Chapter Nineteen
Harry was sitting at the Slytherin table at dinner time waiting for his friends to get back. As the returning students from the Christmas holidays slowly filtered into the great hall and took their seats he waved over Daphne, Pansy and Draco.
"Where's Astoria?" Harry asked.
"She's wondering up with a few of her first year friends." Daphne told him, "She's quite the little social butterfly."
Harry smirked, "Have a good holiday?"
They nodded in agreement,
"Yeah it was brilliant." Draco said, he looked around, Gemini and Rodolphus were sitting at the other end of the table, "They turned up to the party." he whispered.
"And Bellatrix didn't." Pansy added in.
Harry blinked a few times, "Are you being serious?"
The three of them nodded at him.
"There's more." Draco whispered, "After Father had dropped Hermione off he thought he heard someone apparate in and then he found a crushed, bloody narcissus flower."
"How do you know?" Daphne asked, there hadn't been any sign of it at the party.
"Petal found it the next day cleaning up and Father told me when I confronted him. He barely let Mother out of his sight for the rest of the holiday." Draco explained, "I think it was her."
"Are you sure?" Pansy asked.
"No." Draco shook his head, "But even when they're lowered for the party, the wards around our land are very strong, I can't see anyone breaking them. Bellatrix was on the guest list so she wouldn't have to."
"And on that rather creepy note," Pansy said, changing the subject, "How was your holiday Harry?"
Harry shrugged, "Christmas day was pretty good and I've been having extra lessons from Remus but apart from that, it's all been pretty boring."
"Going home next year then?" Draco smirked.
Harry nodded, "Without a doubt, it would take something huge to make me miss Kreacher's cooking again."
Professor Dumbledore stood up to welcome everyone back, "Hello all, and welcome back to a new year. I hope you all enjoyed your break and are now back, well rested and eager to learn."
There was a mumble of 'yeah right' around the hall which made Dumbledore chuckle.
"Before we begin the feast I would like to remind you all that the forbidden forest is still off limits to all students and the Dementors are still present so please exercise all caution. I would also like to remind you that exams are coming up so as well as reminding you all to study as much as you can, please will you show respect and kindness to those in Fifth and Seventh year who are studying extra hard for their NEWTs and OWLs exams. We wish you all the best of luck."
He clapped his hands once and the plates filled with food. It was the same dishes that Harry had been eating for the last few weeks but they seemed far better now his friends were back at school as well.
With the start of term however, brought the return of classes and Harry was still not enjoying Divination. If anything since Professor Trelawney had met Danica she's been suggesting even more ways in which Harry was going to die or suffer horribly. Harry was slightly grateful at least that he was not the only one getting annoyed with the lessons. Hermione, who was looking more and more stressed as exams loomed over them, was getting more and more frustrated with Divination.
Harry had always had the sense that Hermione enjoyed being the best at everything and he wasn't wrong there. However Professor Trelawney seemed to delight in telling the whole class how useless Hermione was.
"Some are born with the inner eye," She looked lovingly at Lavender and the other Gryffindor girl, "And some are not." looking back at Hermione.
"I don't understand how Hermione is even getting to all her classes." Pansy said one day, "She must be in two places at once because she's always in Arithmancy with me but Care of Magical Creatures with you. They happen at the same time. I should know; I wanted to take both of them."
"The only way I know of that can make that happen would be a time turner but they wouldn't give one to a student surely?" Daphne said, buttering some fresh toast.
Harry shrugged and picked at his scrambled eggs. There was another Hogsmead visit today but he wasn't allowed to go. It might have had something to do with him not paying attention in Charms the other day and completely failing the test he'd been not paying attention to. Annoyingly he'd been trying to think of a way to apologise to Severus at the time but his mind was still coming up blank.
"I'm sure you can come to the next one." Pansy said, "It's only a couple of week away."
Harry nodded, if the Dementors weren't there he'd just sneak out under his invisibility cloak, but they were there and although Harry could produce a shield Patronus every time now; he didn't trust it against an actual Dementor.
Harry waved goodbye to his friends and watched them head down the track to Hogsmead. He sighed and walked slowly towards the library to go over a few practice exams.
"Hello Harry." the Weasley twins were sitting on the stairs, apparently waiting for him.
"Hello Fred, George." Harry said, stopping for them, "Aren't you going to Hogsmead?"
They shook their heads.
"Nope." Fred smiled.
"Not today, we have another little project we're working on." George grinned.
"Sounds interesting." Harry smiled, "What is it?"
"Top secret." Fred tapped the side of his nose with one finger, "But anyway that isn't why we stopped you."
"We had a think and we never really thanked you for saving Ginny last year." Fred said solemnly.
Harry couldn't disagree there, "It's fine. No harm done."
"No. It's only proper we thank you and we, after a lot of thought and weighing up the consequences, have decided to give you this."
They handed over a blank bit of parchment.
"Thank you." Harry said sarcastically, "However will I repay you?"
George and Fred rolled their eyes,
"It's more than it looks." Fred said.
"Come with us."
Harry followed them both down a corridor and into an empty classroom. They double checked that Peeves was nowhere to be seen and Fred took out his wand.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." he whispered.
The parchment shifted and changed before Harry's eyes.
"It's a map." Harry said.
The twins grinned and quickly opened it up so Harry could see the last of the paths and markings form.
"Yep. This is the secret to our success." George told him.
"But now we've learnt everything we can and want to pass it on to someone else who will use it to cause just as much trouble." Fred grinned.
"Some of these lead out of Hogwarts." Harry pointed out.
"Yep." George nodded, "There are several tunnels that lead out of the school, this one is your best bet. Behind the witch with the hump it leads right to Honeydukes' cellar."
"Where did you get this?" Harry said, looking over the moving foot prints with tiny writing that said who they belonged to.
"We stole it from Filch's office. It was in a box ladled 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous', so of course we took it." Fred explained.
Harry turned the map over to see if it had a makers mark on it, "Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs" he whispered.
"Yep." George beamed, "No idea who they are but we owe them a lot!"
Harry leaned against a nearby desk and took several deep breaths, "Well Wormtail was Peter Pettigrew."
"They guy who's in Azkaban?" Fred asked, their faces dropped.
Harry nodded, "And Padfoot is my Uncle Sirius, Moony is Uncle Remus and...and Prongs was my Dad."
"So really it's yours anyway." Fred said quietly.
Harry laughed, "That's so not the way they would have seen it."
George smiled, "They must have had a lot of power to make this when they were still at school."
Harry nodded, "Remus always said they were brilliant, and in many ways brought out the worst in each other. Are you sure you want me to have this?"
Fred and George nodded firmly.
"Without a doubt." George said.
"Enjoy all the mischief you can make with it and then when the time comes, pass it on to the next one." Fred told him.
"How do I wipe it?" Harry asked, "So other people can't read it?"
"Easy." The twins said together.
"Just tap it with your wand and say, 'Mischief Managed'" Fred said, showing him.
Harry watched as the lines slowly faded from view and folded it carefully and put it in his pocket.
"Thank you." He smiled.
The twins grinned back,
"Don't mention it." Fred said.
They looked round the classroom door and quickly left. Harry sat on the desk for a few more moments. Part of him wanted to sneak out to Hogsmead but if his mother ever found out she'd kill him. And really, he couldn't blame her there. Instead he wondered through the castle to Remus's office.
He knocked on the door, there were voices inside, so he waited quietly. The door opened and Professor Dumbledore walked out.
"Harry, nice to see you." he said, with a small nod of his head before walking quickly past him.
"Everything OK?" Harry asked Remus.
Remus nodded, "Yep. Not a problem. Come on it Harry."
Harry saw how thin Remus was looking, it was near the full moon but Harry was very worried that the stress of teaching as well as dealing with the full moons was to much for Remus. Lily had always been very protective of him, sending Kreacher round with hot meals if she didn't go herself and making sure that he was as well as can be. She wasn't here now though.
"You all right Harry?" Remus asked, putting some tea on for them both.
Harry nodded, "Yeah I'm fine. Are you OK? You don't look well."
Remus sighed and sat down heavily, "Well, I am very tired, I might ask Severus to take my classes for a few days soon, just give me a small break."
Harry nodded, "Well let me know if there's anything I can do to help."
Remus smiled and nodded, "Not that I don't enjoy your company but it there anything in particular you wanted to talk about today?"
Harry nodded and slowly took the map out of his pocket, "I think you know what this is."
Remus sat forward and looked over it, "Well I haven't seen this for a while. Wherever did you get it?"
"It was given to me. Just now." Harry said, pouring himself and Remus a cup of tea and taking a sip, "You understand why I wont tell you who it was, that wouldn't be fair."
Remus nodded, "I never thought I'd see this again."
"Is it safe?" Harry asked, "Mum told be some of the stuff you and Dad and Sirius used to make could be a bit dangerous in the wrong hands."
Remus laughed, "Yes that's one way of putting it. This is fine, as long as you wipe it after every use and don't leave it just lying around of course. The map is only dangerous if someone uses it to dangerous things. Which I trust you won't?"
Harry nodded, "Nope. Promise."
Remus looked over it, "I know this map shows ways out of the school but promise me you wont use them when your mother has said you're not allowed out."
Harry nodded and Remus gave him the map back.
"I can't say it didn't cross my mind but I think overall it would be more than my life is worth." Harry grinned.
Remus let out a snort of laughter, "You're not wrong there."
As the term ticked along Harry felt himself being buried in more and more homework. The pressure of exams loomed over them all until several students felt they'd reached breaking point.
For Hermione, that went even further one day in Divination.
She was staring into a crystal ball looking like she was about to fall asleep when Professor Trelawney came over.
"My child, I feel the spirits are close. Tell me what you see..." She said in her sing song voice.
Hermione sat up and blinked a few times, before staring into the glass ball.
"Well...umm."
In truth Hermione saw nothing but her distorted reflection and her mind was firmly fixed on a difficult bit of Ancient Rune homework she'd been struggling with.
Professor Trelawney sighed loudly.
"I see the Grim." Hermione said quickly, "Yep definitely someone is in danger."
Professor Trelawney let out a large sigh and sat down next to Hermione. She took Hermione's hand and gave it a pat.
"My dear, you seem to struggle, you don't appear to have even the most basic of gifts..." Professor Trelawney said gently, "You just seem to… serious for the gentle art of Divination."
Hermione took a sharp breath of air in, "Well if that's the way you feel, why do I even bother." She stood up angrily and shoved her books into her bag, "It's all just a bunch of made up nonsense anyway."
And with that she stormed from the classroom, slamming the trap door shut with such force that several of the crystal balls fell off the tables and rolled across the carpeted floor.
"Oh Professor." Lavender squeaked, "Didn't you say that one of our number would leave us around Easter?"
Professor Trelawney straightened her shawl and looked very proud of herself, "There will be doubters but the truth will always show it's self."
Harry rolled his eyes, he strongly felt that Hermione leaving the lesson was more of a coincidence than proof in Professor Trelawney's abilities; which, apart from this time, had been rather lacking.
Harry however was pleased he had taken Divination, even though the lessons were boring and the classroom stifling, the homework was easy to make up which left him more time for his other subjects and the impending trial of Buckbeak.
Hagrid had been getting more and more upset as the days ticked by. The trial was only tomorrow and Hagrid was in a complete state. Harry had found it harder and harder to stay civil with Ron considering it was Ron's flare for the dramatic that had caused Buckbeak to be put on trial.
"How can Ron's brother work with dragons and Ron be such a wuss?" Hermione sighed, closing yet another not so helpful book.
Harry shook his head, "I have no idea."
Hermione made a few notes on a scrap of parchment, "I think we have a pretty good argument but I think the main issue will be Hagrid not being able to speak in front of all those officials."
"Maybe we could get a statement from Ron?" Harry said. He knew he was grasping at straws but if they could get it in writing that it was Ron not paying attention in class it might help, at least a little bit.
"I think it's his mother that's really pushing the issue to be honest." Hermione sighed, "There have been a couple of interviews in some trashy magazines and Ron seems a bit embarrassed every time it comes up now."
Harry nodded. They packed up their books and wandered down to Hagrid's hut. They could hear Fang barking excitedly at the knock.
" 'Ello you two. Come on in." Hargid said.
They walked in and took a seat on the large sofa. Harry looked over to where Buckbeak was laying in Fang's bed looking dejected.
"Do you really have to have him inside Hagrid?" Harry asked.
Hagrid nodded, "Aye. They wan' 'im tied up. It ain't fair to leave 'im ou' there with all the others."
Harry sighed.
"We've got a few more notes for you here." Hermione said, pulling out what little else they'd been able to find, "There are a few cases which could set a president but it would depend on how you read them and there haven't been any concerning a creature with such a huge danger rating."
"Have you had any luck with Dumbledore?" Harry asked, "It would help if we had him on Buckbeak's side."
Hagrid shook his head, "Na. He says he has every confidence in me but Buckbeak did lash ou'. I should 'ave started you all on somethin' more simple."
"Well you know that for next years class." Hermione said, refusing to let Hagrid wallow in worry and self pity.
She reached into her bag and pulled out the speech they'd written for him, "Have a go reading through this and we'll go from there."
Hagrid took the paper and cleared his throat. After half an hour, Harry had come to two conclusions.
One: Hagrid was terrible at public speaking. Every time he even pretended that they were ministry officials he tripped over his words and when they'd finally managed to get though one reading without any major mistakes Hagrid tripped up over the first question. Suggesting that Ron had deserved to be killed rather than just hurt.
Which lead to Harry's second conclusion; Buckbeak didn't have a snowball's chance in hell.
He and Hermione wandered up to the castle in time for dinner.
"If only we could go with him, to help him speak. It's not his fault his education level isn't as high as other peoples." Hermione huffed.
Harry nodded, they'd both already asked if they could go with Hagrid and told quite firmly that the answer was no. Not only from Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Harry hadn't been able to ask Professor Snape with everything going on but the Ministry hearing committee had also said no, so even if they had somehow managed to sneak out of Hogwarts and get to London alone they would still just be turned away.
Once they reached the Great Hall, Hermione went and sat next to Neville to get herself some dinner. Harry on the other hand spotted Ron and went over to him.
"Hi, can I have a word?" Harry asked.
Ron looked up from his large plate of food, "Umm yeah sure." He stood up and followed Harry out the hall to a quiet spot in the corridor.
"You haven't talked to me in a while." Ron said, "I was worried you were pissed at me."
Harry shook his head, "I'm worried about Buckbeak."
Ron's face fell, "Harry I-"
"I need you to say it was your fault. They will kill him otherwise." Harry said firmly. He figured there was no point sugar coating it any more.
Ron sighed and looked down at his feet, "I know. Look, I'll do everything I can but Mum's gone nuts over it all."
"You made it worse Ron." Harry snapped, "You can't just blame your mother all the time you have to take responsibility for your own actions."
Ron rubbed the back of his head and nodded, "You're right, I know that. I was just… I..."
Harry didn't need Ron to finish the sentence to know what Ron was thinking. He had revelled in the attention from everyone and had played on his injury; however Harry didn't believe that Ron had set out to hurt anyone, he just hadn't thought.
Harry took a deep breath, "Look, please, if there is anything you can do. Explain that you made a mistake and that you screwed up in class."
Ron shrugged, "It's not me, it's mum. I mean I will but I think mum will keep pushing anyway."
"It's worth a shot. Try talking to your mum." Harry told him.
Ron nodded, "I will, nice to talk to you again."
Harry gave him a quick nod and went to sit with his friends, feeling less than hopeful.