Again, very audible gasps spread through the Great Hall. Hogsmeade? Attacked? By who? When? How? The questions flowed
like lava from one person to the next.
"If you will please remain silent," Dumbledore said in a loud yet gentle manner, "I will
elaborate." The Hall fell so quiet at once, you could hear a pin drop.
"We do not know who has attacked Hogsmeade exactly, but there is strong suspicion of Death Eater attacks.
Individuals from the Ministry of Magic, along with Aurors, are looking into it as we speak. It happened early this
morning, at about 4 am. As expected, all Hogsmeade visits will be cancelled until further notice. And..."
Dumbledore paused and looked down. Not one person even twitched.
"We have suffered some casualties. Cedric Diggory's brother, Evan Diggory, who graduated from Hogwarts two
years ago, was lost in the attacks." There was a minute of complete stillness before anyone even reacted. All of a
sudden, several people at the Ravenclaw table started whispering to each other, and all of the tables followed suit.
Some people even burst into tears. Harry simply couldn't find his voice. He didn't know whether to cry, leave,
or start whispering along with the others. He looked next to him at Hermione, who was shedding a few tears but wiping
them away quickly.
"I met him. In Diagon Alley," she said softly, running her hands across her cheeks roughly. "He was
in Flourish and Blotts. We talked a little, and he was so nice to me. I fell because I slipped on something in the
doorway, and he helped me up and took me to a chair, and he cured the bruise on my hand," she continued. "I
can't believe he's gone." Ron put his arms around her and gathered her to him. She leaned into his chest
and shed another tear. Harry desperately wished he were Ron at that moment. Instead, he took her hand in his and
squeezed it reassuringly. She looked at him and he gave her a smile. She smiled back gratefully, squeezing his
hand.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Malfoy!" Harry called as he was heading to Potions. He saw the blond- haired Slytherin walking about
thirty paces ahead of him. Malfoy turned and shot Harry a nasty look. Harry, don't lose your temper. If he gets
blacked out, he won't answer your question, Harry thought firmly to himself. Taking a deep breath, he hurried
over to Malfoy.
"What, Potter? Make it quick. I can't be seen talking to you," Malfoy snapped.
"Was your father here at Hogwarts?" he asked bluntly, staring at him.
"What?!" Malfoy asked.
"You heard me. Was your father here? Did he come here at all this year?" Harry repeated, growing
impatient.
"Why is that any of your business, Potter? Trying to play hero again?" Malfoy retorted, quickening his
pace.
"Did he come here or not? I'm just curious," Harry tried one last time.
"That's for me to know and you to find out. Now sod off," Malfoy said and walked off.
"Fuck," Harry muttered. He knew this wouldn't work. He didn't know why he had tried. He thought as
he walked toward the dungeons. How was he going to find out if Lucius Malfoy had been at Hogwarts or not? It suddenly
came to him: Hagrid.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Harry, we need to talk," came Hermione's voice from behind him. He was waiting for this, but dreading
it at the same time. How would he handle it? He would probably just get all nervous and stutter, or lose control. He
couldn't let that happen. Not this time.
"What about?" he replied as calmly as he could, his voice still shaking a little.
"About...Ron and me," she answered. Harry took a deep breath and stood up. His cheeks felt flushed from
sitting in front of the common room fire for so long. Good. If I blush, she won't notice the difference
much, he thought. He studied her for a minute. She was biting the corner of her lip, a sure sign of
nervousness.
"Well?" he broke the silence.
"Well, you saw us that night. And...well, Ron asked me to be his girlfriend. And, well, to tell you the
completely honest truth, I've kind of liked him like that since this past summer, so, well, I accepted," she
said. Another sign that Hermione was nervous: she was repeating the same word over and over again.
"I know. I was there," Harry mumbled, feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness envelop him.
"Right. I just wanted to ask you. Why did you seem so upset? Do you...have feelings for me in that way?"
she asked. Harry was taken aback. He definitely did NOT expect this.
"No, Hermione!" It broke his heart even more to lie to one of his best friends, but he had to do it.
"Of course not!"
"All right. So why were you kissing Ginny the other night?" she asked, tears starting to form in her eyes.
Why she was crying, she didn't know. I thought you liked RON, her conscience reminded her. I do. Its
just… she trailed off.
"Why not?" he replied simply. She didn't expect him to be so casual about this.
"Why NOT? Harry, you can't just go kissing people like that!" she exclaimed, blinking back the tears
quickly.
"What d'you mean, I CAN'T? Since when do you tell me what I CAN and can't do?" Harry asked in
disbelief.
"Harry, I'm only looking out for you! It's not right to kiss someone out of the blue! And moreover,
Ron's SISTER! He's going to turn into a mountain troll if he finds out!" she half-yelled, frustrated.
Again, why, she didn't know.
"That's between me and Ron! Since when did you get so nosy? It's NONE of your business!" Harry
shot back, regretting the words as soon as he said it. At this, Hermione shrank back a little and the tears
returned.
"You're right. It isn't. You win," she said firmly, even through her crying, and left. Harry sighed and dropped onto the couch. This was NOT how it was supposed to go.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry Potter, superb Quidditch Player, The Boy Who Lived, and who hated studying any more than necessary, buried
himself in books for the next few days. For one, he had to get the fight him and Hermione had had, and those dreadful
words he had said to her. For another, he wanted to find some way to ask Hagrid about Lucius Malfoy other than just
waltzing up to him and asking. He needed a more subtle approach, a more round-about way.
He hit upon the solution a few days later. He was leafing through a book called The New You: 163 Ways To Change Your Appearance. On page 43, he found exactly what he was looking for: an easier way than Polyjuice Potion.
"Let's see," he muttered to himself, running his hands down the paragraphs quickly. "Infusion of
wormwood and pinch of cow spleen," he said, scribbling it down. He also copied the directions down roughly, a plan
forming in his mind at the same time.
That day after classes, Harry stealthily followed Malfoy to the Slytherin common room under his Invisibility Cloak.
As he approached the door, Malfoy found what Harry had planted just so Malfoy could see it: a present wrapped in golden
wrapper. It immediately caught Malfoy's eye, along with the label that read Only for Draco Malfoy's Beautiful
Eyes. He saw Malfoy smirk, then send Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson on ahead of him, muttering something to them.
Suddenly, the hallway was deserted except for Malfoy (and Harry). Malfoy bent down and grabbed the present in one swift
motion.
As he began to open it, Harry crept up behind him, took out his wand and muttered, "Stupefy!" Malfoy
dropped the present and started to fall, but Harry caught him. He didn't want any unnecessary noises. He dragged
Malfoy over to a nearby door and stuffed his limp body in there, along with his present. He then closed the broom
closet, muttered "Pactum" to lock the door, and then ran full speed back to Gryffindor Tower.
"Here I go," he said softly as he raised the steaming vial to his face. He was about to drink the Diiudico
Potion, which was much quicker than Polyjuice Potion but had the same basic affect, with an extended time limit: 2
hours and the fact that he had to follow it up with the Changing Spell. He took a deep breath and lowered the vial to
his mouth. The potion tasted like old socks mixed with rotten meat. He squeezed his eyes shut as it went down thickly.
Then, without hesitation, he pointed his wand at himself and said clearly, "Aspectus Adfectio a Draco
Malfoy."
For a second, nothing happened. Then, something started squirming inside his stomach as if fighting to get out, and
spread to every part of his body. He couldn't stand as it flowed through his legs. He dropped to the ground, his
heads pinning. After a few more seconds, everything became extremely foggy. Harry panicked for a second. Then, as he
slowly took his glasses off, he saw everything with perfect clarity.
"Malfoy has 20/20 vision. I'm not surprised," he said to himself as he stood up and placed the glasses
in his pocket. As he did, he noticed the Slytherin Emblem on his robe. He sighed, glad the spell had worked. He hurried
toward Hagrid's hut and banged on the door. Hagrid opened it, and Harry held his breath.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" he growled. As Harry opened his mouth, he realized he had to speak in an
insulting manner as to not make Hagrid suspicious.
"Nothing much, you great big oaf. Just needed to know WHY my father came by this ruin-for-a-school," Harry
drawled in Malfoy's voice.
"Yeh mean yer father didn't tell yeh?" Hagrid asked with a confused look on his face.
"If he did, I wouldn't BE here, now would I?" Harry asked, pushing his way into Hagrid's. Hagrid
grunted and shut the door behind him.
"Well, it's a bit strange that he didn't tell yeh," Hagrid remarked.
"Oh, get on with it and answer my question: WHY was he here?" Harry asked, growing impatient. Hagrid
sighed and sat down on his big armchair.
"Well, I s'pose he's gonna tell yeh eventually, so there's no harm in me tellin' yeh now,"
Hagrid mused.
"So?" Harry prompted. Hagrid heaved a great sigh and said, "Yer father was here on You-Know-Who's orders."