"What d'you mean, Dark Magic?" Harry asked, tensing up.
"The Killing Curse and the Adflatus Quietum spell have been cast," Dumbledore said quietly.
"Professor, the only thing I know on your list is the Killing Curse. What's the other one?" Harry asked, still contemplating whether he really wanted to know.
"The Adflatus Quietum spell is another version of the Killing Curse, but it is in some ways more gruesome. Not only does the person die, but their insides get...wrecked. They are twisted so that no human could possibly put it right or figure out what happened," Dumbledore explained. Harry drew in a sharp breath.
"Professor, I...when I was in the hut, I didn't see any signs of that," Harry stated.
"Of course not, Harry. You have to use it right after the Killing Curse, or say it and then follow it up with
the Killing Curse. In this case, it was performed right after the Killing Curse, so you couldn't see the
person's reaction," Dumbledore said. Harry sat very still, trying to register all of this. So a person posed
as Hagrid had somehow gotten into his hut, and Aurors or Death Eaters had followed him in and killed him, then mangled
him. So where was the real Hagrid? Did he know? Who was the imposter? Then, something occurred to him.
"Hang on. I'll be right back," he said quickly and raced out of the office back to his dorm, where he found the unidentified wand in his trunk. Then, he raced back to Dumbledore's office at top speed. He placed the wand on his desk, trying to catch his breath as he sat down. Dumbledore examined the wand, then conjured up a glass of water for Harry, who drank it gratefully.
"What's this?" he asked, lifting the wand up.
"I...I took it from Hagrid's hut. I found it on the mantel, which was still warm. It was as if someone had been there minutes ago," Harry hastily explained, praying that Dumbledore wasn't going to tell him off for taking it.
"Really? Interesting." Dumbledore muttered, examining the wand.
"And when I performed the Revelatio spell on it, a smaller version of the Dark Mark appeared on it. It disappeared after a few seconds, though," Harry explained. Dumbledore was quiet. Then, he strode over to his fireplace, threw some powder in and said, "Ollivander!" A few seconds later, Mr. Ollivander's head appeared in it. Harry blinked again to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
"Could you examine this wand, Mercurius?" Dumbledore calmly asked.
"Certainly. May I have it?" he asked. Dumbledore nodded and placed the wand in Ollivander's mouth. Ollivander nodded curtly and him and then his head disappeared. Dumbledore wandered back to his desk and sat down behind his desk.
"Professor, where is Hagrid?" Harry asked. "I'd like to owl him and tell him what's happened."
"Already done, my boy," Dumbledore replied. Then, he gave Harry a small smile. "It's all right, Harry. Hagrid knows and he's looking into it. He will be back shortly with some information," he reassured. Harry only nodded. Somehow, he wasn't convinced.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Who could be the imposter?" Ron asked, his face showing alarm. Harry had just told him and Hermione about his discussion with Dumbledore. Harry shrugged.
"Someone who has it in for Hagrid," Hermione replied.
"Who, though? I can't think of anyone," Harry said.
"No one?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head.
"Hang on a minute...What about Madame Maxime?" Ron asked.
"What about her?" Harry said.
"Remember last year after the Yule Ball, when he told her he was a half-giant? And she got all huffy and walked
off?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, so?" Harry asked, still not getting where this was going.
"Think about it! Maybe someone other than us heard them, found out, and decided to go after him," Ron suggested.
"You two SPIED on Hagrid and Madame Maxime?" Hermione asked, shocked.
"No! We were just walking and happened to see them," Ron said defensively.
"Wait...how do you know we SPIED on them? Ron just said 'heard', not 'saw'...You knew they were already going to be there, didn't you?" Harry asked, quickly figuring it out. Hermione blushed a little and exclaimed, "Of course not!"
"Hermione." Ron said slowly. She groaned.
"Oh, all right! Hagrid told me that afternoon that he was going to tell her. I had gone to have tea with him. I didn't invite you two because I couldn't find you," she explained.
"I still don't think Madame Maxime has anything to do with anything," Harry replied, thinking hard. After a few minutes, he couldn't help a yawn from escaping his lips. He glanced at his watch to see that it was past 10 pm.
"I'm off to bed. G'night," he said through another yawn. He quickly got up and left. The other two stayed, still quiet.
"So. Hermione," Ron spoke first.
"So, Ron," she replied. They looked at each other and laughed.
"Why are things so weird? We never had an awkward silence before," she said.
"No, we did. Remember right after the Yule Ball? We came back to the dorm and I asked if you had kissed Vicky good night yet, and you said, 'Yes as a matter of fact,' and then there was a long silence before I started raving," he recalled. She laughed again.
"Oh, I remember! I can't believe you called him Vicky! I NEVER called him that!" she exclaimed, lying down on the couch.
"You should've. That's the only thing you DIDN'T do that night," he answered, also laughing. After a few seconds, Hermione asked, "Were you jealous that night, Ron?" He looked at her face and realized she was serious.
"A bit," he replied softly. She sat up and lifted his chin up so she met his eyes.
"Why?" she asked. She wanted to hear his reason.
"Because...because you were with him, and I was with a girl who HARRY had fixed me up with who had deserted me after the first dance. And you were enjoying yourself so much, and you looked so beautiful that night, and...as much as I wanted to ask you weeks before the dance, I couldn't get the courage to do it. Also, I thought you might say no," he explained. "So I just decided to be mad at myself, and when I looked over at you and Viktor whispering to each other and laughing, I became even more mad at myself and jealous of him. I wished I could be him that night over and over again," he remembered, smiling.
Hermione smiled back. "I wish that you're yourself instead of Viktor. Especially since he's a terrible kisser," she whispered. Ron leaned in and captured her lips in a soft kiss. She didn't hesitate.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry brushed his teeth, then realized he had left his tie back in the common room. He groaned inwardly. He didn't want to go back down. He was warm up in the dorms. He sighed and padded quickly down the stairs to find Ron and Hermione going at it once again on the couch. The anger boiled up inside of him, much to his surprise.
"Be my girlfriend, Hermione," he heard Ron whisper, followed by more kissing.
"Is that a yes, then?" Ron asked. Hermione laughed and they kissed again. Harry suddenly had a terrible urge to knock Ron out, or to push him off the parapets...
"What are we going to tell Harry?" she asked. Harry couldn't stand it.
"Harry already knows," he said loudly enough for them to hear, then stormed back upstairs, his tie still on the table in the room.