[Chapter Nineteen] Know Thy Enemy

A blistering heat came from the fireplace and the room was nearly ninety degrees, but that was not what woke Lena. A rapping on the door sounded again and Lena jumped from bed and opened the door. Parkinson entered the room before Lena could protest and slammed the door shut, whispering silencing spells.

As Parkinson began to spit ice from the tip of her wand, the room cooled and the fire went out with splatters of sparks.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lena demanded, looking around the room, but the other two occupants were missing.

"Lena, you have to listen to me. I know you don't trust me, but if your faith remains in the Dark Lord, you will listen." Lena didn't respond, and gave Parkinson the most bored look she could muster. "Somebody is planning to weaken the Dark Lord, this year, by sabotaging your reputation, and giving the Dark Lord reason to kill you."

"Who?" Lena asked carefully, scanning Parkinson's face for lies.

"Somebody that works internally for the Ministry of Magic, I think. Trying to find a way into the Dark Lord's inner circle, unless they already have. They aim to expose some minor exploits by his followers, and then gain their entrance at the Dark Lord's side."

"Who?" Lena repeated.

"I think it's Astoria, working undercover for the ministry."

Lena scoffed. "What is wrong with you, Parkinson?" Lena stalled as she went through each of the event this year. The clock in the second year bathroom was ten minutes wrong. All of the clocks in Hogwarts were run by magic, always correct, unless corrupted by powerful magic.

Somebody had thrown a Christmas party long before Christmas.

Somebody opened the jewelry box.

"You may be right about it being somebody. But it's not Astoria. She would have been exposed long ago. It'd be much more likely to be you. As you said yourself, you've made your way up in the Wizarding World, much with the Ministries help at announcing your gossip. Or perhaps, it's your sidekick, the person who you could easily force to do your bidding. Daphne."

Parkinson gasped. "It's not Daphne. You have no idea what you're talking about."

"And what about you? What's your defense?"

"I don't have time to be responsible for everything that goes on in your life, Lena. If you don't want to take my word for it, then don't. It's merely been a strong hunch after you returned last night. She left your room nearly immediately after your returned-"

"Were you watching my room?"

Parkinson nodded. "Daphne had a plan to harass you, and well, I couldn't resist. But nonetheless, Astoria left Hogwarts last night, under an invisibility cloak, heading through one of the secret passages to Hogsmeade. I couldn't follow her further without her catching me, after she went behind the statue."

Lena remained silent.

"Lena, you have to believe me."