A/N : Belated Happy Christmas and Happy Holidays, you guys. I hope you enjoyed the season. There's only a day left until New Year, so an early Happy New Year to you too! Cheers!

Chapter 31

In which Padma and Su Li planned murder

Breakfast in the middle of November was broken by a tearful Mr. Filch barging in the Great Hall hollering for his cat.

"Mrs. Norris! Where are you, my sweet?" He cried.

Up in the teacher's table, Professor Dumbledore quickly stood up and approached the elderly caretaker.

"Mr. Filch! Pray tell, what is wrong?"

"It's Mrs. Norris! I haven't seen her since yesterday afternoon! I locked her when there's all that ruckus about the Basilisk running around the castle! When I went back, she's gone! Oh, you must help me, Headmaster. I don't know what I would do without her!"

The hall broke into excited chatters.

"Good riddance!" Ronald Weasley exclaimed from the Gryffindor table.

Harriet rolled her eyes when Professor Dumbledore had to restrain Mr. Filch from storming to the Gryffindor table at the insensitive comment.

"What do you think happened?" Su Li asked quietly. "Do you think she'd become a snack for Professor Higgs' new snake?"

"I don't think so, Rexy despises felines. He said that he couldn't stand the smell."

The missing Mrs. Norris was still the topic of the day when Harriet, Su Li and Padma strolled down to the frozen Black Lake three weeks later.

"Mr. Filch looked miserable." Padma commented.

The elderly caretaker was very quiet these days, ignoring mischief being done right in front of his eyes by the Weasley Twins and bursting to tears at every few moments.

"Poor Mr. Filch." Su Li said. "Are you sure she wasn't being digested by Rexy?" she asked Harriet.

Harriet sighed tiredly.

"Rexy preferred rabbits, or his fellow snakes, but that is only in front of other snakes to exert dominance. I think Professor Higgs supplied him with enough rabbits for the rest of his life, but I wouldn't know if the snake ate Mrs. Norris, honestly."

Su Li and Padma frowned at her.

"He's still ignoring you?"

Ever since Medusa dropped the bomb that is her impending mortality, Thomas had fallen into seclusion. They still meet at classes and Dueling Club Meetings, but he ignored her and seemingly getting colder and aloof to everyone, even Severus. Harriet was worried, not that she'd ever mention it. In fact, she told Severus that as long as he took a good care of Medusa, Rexy and Quasimodo, she didn't really care. But she was worried nonetheless.

Harriet sat down at the outcropping rock and looked at the lake in contemplation. Her two friends looked at each other worriedly.

"Are you alright, Harriet?" Padma asked.

"Of course. I was just…thinking about Christmas holiday. It's in three weeks, right?" she asked with a slight smile.

"Uh, yeah. But Harriet, we can't go home, remember? There's that Dueling Camp Professor Higgs held for the holidays." Su Li said uncertainly.

"Well, I'm going home. I don't care what Professor Higgs said. If he wanted to take me out of the list, I'd even be happier. I have obligations at home." She said resolutely.

"Harriet, are you angry at Professor Higgs?" Padma asked.

"Oh, not at all. I don't really care at all. He can do what he like, and I will do what I like." Harriet blew out some air through her mouth and harrumphed. "Besides, why would you think that I'm angry at him? And for that matter, why did you think he's ignoring me?"

"Well, you've been having tea with him regularly since he started teaching, and it's been three weeks since you holed up in the common room's library with the same book that you're not really reading." Padma said.

"And also, he attended your party and gave you a belated gift. That and your weekly tea. We thought that he was trying to court you inconspicuously because of your age gap, but it's not really unusual in the Wizarding World. Only that it's frowned upon since you're still underage. He didn't, like, force you or anything, did he?" Su Li asked with a horrified expression.

Harriet stared at her two friends bemusedly.

"Oh no! he did?! I know a guy. Don't worry, Harriet, we'll take care of him. I can ask my guy to come on the next Hogsmeade visit. We'll make a day out of it on the grounds, maybe visit Hagrid so that we have a witness, and no one would connect his disappearance to us. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore could hire someone in a jiffy." Padma held her hand tightly.

Su Li took her other hand. "Or, I could ask my grandfather to arrange a hit on him. He wouldn't know what hit him, and we would not be implicated in anyway. He'd also be able to arrange disposal. No one would ever know."

Padma nodded solemnly.

Harriet burst out laughing at their seriousness.

"Are you seriously planning to murder your Professor?" she asked between her giggles.

"Darling, there's nothing we wouldn't do for you. For Su Li too, of course." Padma said with a small smile.

Su Li rolled her eyes. "Thank you for your concern, but I can handle myself, thank you very much. Though, I would do the same for you two too. No question asked."

Harriet hugged the two of them tightly.

"Thank you, you two. You are true friends. I also would do anything for you two, though, maybe not murder. Being assigned to take care of Medusa would do the trick, wouldn't you say?"

They giggled and swung around together until they almost fell to the Black Lake.

"In all seriousness, though, don't worry. Professor Higgs just gotten some bad news, and he needed to come to terms with it, by himself. So I'm alright with leaving him alone. Though now I'm worried about you two. How come murder is the first solution you think about?" Harriet said as they released each other and sat back away from the edge of the outcropping.

Padma and Su Li grinned.

"We read somewhere that true friends helped you slay your enemy and hid the body. Provide alibis too, of course, so we have thought of at least twenty different scenarios and excuses to do so, just in case we need it. To be honest, I almost let loose plan 15 when we found out that you were inside the classroom with that Basilisk. Luckily you came out before I released the bait." Su Li said.

"Bait? Bait for what?" Harriet asked curiously.

"Oh, you'd be better not knowing. Plausible Deniability and all that. We could just call it a dangerous creature that would make Professor Higgs be in trouble." Padma giggled.

Back in the castle, Thomas sneezed so continuously in the middle of a staff meeting that Professor Dumbledore sent him to the Hospital Wing for some Pepper Up potion.

The weeks passed by quickly after that, and all of a sudden, Harriet found herself in a compartment in the Hogwarts Express with her friends.

"On the scale of X to XXXXX class of Dangerous Animals, how angry do you think My Lord would be when he found out that you went home without telling him?" Draco asked her quietly as the train left the Hogsmeade station.

"I don't think it would make a difference, to be honest. My only strength in the duels was that I was a quick draw, and lately, he focused more on the senior team. Also, he should know by now that I have obligations to do in my holidays. Anyways, I will see him in your Yule Ball, assuming I am invited. So no, probably Flobberworm class of anger. These days, I didn't rate that much in his sphere of importance." Harriet answered as she looked out the window.

The view was quite nice during winter, but she couldn't find it in herself to admire the view for some reason.

"Say, I am going to the Conservatory on the 27th. I need to discuss something with the Warding Department and Mr. Scamander. Would you and Daphne be coming with me, or do you want a day off?" she asked loudly so that Daphne could hear too.

"We will come, My Lady." Draco answered quickly.

Daphne rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Of course you'd come. The Dragon's section is finally filled, right?" she asked. "But I agree. You'd need someone to write a note while you talked because this one would get purposefully lost in the Dragon's section."

Harriet smiled at that.

"Ooh, you've started to add the creatures?" Padma asked excitedly.

"The muggle section is all filled and has been operating since October. The Magical Creatures section is still on progress, but we've opened up some of them to gather some funds. The Warding Department and The Habitat Management Department needed time to create and fortify the habitats after all. They've been sending me proposals to add to the team. It took time and energy to maintain the existing ones and create new ones after all. If it sped up the project, I don't mind. Do you want to visit?" Harriet answered.

"Of course! Can I bring my sister? It's too bad that Su Li got stuck in the castle for the holiday." Padma almost bounced in her seat.

"Sure, my meeting is at ten, and I expected to be done by twelve, so let's meet at twelve in the front gate? Someone will wait to take you in." Harriet nodded to Daphne who made a note and listed who wanted to come to this excursion.

"We can have lunch there together, so don't eat anything first." She said as the whole compartment broke in excited chatters.

Draco groaned and leaned back tiredly. "This is going to be a disaster."

"Oh, shut it. You're just annoyed that they would cut your time admiring the dragons." Daphne said as she put her notebook back in her purse.

Harriet closed her eyes and smiled as she listened to her friends' banters.