Magda returned to Hogwarts several days later. It turned out that she had touched a cursed Christmas present that was intended for her father. No one had any idea who did it or why her father was targeted.

One February evening, I was sat next to Hermione and struggling through a History of Magic essay when Harry and Ron came into the common room, Harry holding the Firebolt! There was a sudden, excited murmur as every head turned and the next moment, Harry was surrounded by people exclaiming over his Firebolt.

'Where'd you get it, Harry?'

'Will you let me have a go?'

'Have you ridden it yet, Harry?'

'Ravenclaw'll have no chance, their firsts are all on Cleansweep Sevens!'

'Can I just hold it, Harry?"

"Did you know that about Ravenclaw?" I asked Demelza and Amy.

"Nope, but they're right, they'll defo have no chance, their firsts don't even have brooms as good as yours, let alone Harry's!" Demelza said

After ten minutes or so, during which the Firebolt was passed around and admired from every angle, the crowd dispersed and Harry and Ron had a clear view of Hermione and I, the only people who hadn't rushed over to them. They approached us.

'I got it back,' said Harry, grinning at her and holding up the Firebolt.

'See, Hermione, Ginny? There wasn't anything wrong with it!' said Ron.

'Well – there might have been!' said Hermione. 'I mean, at least you know now that it's safe!'

"Absolutely, she acted only in Harry's best interests" I said

'Yeah, I suppose so,' said Harry. 'I'd better put it upstairs –'

'I'll take it!' said Ron eagerly. 'I've got to give Scabbers his Rat Tonic.'

He took the Firebolt, and, holding it as if it were made of glass, carried it away up the boys' staircase.

'Can I sit down, then?' Harry asked Hermione.

'I suppose so,' said Hermione, moving a great stack of parchment off a chair.

'How are you getting through all this stuff?' Harry asked her.

'Oh, well – you know – working hard,' said Hermione, who subtlety glanced at me. I ensured she could see that I was pretending not to know anything.

'Why don't you just drop a couple of subjects?' Harry asked, watching her lifting books as she searched for her Rune dictionary.

'I couldn't do that!' said Hermione, looking scandalised.

'Arithmancy looks terrible,' said Harry, picking up a very complicated-looking number chart.

'Oh, no, it's wonderful!' said Hermione earnestly.

'It's my favourite subject! It's –'

But exactly what was wonderful about Arithmancy, we never found out. At that precise moment, a strangled yell echoed down the boys' staircase. The whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. There came hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder – and then, Ron came leaping into view, dragging with him a bedsheet.

'LOOK!' he bellowed, striding over to Hermione's table. 'LOOK!' he yelled, shaking the sheets in her face.

'Ron, what –?'

'SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!' Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking utterly bewildered. Harry looked down at the sheet Ron was holding. There was something red on it. Something that looked horribly like –

'BLOOD!' Ron yelled into the stunned silence. 'HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?'

'N-no,' said Hermione, in a trembling voice. Ron threw something down onto Hermione's Rune translation. Hermione and Harry leaned forward. Lying on top of the weird, spiky shapes were several long, ginger cat hairs.

"Well-well, that doesn't mean anything necessarily" said Hermione

"What do you mean, of course it bloody does!" said Ron "what colour is your cat, Hermione? Ginger! And what has he been trying to do all year? Eat Scabbers!"

"Ron, you have no idea if that was even Scabbers or not, have you even tried looking for him, he could be anywhere, those ginger hairs could have been there for god knows how long, since Christmas or maybe even longer! Look under all the boys beds before you jump to conclusions!"

"You have never taken his hate for Scabbers seriously Hermione, you've always made excuses, I can't believe you, honestly! It's so obvious what's happened here, but you can't see these things even when it's staring you in the face! First Gilderoy Lockhart, now this!"

"You've never bothered to keep a close enough watch on Scabbers Ron, and you've hated my cat ever since he landed on your head in fucking Diagon Alley! You'll do whatever it takes to paint him as evil, and you and Scabbers as victims!"

"Hermione, I can't lie, I think all the evidence points to Crookshanks killing Scabbers" said Harry

"Yeah mate, I must say I think you're being ridiculous here" I added

'OK, side with Ron, I knew you would!' she said shrilly. 'First the Firebolt, now Scabbers, everything's my fault, isn't it! Just leave me alone, I've got a lot of work to do!'

"Hey, I agreed with you about the Firebolt!" I said, but she ignored this.

Ron stood there silently for some time. He looked like he really wanted to hit Hermione, but instead, he turned around and stormed as loudly as he could back up to the dormitories, and slammed the door behind him once he got there.