knock.
The two children entered the office and were surprised to find the heads of Slytherin and Gryffindor sitting in front of the headmaster.
"Uh, sorry headmaster but would it be alright if Tom stayed here with me?" Carya asked a little unsure of the situation.
"He may stay, Miss Potter. I'm sure you are wondering why I asked you here, aren't you?" Albus inquired and Carya nodded.
"We asked you here because of Ronald Weasley's return to Hogwarts," said Snape matter of factly.
"Oh, eh ... and what about that?" she wanted to know.
"What do you think about him and how do you feel when you're near him or imagine being alone in a corridor with him?" added McGonagall.
Carya thought about that for a moment which was considered a good thing by the professors, "I honestly don't know what I'd do if I were to meet him alone which is, I might add, highly unlikely but possible.
I know I'm still angry at him for causing that incident but I'm not more angry at him right now than I am at those idiots who can't accept the inter-house relationships we currently have through some students.
He seems sorry though. His mother wrote me a letter too and said the same thing. I know what I said in the hospital wing but can you blame me for that immediate reaction after waking up from such an ordeal?
I'm not a person to hold grudges if they are unfounded. Ron is an idiot sometimes. Ginny told me so and I think he's under a lot of pressure because of being the youngest boy in their family. Ginny's in Slytherin with us.
No problems and not exactly much pressure and she's the Weasley's only girl. Ginny told me that Ron is most likely jealous because he is always compared to his brothers while everything seems so easy for her apart from the first time here when her family shunned her that is.
After thinking about that I've come to the conclusion that she's right and I don't have the desire to retaliate if he stops harassing us. I for one would be completely comfortable with just ignoring him, professor. If he keeps the current cease-fire then I won't break it either.
I cannot speak for the others though. Ginny is still pissed off but if you wish then I'll talk to her about this too. Although I would prefer not seeing him again I know that this is wishful thinking. I'll always meet someone whom I don't like.
That's the way life is," she told them and although she shrugged lightly, her face stayed almost expressionless.
McGonagall was satisfied with her answer and soon left the office while Snape stayed. The headmaster had something else to ask her and she knew that she wouldn't be dismissed before he got his answers.
"Miss Potter, I have something I wanted to ask you for quite some time now. Could you explain why you are the only student that seems to be happy about serving detention with Professor Snape here?" he inquired and Carya felt her cheeks redden slightly.
"What makes you think that, professor?" she asked innocently in return.
Severus smirked inwardly because she had asked a bit too innocently. This was going to be interesting.
"Well, perhaps if you considered the fact that everyone looks like being drowned when they finish their detentions in the dungeon while you look like something really good has happened you'd know why," snapped Severus impatiently.
Carya briefly looked at Tom and grinned for a second. But she really didn't want to answer that question.
"Headmaster, I can't answer this question truthfully because it would ruin my reputation and I would never again get a fair chance at punishment should someone think it necessary to assign me a detention," she stated calmly but her eyes said otherwise.
"I see. What if you could be assured that nothing would change if you tell us?" said the headmaster with his eyes twinkling like mad.
Carya had no chance but to agree to that and she knew that she'd been outsmarted by the old wizard this time. She sighed in defeat and looked at them.
"Okay, I give up ... this time. It hasn't really anything to do with Professor Snape, headmaster. It's what he made me do in general. It's true that I dislike scrubbing dirty cauldrons just like anyone else but the rest ... I thought it was very agreeable to do it.
I doubt he would have assigned that to anyone. Brewing those potions and storing or preparing ingredients, I mean. And the last detention was just the same. I had to store ingredients for his personal stores, not the student ones.
Sure, doing that takes much time and normally is very dull work but I took advantage of the situation," she said and was smirking slightly by now.
Both adults and Tom were confused but she continued before anyone could say a thing.
"Normally we only know the ingredients and potions from our potions kit and from classes. Some do additional reading but this was the perfect opportunity to get to know those ingredients which are not or rarely available for students.
I could see what they looked like and how they had to be handled. There were many that I had never even heard of. I might be a Slytherin but when it comes to Potions I love learning just as much as any Ravenclaw would.
That gives me an advantage for the years to come. And I fully intend to use that knowledge when the time is right. He gave me a backhanded compliment too. No one without a certain skill and understanding of potions would've been allowed anywhere near his personal stores.
There's no way in hell he would've let someone like Neville do that. I doubt even my brother would've been doing this and he's not an idiot when it comes to this subject either," she stated without looking up again.
Snape stared at her in disbelief as did Dumbledore. Tom just smiled because he knew of Carya's obsession with potions since they had become a couple and even more since the start of their little project.
After a few minutes of strained silence the girl added something, "That's the reasons why I didn't mind those detentions. It had actually been fun learning something new like that, although I would have loved to be with my friends during that time just as much."
The headmaster dismissed her and Tom but before the children vanished through the door he asked a last question, "Miss Potter, what did you mean by saying that Professor Snape didn't exactly have something to do with that?"
"Eh, I know that he ... despises Harry, Tom and myself for some reason ... unknown to me but it also shows in his way of treating us in class although it has become better since that incident with Ron. That's why I said that, professor," she said quietly and left with Tom.
Severus as well as Albus had noticed the small pause before she said that he 'despised' them. He had been sure the girl would say 'hate' but she hadn't. It was obvious that she knew the difference between hating someone and merely despising him.
But the pause before the unknown reason worried Severus. She knew more than she let on. Black and Lupin wouldn't have told them about their own fifth year in detail and he hadn't said a thing either. This had to be because of Karkaroff's interruption during that potions class in November.
"I see, well since that is out of the way you two may go join your friends again," the headmaster said and the kids knew they were dismissed.
They left the office quickly although Carya knew that not everything was out of the way. The headmaster and Snape had both noticed her little slip-up when she talked about the Potions Professor. She briefly wondered if the headmaster knew that Snape was a Death Eater.
The two children rejoined their friends in the Slytherin Common Room that evening. Harry had been informed about the discussion as soon as they'd left the headmaster's office and he had already told Draco and Ginny about it too. Hermione would be told the next day after classes were over.
Needless to say that the next morning was quite boring for the friends because of the usual Tuesday morning Double-period 'History of Magic' with Professor Binns. Arithmancy was slightly more interesting and Theory of Magic was the best class that day.
Though they were still researching first and second year charms they at least had something to do. As usual the kids met in the Chambers and discussed their next few days. They also discussed Ronald Weasley's return and agreed on not doing anything if he kept out of their way.
They had of course noticed how quiet the boy was over these first two days but that didn't mean anything at all. The 'Slytherin Six' would wait and see what happened. Over the course of the next week it became apparent that Weasley had indeed changed since he had been suspended.
He and his girlfriend now spent most of their time in the library studying. He didn't make any trouble in class either. Snape had been quite disappointed when the red-haired Gryffindor hadn't talked back during potions once at all.
On January 19th there was a surprise waiting for everyone who had Transfiguration or Flying lessons that day. Madam Hooch had been called away to aid a sick member of her family and Professor McGonagall had fallen ill herself.
This rarely happened and this meant the six friends had the whole afternoon for themselves. They decided to go to the library to a bit of research for their homework. The Founder's library was good but it didn't contain the newer books that were needed for something like History of Magic or Magical Theory.
In a quiet corner sitting at their usual table they found Cat Williams and Terence Higgs brooding over their own assignments. The two apologised for occupying the spot the others usually sat at but Cat was immediately cut off by Hermione.
"It's quite alright, Cat. Just don't make a habit out of this. It's difficult enough to find a quiet table big enough for six people here. You won't mind if we join you, will you?" the girl asked her blonde friend.
"No, of course not. Feel free to join us," Cat answered immediately.
They worked in silence for some time before Cat noticed Ginny's curious glances towards her and Terence.
"Something wrong, Virginia?" Cat asked not knowing how much Ginny disliked being called that.
"No, not really," Ginny said frowning before she remembered that Cat possibly didn't know about her dislike of being called by her full name, "I was just curious how you and Terence met or better how the two of you got together in the first place."
"Oh, eh ... that's actually not so easily to explain. I'll try though if you're willing to listen," Cat replied and the rest of the group stopped working in favour of a seemingly rather interesting 'lovestory'.
"Well, you know that I was attending Beauxbatons before got here right?" Cat asked and continued when the others nodded, "I really hated it there. It was horrible. They were sticking to the rules even worse than many Ravenclaws do.
I hated the clothing too. It was too light and I was always freezing. I mean, look at them. Those robes are a nightmare for everyday wearing. And they are all really stuck up and arrogant. I don't like that. I was the more wild type of girl.
While I was there I got loads of detentions and even tried to run away three times. They always brought me back. My mother was really angry with me about that. She's a muggle, you know? And she was so happy that her daughter was a witch.
Dad is a wizard though. I was grounded for half of the summer when I returned from school but dad didn't last long. He understood me somehow. His parents had insisted that he attended Durmstrang and he hated it.
We were living a bit outside of Paris in a suburb. There is a huge park there. One day during the first half of summer I was walking around there and met a boy. He was good-looking and I knew he was a wizard. I could see it the way his clothes were.
He was wearing muggle clothes but they could've belonged to the seventies," Cat said chuckling slightly.
"It was Terence judging by the way he's blushing right now, correct?" asked Carya bluntly.
"Yeah, he was. He had been visiting some relatives of his and they weren't living that far from our flat either. We met almost everyday and one time we began talking about our schools. I told him how much I hated the stiffness at Beauxbatons and he told me how much fun you all had at Hogwarts.
That made me ask my parents if I could transfer. We only had to get Dumbledore's permission for that. My father didn't care. He was glad that I actually wanted to go to a school. Mum was strictly against it though. She wanted me nearby and refuse to let me go at first.
Terence visited us very often during that time and two weeks before school started again we finally convinced mum that it would be the best if I attended Hogwarts. Dad wrote a letter to the Headmaster explaining everything including my attempts at running away I fear.
Then one week before September we got the reply. I was accepted and would join you all at September 1st on the Hogwarts express. Terence and I had become pretty close during that time. We were the only wizards in town, you know? It was natural that we sought each other's company.
Terence family allowed me to stay with them for the last week and we left as soon as possible. We took the train to Calais and the ferry over the Channel towards Dover. After that we took another train to London. From there we floo-ed to Terence house.
I liked London immediately. We went shopping for school supplies the next day and it was great. The Alley in Paris is nothing compared to 'Diagon Alley'. Well and on September 1st I was on the same train as you all. You know the rest.
Later that year my parents wrote me a letter that dad had gotten a job at a local shop and that they'd move to London now. And here I am, happy with boyfriend and I didn't try to run away even once. Why should I? I'm pretty happy here," Cat finished her tale and the others grinned.
This was something to expect of the eccentric Ravenclaw. She was just as different from the typical Ravenclaw as Hermione was. But she also was the perfect match for Terence with her attitude. She balanced the normally shy Slytherin in a way no one else could.
The rest of their free afternoon was spent doing homework. As always the six friends split their workload up. When Cat asked them what they were doing they explained it to her.
"We're just splitting up the work. Each of us does the research work for his or her best subject. The notes are then duplicated five times and we use them to write individual essays. It's much easier this way because although you have to understand the notes you don't have to do the research," explained Hermione.
"And who does what in your group?" asked Terence curiously.
"Well, Ginny does Charms, Harry does Transfiguration, Draco researches Arithmancy while Hermione collects notes for History of Magic. Tom's doing either Magical Theory or Ancient Runes and I always do Potions homework.
Defence against the Dark Arts we do together though. The more input we get, the more output we have. The teachers have never complained and we are doing this since first year. Therefore we wont stop in the foreseeable future," Carya told them.
Suddenly Carya remembered something she had seen the night before when she looked onto the grounds," Eh, you two don't happen to know what a snowy white cheetah and a brown cat were doing on the grounds together yesterday night, do you?"
Judging by the fact that Terence blushed and Cat paled Carya knew her assumptions had been right when she saw a human changing into the large cheetah. Cat and Terence were animagi. Illegal like them. To make everything a bit more comfortable the girl set up a silencing charm
"Silencio Eternus!" she whispered and continued louder, "There, now we can talk freely. Since when are you two?"
"Er, we ...," Terence stuttered.
"Since the end of last summer ..." Cat admitted in defeat.
She knew that arguing would have been futile. There was too much evidence against them.
"What are you going to do with this information?" the blonde Ravenclaw asked wary.
"Nothing, for now. It could be helpful should you ever stumble over one of our secrets. That way we could make sure you wouldn't tell on us since becoming an animagus without ministry supervision is highly illegal," Carya stated matter of factly.
She loved blackmail. Terence and Cat were nice but they spent far too much time around the six friends not to notice something in the long run. This way she could ensure that they wouldn't tell on her and her friends.
Cat seemed relieved but Terence knew what Carya was getting at. He was a Slytherin too and knew what she was trying to do. But he also knew that Carya and her friends were the most honest Slytherins you could find.
When she said she would only use the information to protect her own secrets then she meant it. The eight kids looked around the library for a few minutes to calm down. Ginny noticed something odd. Ron and Lavender were sitting at one of the other quiet tables and were buried in books.
"Hey, look over there, there's Ron and Brown. They are studying, who would've thought they were able to?" Ginny blurted out and was glad the silencing charm was still up.
The others laughed and thankfully no one found it odd that they couldn't hear them. It was common procedure to use a silencing charm when you wanted some privacy. Only difference was though that the normally used charm was easily broken.
The one the 'Slytherin Six' used however was a more advanced form that was also used by aurors. It wasn't difficult to do but it required some concentration. That was something the friends could do. If you were able to concentrate enough for the animagus transformation you could easily use this type of charm.
The days flew by faster than the children liked. Hermione's birthday was approaching too and they prepared it carefully without her noticing. The friends had written their guardians what they would like as presents for their friend and those items were sent by owl post in time before February had begun.
On February 3rd Carya and Tom sneaked down into the kitchen after curfew. They hoped that Snape wouldn't wander around this time and began preparing the cake for Harry's girlfriend. Tom was amazed at how Carya managed to make it.
The elves were all too happy with helping her. Around two in the morning it was finished. Dobby would make sure the cake appeared in front of Hermione at breakfast. The charm on the candles would start the happy birthday tune in soft whistling sounds.
Tired the two kids made their way back to the Slytherin dorms. Neither of them noticed a dark figure watching them. The same person went into the kitchen when they were gone and inspected the place.
It had been Severus Snape. He had woken up because Peeves was wreaking havoc in the hallway in front of his quarters. He had then checked if everyone was in the Common Room or the dorms but two had been missing.
Snape had made his usual round in the castle when he came across the portrait that lead to the kitchen. The muffled laughter and happy chatting had left him curious. He had waited until the two kids who were no one else than the Potter girl and Tom Riddle had left.
Severus himself went into the kitchen and tried to interrogate the elves. Most of them started cringing but wouldn't betray their friends. Especially the little elf that got paid for work. He was adamant that the children hadn't done anything wrong.
Snape knew he wouldn't get anywhere by asking the elves. He would have to wait until the next day. Angry at his lack of powers of persuasion stalked back to his quarters and tried to sleep. At least he could still give the two students detention if he didn't like the outcome of their late-night wandering.
The morning of the February 4th was quite confusing for Hermione. When she entered the Great Hall her friends were already there. They were sitting in their usual places and talked to each other without acknowledging her - even Harry.
This gave her the impression that something weird was going on. Even if they had forgotten her birthday she doubted that Harry would ignore her. She walked over to them with careful steps and sat down.
"Morning Hermione," said Ginny casually and the others did almost the same.
Hermione was puzzled. What where they doing? She didn't have time to think about it. As soon as she was settled comfortable at the table a delicious looking cake appeared in front of her on the Slytherin table.
The girl jumped a little and the teachers were looking curious by now. The soft tune swept around the Great Hall and Hermione felt deeply embarrassed. When she looked at her friends again she found that they were all grinning and smirking at her.
"You like it?" Harry asked with a mischievous grin.
She punched him playfully and smiled, "You scared me, don't do that again!"
But the other's just continued smiling. Hermione took a good look at the cake. It was a chocolate cake with dark blue icing.
'Ravenclaw colours,' Hermione thought, 'I should've known they were planning something!'
The rest of the morning went fairly well. They'd have Additional Potions and Survival class later though. And Snape seemed to be in a bad mood that day. And they were right. Peeves had woken the Professor two times last night and he was not amused by that.
They knew they had it coming when he stepped into the Potions classroom. He walked up towards his desk and sat down without letting them out of his view.
"You will take notes on Veritaserum today. You should listen closely if you want to avoid embarrassing situations later on," he growled and by then they should have known what would happen.
Everyone tried to write down as much information about the potion as possible. Not only about brewing it but also about it's exact effects on you mind and body. What they found wasn't really encouraging.
There was no defence. The only known counter to this truth serum was still experimental and highly dangerous. Not to mention illegal. You could only rely on your own mind and willpower. Sometimes people were strong enough to withhold certain pieces of information but you would never be able to lie or not answer a question at all.
By then an evil smirk had settled onto Snape's face and most students knew what he had planned for them. There was no way out either. They and their parents had agreed to this by allowing their children into Survival Class.
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R&R,
Carya
2008-12-18