I'm gonna tell you a secret. You know those magicians in the muggle world? At least half of them, probably more, are really witches and wizards showing themselves off without breaking the statute of secrecy. Muggles believe they're always just looking at illusions, but no. So, if anyone reading this has watched a magic show before, there's a good chance you've seen a real witch or wizard at work, especially if it was one of the more famous ones. People such as Harry Houdini, David Copperfield, David Blaine and Dynamo, yeah, they're all wizards. Dynamo went to Hogwarts and was a Hufflepuff. Hell, even Harry and I have done some "magic tricks" for Muggles occasionally, when we've decided to be really ironic and go to some Harry Potter fan meetups. Of course, everyone there thought we were just super dedicated cosplayers. All it took to shock and amaze them were some simple vanishing and conjuring spells. It was quite funny how easy it was to be honest, and when we were asked how we did it, we just said "It's magic". Hey, we weren't lying!

My dad's done the same, though he actually learnt to do them the Muggle way. So yeah, there's no real mystery behind David Copperfield's Portal illusion, he just apparated. His flying illusion was explained as him using some really cleverly designed super thin wires, but no, that's just a cover up. The technology really does exist, but he had no need to use it, he's one of the three wizards in history known to be able to fly unaided. Of course, some of them are really just doing muggle made illusions, but others, they've really got magical powers. As Stan Shunpike once said "Muggles? They don't notice nofink, do they?" I'm sorry, but it's true, even when it's right in front of their eyes...

When I told Demelza, Amy and Magda about what we'd heard between Snape and Karkaroff, their reactions were exactly as I expected. They were all surprised, Amy pleasantly so, Demelza and Magda negatively.

"So, I was on to something after all?" Amy asked

"Seems like it" I said. (I still couldn't tell her she definitely was) "I mean Dumbledore's always trusted Snape, but the way they were talking was very dodgy"

"Definitely" Demelza added "It's something we should keep an eye on"

On Boxing Day (why is it called that, as far as I'm aware the Muggle sport of boxing doesn't actually happen on that day, and people would have boxed presents before Christmas, so...) I was walking with Harry on the grounds when Cedric Diggory approached us.

"Hey — Harry!" he said

"Yeah?" said Harry as Cedric ran towards us.

"Listen, I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?"

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Well . . . take a bath, okay?"

That took us aback.

"What?" said Harry

"Take a bath, and — er — take the egg with you, and — er — just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think. . . . Trust me.

We stared at him.

"Tell you what," Cedric said, "use the prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's 'pine fresh"

And with that, he was gone.

Harry and I exchanged bewildered looks.

"A bath?" I said "How the hell is that supposed to help you?"

"He might be pulling my leg, but to be brutally honest, I've gotten nowhere with the egg so far. I've heard the prefects bathroom is really nice, so if all else fails at least I'll have a good relaxing time in there"

"Especially so if I come with you" I replied, winking at him

"You want to?"

I raised an eyebrow, and he shook his head

"Silly question, of course you do, and of course I'm not gonna stop you"

He bent down to kiss me on the cheek.

"You couldn't stop me even if you tried" I told him, my voice now muffled as we were kissing full on the lips

"true, probably not" he said

Later, I accompanied Amy to the Owlery, where she was sending a letter to the Ministry giving full details of our case against Ludo, and we hoped to receive a prompt and effective reply.

"Rita Skeeter will have a field day when she hears about this" I said "I can already see the headline now: 'Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman . . ."

Amy laughed at my extremely accurate impression.

"Well at least it'll be true this time" she said as she tied the letter to her tawny owl, Hector, "unlike everything else she writes".

At breakfast the next day however, we saw that our case wasn't what Skeeter needed for her next big story. I had just sat down next to Demelza and Amy when the post arrived with my Daily Prophet. Here was the article on the front page, which was alongside a picture of Hagrid looking extremely shifty.

DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE

Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the parthuman Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures. Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore.

Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates. An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening." "I was attacked by a hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm," says Draco Malfoy, a fourth-year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything." Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed "Blast-Ended Skrewts," highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire-crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creature is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions.

"I was just having some fun," he says, before hastily changing the subject. As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not — as he has always pretended — a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of HeWho-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror. While many of the giants who served He-Who Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature.

In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power — thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of the unpleasant truth about his large friend — but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants.

"How did she find out about Hagrid being half giant?" asked Amy "you don't reckon he told her?"

"No" said Demelza, biting her lip thoughtfully "Hagrid can be foolish but I don't think he'd have said that to Skeeter. Ginny, did you see her when Hagrid was talking with Maxime?"

"No, not at all! I thought Dumbledore had banned her from the castle!" I said

"Perhaps she's got an invisibility cloak?" said Mary, who was sitting opposite us.

"Perhaps" I said. I turned to Demelza and Amy. "We have to go and see him. After class today. Find out how it's affecting him"

But we didn't see him at all for the whole day, and got no answer when we knocked at his cabin door. Harry told me that evening that the same thing had happened when he, Ron and Hermione had tried. It seemed like, with this, the egg dilemma and the potential upcoming trial of Ludo, that my worries were far from over.