DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. They are the property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros, etc. No money was made from the creation of this story.
Chapter Seven: Hogsmeade on All Hallows Eve
The Great Hall was crowded with laughing and smiling students. Today was Halloween and marked the first day that the eligible students of Hogwarts were allowed to visit the wizard town of Hogsmeade. This would be a truly memorable trip because the tenants of Hogsmeade are known to throw the most extravagant parties on Halloween night. Candy would be handed out by the handful, haunted houses would be created, and the night would end with a fantastic fireworks display.
"It's going to be brilliant!" Ron grinned as he took a piece of pumpkin pie from a tray in the center of the table. "I heard from George and Fred that they are going to build a really scary haunted maze."
"That'll be great. We'll have to go visit their shop," Harry smiled as he took a large gulp of pumpkin juice. He noticed Hermione's uneasiness about the idea. "What's wrong Hermione?"
"I've never really liked haunted mazes," she replied as she looked at Harry. "I know they are all fake, but there is something unsettling about having people covered in blood trying to scare you. It makes me cringe."
"Then may I be of service?" a strong voice said from behind her. Harry and Hermione turned to find William Weinstein wearing his usually grin. "I will gladly escort you through the town if you would like."
"Where does he come from?" Ron asked himself as he covered his face with his hands in utter frustration.
"This guy is really getting on my nerves," Nancy whispered to Ron with a look of utter disgust on her face. Ron placed his hands back onto the table and smiled at her. He then turned his attention towards William, wearing an icy glare of his own.
"No, that'll be okay," Hermione said with an apologetic voice. "I'm going to going with Ron, Nancy, and Harry. I will be fine."
"That's perfectly fine," William replied with a saddened voice. He turned and looked at Harry to find him smiling at him. William took a deep breath as his eyes focused on Hermione. He cleared his throat and lowered to his knees, taking Hermione's left hand in his. "Then, would you like to accompany me to the Christmas Ball?"
The sound of chatter around the tables and the clinging of plates suddenly stopped after William's question. She turned and looked at Harry to find him an expression of complete shock. The sounds of students whispering and snickering soon filled the Great Hall. Hermione's face was bright pink and she was speechless. Several girls stood from their seats and were surprised at the fact that William had asked Hermione to the dance.
"I'm sorry William, I can't go with you," Hermione finally replied after a long silence. She withdrew her hand and looked at him with sincere eyes. "I am all ready going with someday else, so I'm sorry."
William, Ron, and Nancy were taken aback by Hermione's statement.
William stood up completely bewildered as he gave Hermione a soft smile. He bowed his head to her and quietly walked away. The crowd of students suddenly grew louder as students passed the word around that Hermione Granger had turned down William Weinstein on the count that she all ready has a date for the dance.
Hermione turned back in her seat to find Ron and Nancy staring at her. She gave them a weak smile as she took a bite of her toast.
"Who are you going with?" Ron asked slowly. Nancy looked at her intently, waiting for her answer.
"Oh it's…" she started. "It's a secret…"
"Secret?" Nancy responded with her mouth hanging open. "Oh, you can tell us."
"I want to," Hermione insisted as she placed her fork down on her plate. Harry's grip on his fork tightened slightly as he looked at her and Nancy. "It's not me, it's my date. He doesn't want me to say anything until the dance gets closer."
"That's a bit strange," Ron added as he took a sip of his pumpkin juice. The silence that Hermione was given them cued the two to stop asking further questions about the subject. They knew that Hermione wasn't going to say and they would only upset her with persistent questions.
They finished their breakfast and made their way to their classes. Hermione was the center of attention in each class with random students coming up to her and begging her to tell them who her secret date was. Hermione refused each time, growing slightly aggravated with her sudden popularity. She finally smiled at the end of Care of Magical Creatures, because it meant that her day was over and she could escape all the persistent questions, finally getting some piece and quiet.
Hermione told the boys that she was going to meet Nancy in the library and that they were going to begin their research on Keung Chang's past. Hermione and Nancy had been trying to find time to investigate the archive of Daily Prophet clippings for sometime, but due their busy school schedules, they never had the time. When they realized that they would have time today, they immediately agreed to do as much research as they could before their trip to Hogsmeade.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
"So do you know who Hermione is going with?" Ron asked Harry as they took their seats in their Muggle Studies class. "You haven't said anything about it. You know something, don't you?"
"I don't know anything," Harry replied as he started to flip through his textbook. Ron didn't believe him for a second, but Harry continued to shrug at him. "She hasn't told me a thing."
"Then what you so nervous about?" Ron asked as he noticed that Harry had begun to sweat.
"I'm just excited about going to Hogsmeade tonight," Harry said with his most convincing voice. "I mean…it's going to be great."
Ron took in a deep breath when he realized he wasn't going to get Harry to talk either. The two sat up and watched their professor enter the classroom with a digital clock. Harry's jaw dropped open when his professor started to explain what it was to the curious students. Harry dropped his head onto his textbook, groaning softly to himself.
"Why am I in this class?"
When they're lesson was over, Ron and Harry emerged from their class and walked towards the library. Within minutes they had arrived and started to move through the aisles of tables, looking for Hermione and Nancy.
They found the two girls sitting in a table covered with newspapers near the back. Nancy and Hermione smiled at the two boys as they sat down in the chairs facing them.
"So, found anything?" Ron asked as he looked at the piles of Daily Prophet newspapers on the table.
"Yeah," Nancy said as she placed the paper she was looking at onto the table.
"We searched through the entire archive, and this was the only article that we could find on it," Hermione added as the boys looked at it. "It didn't even make front cover news."
"We think that the Ministry was trying to hush it all up," Nancy concluded. She sat back in her chair and placed her arms behind her head. "What they were trying to hush up, we don't know."
Harry looked at Hermione, who only returned his gaze with a confused expression. He looked back down at the article and found a picture of Keung with his arms around a girl he didn't recognize. The beautiful girl had dark, shoulder length hair and sparkling smile across her face. The picture moved to show the two looking each other and then softly kissing before the two broke and smiled again. The caption underneath the picture stated: Keung Chang and Veronica Cross several months before Cross' brutal murder!
Harry's eyes focused on their Hogwarts robes and noticed that Veronica had a Gryffindor insignia on her robes while Keung had the Slytherin insignia. Harry scratched his head before he looked down and read the seemingly short article.
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Fifth year Hogwarts student, Veronica Cross, was found dead in the arms of her boyfriend, Keung Chang, also a fifth year student at the distinguished school. The murder was reported by fellow student, Magnolia Reins, who found the screaming Keung holding his dead girlfriend at the edge of the Forbidden Forest near the school. Witnesses stated that there was some sort of commotion that took place before the murder, which caused Cross to flee towards the Forbidden Forest with Chang in hot pursuit. Students thought that the two were heading for a lovers' rendezvous and didn't find the act unusual. Other witnesses stated that the two were found quarrelling when Cross told Chang that she wanted to end their relationship. Authorities believe that bitter rage and jealousy may have been the motive for murder. Cross' silver wand (pictured on the left), which was once used by her father to battle forces of darkness, was never recovered from the scene of the crime. This action was thought to be incredibly strange by several of Cross' friends as they stated that Cross would never go anywhere without her wand. Chang is on temporary expulsion from Hogwarts until he stands trial at the Ministry of Magic.
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Harry blinked several times before he skimmed through the article again. He then looked at the picture that featured the wand. The silver wand was held tightly in the hand of a smiling Veronica Cross. Harry's eyes suddenly grew wide.
"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked as she looked at Harry.
"I've seen this wand before," Harry replied as he looked at her. "It was the same wand that Keung used to fight Reins when we were in front of Leaky Cauldron."
"Are you sure?" Ron asked as he looked at the wand again.
"I could be wrong," Harry hesitated as he continued to stare at it. "But I am pretty sure that it's the same wand."
"What does that mean?" Ron questioned as he looked at the three.
"It definitely makes Keung look guilty," Nancy responded as she examined the picture of the wand.
Hermione's eyes went wide when she examined the picture of Keung and Veronica. She quickly pointed to the insignia on Veronica's cloak stating," She was a Gryffindor…"
"And Keung was a Slytherin," Harry finished, which caused Hermione to look up at him with an impressed smile.
"A Gryffindor snogging with a Slytherin," Ron gasped as he sunk into his chair. "Well that relationship was doomed to fail."
"Don't you see it Ron?" Hermione said as she stood from her chair. "If Keung was a Slytherin…then there is one person we know for certain may have some of the answers we need."
Harry groaned to himself as he sank into his chair and looked at Hermione. With a voice of complete frustration, Harry spoke firmly, "Professor Snape."
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
The ride up to Hogsmeade was a surprisingly quiet one for the four. They looked at each other and occasionally smiled. The four knew that they would have to approach Snape with their questions, yet they found themselves completely intimidated by the idea. They were fortunate to learn that Snape would be one of the professors in charge of chaperoning the students that evening. This meant that they should receive at least one opportunity to go talk to the grouchy potions professor before the night was over.
They looked out the windows and saw Hogsmeade come into view. As the carriages entered the town, they realized that everything was quiet and surprisingly dark. With the fog covering the ground and a faint rotting smell surrounding them, it gave the students the impression that Hogsmeade had turned into a ghost town.
The carriages came to a halt and everyone remained still. Harry looked out of the window and around at the dark stores, noticing something move in one of the windows. Harry looked over at Hermione to find her shuddering softly. With a sudden burst of light and loud crash, everything in Hogsmeade had come alive. Flame torches ignited, store doors opened, and the tenants of Hogsmeade howled as they came to greet their guests.
Harry was somewhat surprised to find Hermione clinging to his arm, shaking hysterically. Ron and Nancy couldn't help but laugh, causing Hermione's face to turn red. Harry smiled as he opened the door and walked out, watching his feet disappear in the fog. He helped Hermione and Nancy out of the carriage, and grinned at Ron, holding his arm out to him. Ron grinned back as he graciously accepted Harry's arm as he descended the stairs. The girls couldn't help but laugh at the two.
The four walked around Hogsmeade examining all the Halloween decorations that hung from the roofs of the shops and the street torches. Harry turned to find Nancy clinging to Ron's arm, Ron's face completely red because of it. Harry looked at Hermione and couldn't help but grin at her. However, she didn't notice. She was walking incredibly close to him and had a worried expression on her face.
Harry didn't understand Hermione. This was the girl that bravely went with him and Ron into the chambers that led to the Sorcerer's stone. This was the girl that daringly followed Harry as they chased down a huge black dog that had dragged Ron into the Whopping Willow. This was the girl that courageously went with Harry to storm the Department of Mysteries. Yet she was completely shaking the moment they had entered Hogsmeade.
Harry looked around and soon found Fred and George's shop. He headed towards it with the three following close behind him. When they approached the store, they realized that the store was covered with cobwebs and what looked like huge spiders crawling over it. Ron's body started to tense as he slowly cowered behind a scared Nancy, terrified himself at the sight of the eight-legged creatures.
"So you've come to test your mortality?" A voice howled from behind them, causing the four to quickly turn, Hermione clinging to Harry again. They were relieved to find Fred Weasley wearing a tuxedo and fake vampire teeth.
"Hey Fred," Ron said as he let out a sigh of relief. "How are things going? Where's George?"
"Hey Ron," Fred smiled as he patted him on the shoulder, eying Nancy before giving Ron a satisfactory grin. "Things are going great, our haunted maze is the most popular attraction here. George is right now inside, running it. You guys interested?"
Harry looked around at the three and knew that they were shaking slightly at the idea. He smiled at Fred and answered, "Sure Fred, why not?"
Harry's response had caused all three to look at him with completely unthankful expressions. Fred grinned as he pointed towards the entrance of the haunted maze. It looked completely menacing, almost as if they were going to walk into the mouth a gigantic beast. "Because all are such close personal friends, I'll waive the entrance fee. Though I would have to hang on to your wands for the duration of your stay in the maze."
"Why is that?" Ron asked, completely startled by Fred's statement.
"Because you stupid git, we don't want you pulling out your wands and shooting everything inside the maze that may frighten you. George and I must be aware of such things and ensure that our workers are safe from those who cast spells uncontrollably. Besides there isn't any real danger inside the maze, so you won't need them." Fred held out a box and the four reluctantly placed their wands inside it.
Harry started to get second thoughts about the whole idea as he watched Fred close the box. He then directed them to the front entrance and gave Harry a smile that made him feel uneasy.
Harry took a deep breath as he walked through the entrance with Hermione closely behind them. Harry felt this incredibly eerie feeling at the pit of his stomach and he turned to find Hermione standing behind him. However to his surprise, he didn't see the entrance of the maze, instead he saw a black wall covered with large green vines.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked in a squeaky voice as she instinctively walked over to Harry.
"I don't know," Harry replied as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding her tightly against him. "I guess he wasn't joking about this place being a maze."
Harry and Hermione slowly walked away from the black wall, examining their surroundings. They looked like they were in the jungle. The trees around them seemed to be moving on their own and certain portions of the ground released white mist that almost made Harry gag when he realized that it smelled incredibly like Dudley's room.
The two found a large hole, which looked like it led into an unforgiving tree. Harry and Hermione examined their surroundings again and knew that this was the only exit they had in the room. Harry examined the hole to see only darkness. He looked over at Hermione and released his hold on her and took her hand in his instead. He took another deep breath as he took a step into the darkness.
To his sudden surprise, his foot caught nothing but air, causing him to fall into the hole, pulling a very unfortunate Hermione with him. They slid down what looked like a pipe for what seemed like minutes. The two occasionally let out a scream when they saw gory ghosts poking their heads through the pipe to stick their grotesque tongues out at them.
Harry made contact with the floor first, falling directly on his back. Hermione soon slid out of the pipe landing on top of Harry. Harry let out a soft groan as he got up with Hermione in his arms. She had accidentally jabbed her elbow into his ribs when she fell onto him.
"That really hurt, Hermione," Harry moaned as he rubbed his chest, Hermione holding onto his arm.
"Well that's what you get for making us come in the place," Hermione responded as they looked around the new room.
Harry noticed that it looked very similar to the Chamber of Secrets. The ground was littered with what looked like animal bones and the walls seemed to move as if it was alive. The two carefully made their way across the room towards a door at the other side. Harry looked cautiously at the ground, expecting something to come out at them.
They suddenly heard someone scream followed by another one and they recognized the screams belonged to Nancy and Ron. They quickly ran into the door, occasionally stumbling over the scattered bones. They saw the two run by them with a shadowy figure moving quickly towards them.
Harry and Hermione moved quietly towards the figure to see that it looked like a mummy. Harry and Hermione looked at each other, but were startled when they heard Nancy and Ron's screams again. Harry looked Hermione and almost on cue, she stopped shaking. The two stood up, holding each other's hand, and nodded to each other.
They took off in a run with Harry in front. They went by the mummy, which caused him to growl uncontrollably as if they had startled it. Harry noticed this and knew that the mummy had to be one of the workers that George and Fred had hired to scare unsuspecting people. The two continued to run, until they found themselves waist deep in what look like mud.
"What is this?" Hermione groaned as she and Harry made their away across it towards the next door.
Harry examined the substance and realized that it didn't smell anything like mud. He touched the substance with his fingers and it felt smooth and somewhat cool to the touch. To Hermione's disgust, Harry licked his finger and looked at her.
"It's chocolate," Harry grinned, causing her face to change to one of complete confusion.
"You must be joking," she replied as she stuck her finger into the substance. She hesitantly licked her finger to find out that Harry was right. It tasted like chocolate, really good chocolate as a matter of fact.
Harry got to the edge of chocolate swamp and climbed out onto solid ground. He held his arms out to Hermione, and helped her out. The two realized the chocolate on their robes had hardened quickly, making it amazingly difficult to move their legs. The two looked forward to find this yellow force field in front of them.
"What do you suppose this does?" Hermione asked as they stopped in front of it.
"Only way to find out," Harry replied as he walked through it. Hermione tried to stop him, but before she could get a word out he had already crossed it. Harry looked down and suddenly realized the chocolate had vanished of his robes. "Walk through Hermione, it's safe."
Hermione did too and they couldn't help but smile at each other as they entered the next room. To their displeasure they discovered that the room looked like a graveyard. They were then startled to see ghosts leaving their graves and howling loudly as they flew around their tombstones. Harry and Hermione carefully walked by each ghost, hoping not to disturb them. Every now and then, a ghost would stare at them threateningly, causing Hermione to squeeze Harry's hand tighter.
They entered what they hoped to be their last room when they found Nancy and Ron being surrounded by what looks like werewolves. Ron and Nancy were completely white, unaware of the fact that Harry and Hermione had shown up.
"I highly doubt those are real werewolves," Hermione whispered to Harry as the quickly hid behind a tree.
"What do you suggest?" Harry asked as he and Hermione looked around the tree at the werewolves, who were now walking in circles around Ron and Nancy.
"We can sneak up behind them and give them a taste of their own medicine," she grinned at him.
He smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek as he nodded. The two quietly crept out of their hiding place and quietly moved towards the werewolves. They stopped and hid behind two small boulders, hoping that they hadn't attracted their attention.
Hermione nodded at Harry and the two quickly moved from behind the boulders. With a loud cry they each grabbed a tail of an unsuspecting werewolf, pulled hard on them.
"Oh you must be joking me!" a man growled as he pulled off his mask. The four looked up to see that the person was actually George Weasley. "You guys aren't supposed to do that. You completely ruined everything. I almost made Ron faint."
"Oh bloody hell," Ron growled as he took a step towards his brother. "You overgrown slime toad. If I had my wand right now…"
"See," George grinned as he looked at Harry and Hermione, "those are the reasons we took your wands away from you before you entered the maze." By this point, the other werewolves decided to remove their masks to show young men no older than George grinning at them.
Nancy and Hermione started to giggle, fear of the haunted maze completely leaving them. Ron gave up his grumbling and decided to cross his arms and ignore George's apologies.
"How far are we from the end of the maze?" Harry asked, causing George to turn towards him.
"Actually, it's right passed that door," George replied as he pointed towards a door that was about five yards away. "Meeting us werewolves was the last scare you were suppose to get out before you leave the maze."
"Thanks," Hermione replied as she and Harry made their way towards the door. "We'll see you later."
"That was a horrible trick to play," Ron growled as he looked at George.
George shrugged his shoulders and placed his mask over his head, getting prepared for the next group of unsuspecting victims. Nancy smiled at Ron, which help calm his nerves. The two then made their way through the last door.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
"So you guys have fun?" Fred asked as he pulled out the box that held their wands from inside of his jacket.
"It wasn't too bad," Harry smiled at the others as he took their wands out of the box. "Thanks again."
"No sweat, Harry. Come back again if you feel like having another go," Fred smiled as he turned his attention to several other Hogwarts students staring at the entrance of the maze with intrigued expressions.
"Well that was definitely a unforgettable experience," Ron grumbled as he took his wand from Harry. Harry smiled at him as he handed Hermione and Nancy their wands. They all placed their wands back into their pockets and let out a large and happy sigh, all glad to make it out of the haunted maze without too much trouble.
"Should we go talk to Snape?" Nancy asked as the four continued to walk around Hogsmeade. Tenants wearing masks jumped out at them from behind dark shadows occasionally scaring them. Ron grumbled to himself each time it happened, while Hermione's face found a home buried against Harry's shoulder.
"Yeah, we should," Harry sighed as they started to look around for their grouchy professor.
"Why, Hermione, getting cozy?" Ron asked with a peculiar voice, when he noticed Hermione's closeness to Harry.
"No," she replied as she released Harry. "I don't like all these haunted things. My parents took me to one of those `made up' haunted houses when I was little, and the people inside scared me so badly that I've been skeptical ever since."
Ron snickered after hearing Hermione's response, but was then softly elbowed in the side by Nancy. He turned to her and found her looking at him with a stern expression. Ron immediately stopped, figuring that Nancy must have shared a similar experience because she too was shaky once they had entered Hogsmeade.
"There he is," Harry said as he pointed towards the Three Broomsticks tavern. The others looked to find Snape standing near the entrance with his hands behind his back. He was wearing a look of utter disgust on his face, and the four could guess that he didn't want to be supervising the students. Interestingly enough, none of the tenants of Hogsmeade attempted to scare Snape, knowing that they would not only fail, and in turn, be scared by his rage.
The four made their way towards the tavern, moving around other students as they walked by. To simplify things, they got into a line with Harry in the lead. Though with Harry suddenly stopping, the three ended up walking into each other.
"What was that for?" Ron asked, but soon went silent to see Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe standing in front of them.
Hermione immediately gave Cho an icy glare, but Cho hadn't noticed due to the fact that she was looking at Harry. She looked incredibly timid with her hands in front of her, her fingers moving uneasily.
"Harry," she said as she looked towards the ground. "Do you think I can talk to you for just a minute?"
"Uh…sure, I guess," Harry responded, causing Hermione to grow tense as she looked at him.
Cho started to walk away from the group with Harry behind her, leaving Marietta at the mercy of dirty looks from Ron and Hermione. Marietta wasn't aware of it, but it was her who squealed about the D.A., a group formed by Harry and Hermione to teach students how to use defensive spells. The end result forced Dumbledore to go into hiding, which allowed Professor Umbridge to assume the position of Head of Hogwarts.
Cho stopped when she felt that they were out of listening distance from the remainder of the group. Harry stopped and stood next to her, his hands in his pockets, his heart beating strangely. He turned to look at the group and saw Hermione looking at him with a very worried expression on her face. Harry turned to look back at Cho, but was suddenly surprised when she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around and burying her face into his shoulder.
"I was so worried about you," she sobbed, tightening her grip on Harry.
Harry's face went white at Cho's actions. He reluctantly started to pat her back, and his body tensed when he saw the incredibly hurt expression on Hermione's face.
"It's okay Cho," Harry said, continuing to pat her back softly. "That happened ages ago. I'm fine now."
Cho finally released him and took a small step back, her eyes filled with tears. "I meant to talk to you several times earlier during the year…but I always lost my nerve. I was really worried when I heard about your attacks."
"It's okay," Harry replied with a weak smile. "Everything's okay."
"Um…" Cho started as she looked towards the ground again. "I'm sorry about how things were last year. I mean it was really awkward for both of us. Do you think we could start over? What I want to say is, do you want to go with me to the Christmas Ball?"
"Cho…I," Harry hesitated, trying to find the words in his head. "I would like to, but I can't. I've already asked someone."
Cho jerked her head up and looked into his eyes, the corners of her mouth tensing. She turned to look at the group and noticed Hermione staring at Harry with her arms crossed. She let out a soft sigh and gave Harry an incredibly weak smile. She nodded before she looked over at the group again.
"Mareitta," she called, causing Marietta to quickly walk over towards her. Cho gave Harry another weak smile and a slightly harsh voice, "I hope you have a good time with Hermione Granger."
When the two walked away, Harry slowly made his way back to Hermione, Ron, and Nancy, knowing that he would have to explain what just happened. When we got to them, he looked at the three. Hermione still had her arms crossed, refusing to make eye contact with him. Ron and Nancy simply looked at him with confusion written all over their faces.
"Uh…" Harry started as he took a deep breath. "She said that she was worried about me and then asked me to the Christmas Ball."
"And what did you say?" Hermione suddenly replied finally making eye contact with him.
"I said that I all ready had a date," Harry answered.
Hermione's body loosened as she sneaked him a quick smile. Ron and Nancy gave Harry an even greater confused look. Harry opened his mouth in attempt to answer their questions before the two could pose them, but was then interrupted by Hermione.
"We should go talk to Snape now," she said as she looked over at him. Snape looked almost like a statue, not moving anything for the exception of his eyes.
"Right, we should," Harry replied with a nod as he started to walk towards him, Hermione following behind. Ron and Nancy looked at each other utterly lost at what had just happened. Nancy shook her head and grabbed Ron's arm as the two quickly caught up to Harry and Hermione.
Harry's pace soon lowered as they approached Snape. Snape's gaze soon fell upon him, but he did nothing but stand in his spot. Harry stopped and looked at him, trying to find the words he wanted to say.
"What is it, Potter?" Snape finally asked as he turned to look at Harry and his three companions.
"We were wondering," Hermione said, saving Harry from standing their speechless, "could you tell us anything about Keung Chang?"
"How do you know that name?" Snape retorted. Harry noticed the fire grow inside his eyes, which made Hermione feel uneasy.
"That was the name of the man who rescued me," Harry answered, his voice steady and firm. "We found a Daily Prophet article on him and it said that he was a Slytherin. We were wondering if you could tell us a little about him."
"That is none of your concern," Snape replied as he turned away and looked out towards the street again. "This is too big, even for you."
"But this is real important," Nancy blurted out, causing the other three to look at her.
"Ms. Mason," Snape snarled, not turning to face them, "if you raise your voice at me one more time, you will give me no other choice by to…"
Snape was suddenly cut off when something flew between Harry and him, hitting the wall behind them. They turned and were startled to find a dagger stuck to the wall. Harry's scar started to burn incredibly, which in turn, made his entire body tremble. He slowly turned his head and his heart fell to the pit of his stomach.
Magnolia Reins stood several yards away with a menacing grin across her face. Snape's eyes grew wide at the sight of her. Snape hesitated to speak as he slowly took a few steps towards her. The four took deep breaths and slowly followed behind him, wondering what Snape was planning to do.
Snape suddenly stopped and looked over to his right. They saw him looking at a very worried Professor Sprout, who was also staring at Reins. Snape took a deep breath and yelled to her, "Get the students back to the school, immediately! It isn't safe here!"
Professor Sprout nodded and soon informed the other professors. Within minutes, the students were grumbling and groaning when their professors forced them out of the town towards their carriages. The tenants of Hogsmeade noticed the pandemonium and wondered what was going on. However when their eyes focused on Snape and the woman, they knew trouble was going to start. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Nancy didn't once move from behind Snape.
"Go now, Potter," Snape growled as he slowly pulled out his wand. "Don't play the hero, boy."
"No, professor," Harry replied as he too pulled out his wand. "I need answers and if I don't get them from you, I'll just have to ask her."
"You are foolish!" Snape retorted as he looked down at him. "You are no match for her. Now leave before I give you detention for the entire year!"
"I'm not going!" Harry shouted, his wand held firmly in his hand.
"We can't go, professor," Hermione spoke as she walked to Harry's side and pulled out her wand. "That woman is after Harry. If Harry runs for the carriages, she will surely follow."
"Exactly," Nancy added as she took her place next to Hermione with her wand raised. "We'd be endangering all the students if we tried to get away now."
"And you know how that's against the whole hero code," Ron concluded with a smirk as he stood by Nancy, his wand ready.
"Stand back, then," Snape said with an aggravated voice as he took a step forward. "I'll see if I can get some answers."
Before Harry could say anything, Snape had left the four, walking slowly towards Reins. Reins grin grew wider as she, in turn, took out her wand and took several steeds towards Snape. Hermione felt Harry's body tense. She took him by the arm knowing that Harry would also run in once the fight begun.
"Why are you doing this Magnolia?" Snape asked as he raised his wand at her.
"Well isn't it my favorite professor," Reins hissed as she raised her wand at him. "I have nothing against you. I just want the boy."
"As much as I despise the boy myself," Snape replied as he came to a halt, "I can't let you have him."
"Now that is truly a shame," Reins grin grew even wider as she too stopped her advancement. "If you don't step out of the way, I will force to go through you."
"What's going on here?" a voice came from behind her. She turned to find George and Fred Weasley with their wands out. "Who are you?"
"None of your concern," she winked as she suddenly raised her wand, "Stupefy!"
Before Fred and George had time to react, they were struck by the red sparks and fell onto their backs unconscious.
"You wretched hag!" Ron yelled as he took a step forward. Hermione and Nancy quickly grabbed Ron's robes to prevent him from taking another step, worried at what Reins would do to him if he were to do something rash.
"You know," Reins turned to face Snape again, "I've been hearing people call me that a lot lately and I am really beginning to resent it."
Snape assumed his dueling stance, readying his wand above his head. This action caused Reins to laugh softly as she readied herself, her wand pointing directly at Snape's head. She shook her head slowly at him before she took a step towards him.
"Expelliarmus!" Snape roared launching sparks of light at her.
Reins quickly ducked out of the way and screamed, "Incendio!"
Snape took a step back and scratched the air with his wand, causing the fireball to crash into an Invisible Wall.
Harry watched intently as Snape battled Reins, though something didn't look right. He watched Reins movement in correlation to Snape's and realized that something was really off. Hermione noticed Harry's gaze and carefully rested her hand against his arm. Harry didn't feel Hermione's touch, his mind content of finding the obscurity in the fight.
"She's holding back," a man said as he took a spot next to Harry. The four looked up and were stunned to find Keung standing by them with a small smirk on his face.
"Is she?" Harry asked as he focused his attention back on the fight.
"She's leading him into a false sense of hope, and once he feels confident he can beat her, he will start to get reckless and drop his guard," Keung explained as he crossed his arms. "When Snape does that, she will truly strike."
"You need to help him," Hermione quickly said as she moved her gaze from the battle to Keung.
"Help Snape?" Keung replied, contorting his face from the suggestion. "I will only help that pompous, arrogant buffoon when he needs it. I actually wounded mind watching him get knocked around a bit, though."
Hermione and Nancy were completely taken aback by his remark and looked at each other with unsure eyes. They returned their attention onto the battle, bewildered about to say in response to Keung.
"Stupefy!" Snape shouted, launching more bedazzling sparks towards Reins.
She let out a soft cackle as she scratched the air with her wand to form her own Invisible Wall. She started to slowly walk towards Snape giving him a bright but deadly smile. Snape unsure of her next move started to slowly back away from her.
"Motus!" Reins roared as she pointed her wand towards the ground. The ground around her started to rumble causing Snape to lower his stance. A crack soon formed on the ground in front of her and quickly traveled towards Snape. Snape tried moving away, but the crack seemed to follow him and before he could react a second time, the crack stopped near his feet, causing the ground to explode.
Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Nancy took a step back at the sight of the ground erupting. Snape fell onto the ground unconscious, his robes torn and his legs bleeding freely. They watched Reins laugh as she turned her attention to them. Her focus soon fell upon Keung and her hardened expression changed to one of complete joy.
"Harry, I need you and your friends to get Snape and leave Hogsmeade immediately," Keung ordered has be placed a firm hand on Harry's shoulder. "I'll take care of our little friend here."
"She looks different from before," Harry replied as they watched Reins walk over, her wand lowered.
"I've noticed," he nodded as he started to walk towards Reins. "I'll distract her, you get Snape and run."
Reins smile soon turned to one of complete malice as she pointed her wand at Keung. Keung took a deep breath as he pulled his wand out of his pocket. Nancy, Ron, and Hermione soon noticed its distinct color and realized that it did look exactly to picture provided by the Daily Prophet article.
"You look good," Reins said with what seemed like a friendly voice. Harry looked at the others and nodded as they slowly started to make their way towards the fallen Snape.
"As do you," Keung replied softly as he stopped and lowered himself in his dueling stance. "Let's get started, shall we?"
"My, someone in a hurry tonight?" she laughed as she assumed her dueling stance. "This will be a lot of fun."
Reins suddenly lunged forward forming her flamed sword at the end of her wand. Keung quickly moved out of the away completely surprised by her sudden increase of speed. Keung regained his footing and summoned his Flamora blade. Harry was right. Something had definitely changed since the last time the two had faced. She seemed more aggressive and her smile was as terrifying as ever.
Harry looked over at the two combatants as the others settled themselves around Snape. He laid motionless on the ground with his eyes closed. Hermione shook him softly, but he didn't respond.
"He's still breathing," Nancy whispered as she placed her hand under his nose.
"Oh shucks," Ron groaned as he looked at Nancy. Nancy shot him an unappreciated look before she turned to find Harry staring at Keung and Reins.
"Mobilicorpus," Hermione softly chanted, her wand pointed at Snape. Snape's body started to levitate and Hermione nodded at Nancy. Nancy turned and gave Harry's robes a tug to attract his attention. He turned and looked at Nancy, who signaled that they were ready to go.
"All right," Harry whispered as the four slowly started to creep towards the entrance of Hogsmeade. He turned his head again and saw Keung and Reins in the middle of an intense fight. However, Harry's nerves tightened when he realized that Keung wasn't doing as well as he did in front of the Leaky Cauldron.
Keung stumbled backwards after parrying Reins' blade. He was breathing deeply with a totally bewildered look on his face. Reins swung her sword a few times, but Keung was able to maneuver around them without too much difficulty. He took several steps back and held his flamed blade in front of him.
"Struggling?" she grinned at him as she slowly walked towards him, closing their distance. Keung's attention quickly moved to Harry and his friends, pleased to see that they were moving Snape. Rein noticed his gaze and immediately turned her attention towards the four.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Harry, get down!" Keung shouted over to them. Harry and the others looked towards Keung to find Reins advancing towards them with a swift dash.
"Run!" Harry roared, causing Hermione and Ron to run towards the entrance, Snape levitating behind them. Nancy realized that Harry was going to stand his ground against Reins and ran to his side to aid him.
"Stupid boy!" Reins screamed as she whirled her sword behind her causing her sword to stretch into a whip.
When she was within the proper distance, she swung her whip towards Nancy. Harry realized this and quickly grabbed Nancy, pulling her out of the way just as the whip flew by them. The two fell awkwardly to the ground and he heard Nancy cursing as she tried to get up.
Reins pulled the whip back and was about to fling it towards them again when she felt something hard it her from behind. She collapsed to the ground and laid there quietly. Harry and Nancy looked around and found Hermione and Ron running back towards them.
"Harry…Nancy, you okay?" Hermione panted as she helped Harry to his feet. Harry nodded and smiled at her, turning his head towards Keung, who was slowly approaching them.
"My ankle," Nancy winced as Ron helped her to her feet.
"It looks like it's sprained," Ron said after he quickly examined her ankle. Nancy winced again as she tried to apply weight onto her foot. "Here, I'll carry you."
Nancy nodded as Ron lifted her in his arms. He then turned and nodded to Harry and Hermione. Harry and Hermione looked at the approaching Keung, but were suddenly startled when he grabbed the collar of Harry's robes.
"What do you think you're doing?" Keung growled at Harry. Harry's expression fell to one of shock and fear. Keung turned and looked at Hermione, his eyes cold, before he looked at Harry again. "You are doing nothing but endangering your friends. Get out of here when you still can."
"Keung!" Reins screamed from behind them as she raised herself from the ground. Keung turned and found her face covered with dirt. She lifted her wand again and formed her Flamora sword. She pointed the blade towards Keung and laughed. "I can take care of the boy later, but you are truly starting to test my patience."
"Please Harry," Keung began again, his eyes softening. "Get away from here. She has been completely transformed and I don't know how long I can hold her off."
Harry nodded and Keung released his grip on his collar. He gave Harry a weak smile before he turned to face Reins again, his wand ready. Ron quickly made a run towards the entrance, holding Nancy in his arms, with Harry and Hermione close behind.
Harry heard Keung's wand ignite again and soon could hear their blades clashing. After hearing Keung's words, he knew that his first priority should have been the safety of friends. For that matter, he didn't bother to turn and look behind them to watch how Keung did. He gritted his teeth and ran as fast as he could behind Hermione.
He noticed a single carriage left behind and an impatient-looking threstral waiting for them. Harry waited for Ron to get Nancy into the carriage and quickly helped Hermione inside before getting in himself. He shut the door and found an unconscious Snape curled up on the floor. Before another word could be said, the threstral began to pull the carriage away from Hogsmeade and away from Keung.
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