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 Eight: Dumbledore's Explanations
Harry sat in a chair in Dumbledore's office, allowing his body and mind to relax. Upon returning to Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey quickly opened their carriage and escorted the group back to the castle. While Ron, Hermione, Nancy, and Snape went with Madame Pomfrey to the hospital wing, Professor McGonagall took Harry to the stone gargoyle that led to Dumbledore's office. She informed him to explain everything to Professor Dumbledore, so he would be able to take the proper precautions in preventing another attack.
"Cranberry Artichokes," Harry muttered to himself as he looked around Dumbledore's office. "His passwords seem to get stranger and stranger."
His eyes fell upon the perch where Fawkes, Dumbledore's faithful phoenix, usually stood and sighed when he noticed that he wasn't there. Professor Dumbledore's office hadn't changed since the last time he was there. His desk was covered with different parchments, little astrological gizmos sat on several tables in front of his fireplace, his personal library filled with old books, and the walls covered with the portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts.
Harry smiled to himself when the memory of his first visit to Dumbledore's office appeared in his mind. He was incredibly intimidated about the idea of being in the Headmaster's office, but it turned out to be one of the fondest memories he ever had. During the visit, Harry was worried about whether the Sorting Hat had placed him in the correct house, but after discussing the matters with Dumbledore, Harry knew that he was meant to be a Gryffindor.
He looked towards the top of one of Dumbledore's shelves and found the Sorting Hat. It was quiet and still. If Harry didn't know any better, he would figured it to be a typical old wizard's hat. Harry stretched his arms and then his back as he stood up and continued to look around Dumbledore's office. He was starting to grow restless. He had been waiting for almost half an hour and all he wanted to do was go and see how his friends were doing.
Harry heard something behind him and he turned to find Fawkes standing on his perch. Harry smiled at him and slowly walked towards him, holding his hand out to pet him. Fawkes let out a soft screech as he rubbed Harry's hand affectionately with his head. Harry's smile grew as he softly ran his hand down Fawkes' back.
"How have you been Fawkes?" Harry asked as he looked into its dark eyes. "I am okay, I guess. A lot has been happening to me lately. When has anything ever not happen to me?" Harry let out a soft laugh as Fawkes looked tenderly at him. "I wish you could talk. Maybe you can help me out a bit. Help me figure out how to make all of this stop. Help me figure out why all this keeps happening to me. Help me figure out how to lift this cursed scare off me. I wish you could talk."
Fawkes' heard suddenly jerked, and Harry turned towards the door to see Professor Dumbledore. He gave Harry a soft smile, the same twinkle in his eyes, as he walked over to Fawkes and patted him softly. Harry's sudden mood had lightened at the sight of Dumbledore. Despite everything that has happened and the several times that he was infuriated with him, Harry could always turn to him for guidance and reassurance. Those were two things that he truly needed at the moment.
"I'm sorry for my delayed arrival, Harry," Dumbledore said as he sat in his chair. "I had to talk with Professor Snape and your friends about what they saw tonight."
"Couldn't of you just asked me?" Harry asked, his voice sounding a bit defensive. Does he not trust my memory of how things were? I was there too.
"I am going to ask you," Dumbledore replied as he placed his hands on the table, his fingers together. "However, I know that there are things that you will recall differently from that of the others."
Harry sat in his chair with a confused expression on his face. Dumbledore gave him a reassured smile and continued. "You have knowledge of this situation that the others do not. You know specific details about both Keung Chang and Magnolia Reins that I am sure that the others do not."
"What is it that I know that the others don't?" Harry asked as he leaned back against his comfortable chair.
"That on the other hand, I am not quite sure," Dumbledore responded. He anticipated Harry's curious and lost expression and continued. "I want you to tell me everything. Tell me everything you remember about your encounters with these two starting with your first encounter with Magnolia Reins on your outing with Hermione."
Harry took a deep breath and told Dumbledore everything he remembered. He told him about Reins ability to form a Flamora sword and a Flamora whip. He next told him about her attack on the Knight Bus and how Keung had saved him for the first time. He mentioned the fact that Reins had called Keung `her love.' He also told him about the research that Hermione and Nancy had conducted on Keung and everything they discovered about Veronica Cross' murder. He quickly mentioned the fact that Keung seemed to be using Veronica's wand when he saved Harry. And he finally concluded talking about how Reins had somehow grew more powerful and was giving Keung a difficult time at Hogsmeade.
When Harry finished, he leaned against the chair and took a deep breath, feeling completely exhausted. He looked at Dumbledore, who did nothing but stare back into Harry's eyes with his hands on the table. Dumbledore, too, leaned back in his chair and gave Harry a soft smile.
"You and your friends have done a lot about this," Dumbledore said in a relaxed voice.
"We wanted to know why this was happening. No one seemed willing to help us, so we knew we were on our own," Harry replied, leaning forward and placing his hands on the edge of Dumbledore's desk. He examined its craftsmanship for a few moments before he looked up at Dumbledore again.
"Professor, why did the Daily Prophet only write one article about the murder of Veronica Cross? I figured a story like that would of been in every Daily Prophet paper for ages."
Dumbledore smiled at Harry for he had asked the right question.
"You have come upon something the Ministry of Magic has been hiding for the past eight years," Dumbledore said as he stood from his chair and started to pace around his seat.
"So the Ministry was trying to hush it all up…." Harry muttered softly as he looked at Dumbledore.
"Yes, Harry," Dumbledore smirked as he stopped by Fawkes' perch and started to stroke his feathers gently. "What I am about to tell you is of the strictest of confidence. Though, I feel that you should use the information however you see fit."
Dumbledore walked back to his chair and relaxed against it before he started. "The Minister of Magic, eight years ago, was Millicient Bagnold, a true dark wizard hater. She enforced the strictest of laws with the harshest of consequences to those who showed allegiance to Voldemort.
"Do you recall the time when you gazed into my Pensive and witnessed several young men standing trial at the Ministry of Magic?"
"Yes," Harry replied as the images of watching Barty Crouch's son being pulled away from the courtroom. "They were all Death Eaters…and they all went to Azkaban."
"Correct," Dumbledore nodded. "Bagnold was the woman who oversaw those proceedings. She made sure that if any form of evidence was provided proving the guilt of a possible Death Eater, they would be immediately sent to Azkaban.
"When you defeated Lord Voldemort as a baby, Bagnold took it as a personal insult. She wanted to be the woman who outwitted and defeated the Dark Lord. Her image as a strong leader was compromised when the Wizarding world discovered that a one-year-old boy was able to do something that Bagnold and her Aurors could not. That was when Bagnold made it her personal mission to place every Death Eater she could in Azkaban with a life sentence. She felt that it was his way of saving her career.
"She was doing a satisfactory job too. Many Death Eaters were placed in Azkaban and as Bagnold had hoped, her popularity grew with every Death Eater she captured. However, the death of Veronica Cross was something that threatened to destroy everything Bagnold had tried to rebuild."
"How is that?" Harry interrupted, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore.
"Veronica Cross was murdered by a Flamora weapon."
"A Flamora weapon…why? How would that affect Bagnold's popularity?" Harry questioned as he scratched the side of his head.
"I am disappointed to say that to this day, I do not truly know the complete explanation behind the murder. Though the reason why Bagnold felt threatened by the death of Veronica Cross was that the weapon used to perform the murder is best known to associated with dark powers," Dumbledore explained as he got up from his chair and walked over to his bookshelf. He skimmed through the books and pulled out a particularly old one.
He returned to the table and opened the book. After flipping through the pages, he nodded and placed the book in front of Harry. Harry looked down at it and his eyes grew focused. He looked back up at Dumbledore with his mouth open.
He swallowed and softly read from the book, "Flamora weapons were powerful weapons forged by forces of evil during the medieval times. Their power was difficult to duplicate and they were used to slaughter those that stood in the holder's way, whether it be a battle ready warrior or an innocent child."
"Bagnold feared that her popularity would decline incredibly if the public discovered that a Hogwarts student was killed by a weapon used by dark wizards. She felt that if she had done his job more efficiently, such a tragedy could have been prevented. However the thing she feared most was how the public would view this tragedy. That was when she took action and after threatening several heads of the Daily Prophet, she was able to conceal the truth behind the murder, labeling it as an attack provoked by jealous rage."
"So, was Keung innocent?" Harry asked as he skimmed through the book.
"Yes, that he was," Dumbledore replied as he took a deep breath. "I stood by Keung at his hearing, which was presided by Bagnold, herself. Keung tried to explain his story to them, but Bagnold would not have it, saying that he was a liar and a killer. She did everything within her power to provoke Keung to lose his composure during the hearing. If Keung were to do anything that would look like a physical threat towards Bagnold, Bagnold would have the authority to put Keung in Azkaban with a life sentence.
"To prevent Keung's rage from getting the better of him, I spoke in his defense. I told the judges that there was no possible way that Keung could committed the murder due to the fact that he was not capable of summoning a Flamora weapon. My statement caused many of the judges to stir, mostly because I was not supposed to mention anything about the weapons used during the murder.
"Bagnold immediately acquitted Keung of all the charges, telling us to leave the courtroom before she changed her mind. I was honestly startled at Bagnold's sudden kind gesture. I knew that she would want something in return. My hunch proved correct for I received a message from Bagnold by owl several days after the trial. She told me that she would not press further charges against Keung if I agreed to never speak of the Flamora weapons."
"What did you do?" Harry asked, completely absorbed in Dumbledore's story.
"I told her that I would never accept such a threat," Dumbledore replied firmly, though after taking another deep break, his voice grew calm again. "However, to this day I have never said anything about the trial to anyone. If my memory serves me correctly, you are the only person that I have told this to."
"Why didn't you say anything? What was Keung's side of the story? What happened to Keung and Magnolia?" Harry asked one after another, but stopped when Dumbledore raised his hand and smiled at him.
"Don't worry Harry," he grinned as he lowered his hand. "I will explain.
"As you have read in the Daily Prophet article, Magnolia Reins was the Hogwarts student that reported the murder of Veronica Cross. After Keung was apprehended, he was sent to my office. Keung was a good and kind student but he had lived a very troubled life at Hogwarts. Though I truly believed that under no circumstances would he ever harm another student, especially Veronica. He was truly taken by her.
"Upon his arrival, I asked him to tell me everything. He informed me that the culprit was actually Magnolia Reins. He stated that he overheard several students talking. They said that Magnolia was planning an ambush for Veronica, near the Forbidden Forest, in an attempt to scare her. He hurried to assist Veronica, but found a masked woman attacking her with what appeared to be sword made entirely out of flames. Keung tried to save Veronica by fighting the masked woman, but his attempts fell short. Veronica was killed, but it hadn't been premeditated as what many were led to believe, but Keung informed me that it happened by accident."
"Accident? Veronica's death as an accident?" Harry asked, a complete look of bewilderment on his face.
Dumbledore nodded before he continued, "Keung told me that during his fight with the masked woman, he had successfully knocked her to the ground. When the woman tried to recover, he attacked her again causing her to fall once more. However when she fell, her blade struck Veronica across her chest. Keung immediately came to Veronica's aid and the woman started screaming how harming Veronica was not a part of her plan. He told me that the woman's mask had fallen off when she fell a second time. Magnolia Reins was behind it.
"Keung informed me that before he had a chance to stop her, Magnolia had fled back towards the castle. She immediately alerted me of the situation and I, along with other professors, found Veronica Cross dead in Keung Chang's arms."
"Did you talk to Magnolia Reins about what happened?" Harry asked after thinking to himself for several moments.
"Yes I did," Dumbledore nodded, his fingers running through his long white beard. "She told me that she followed Keung and Veronica into the Forbidden Forest. She claims that the two had been arguing because Veronica no longer wanted to be with him. She said that Keung's reaction had scared Veronica causing her to run to forest, with Keung after her. When she found the two, she told me that she found Keung holding Veronica's body, his robes covered with her blood."
"Did you believe her?" Harry's face grew to an uncertain one.
"I did not believe her story," Dumbledore replied firmly. "I do not require serums or lie detecting devices to tell me when someone is lying. She was incredibly uneasy in her seat and she never did once make eye contact with me. She also claimed that she did not know how to summon a Flamora weapon. However after some research on her family's history, it did state that her family did possess that particular ability. Despite the fact I knew that something was wrong; I didn't have enough information to determine what exactly happened that afternoon in the Forbidden Forest. Though I knew for certain that I did not want Keung to be imprisoned in Azkaban for something he did not do."
"What happened after the trial?"
"Upon returning to Hogwarts, Professor Snape informed me that Magnolia Reins left the school. Magnolia's parents did not want her attending this school after learning the fact that Keung was to return. Keung's life became significantly harder after that day. All the students, including his friends, had abandoned him. The situation escalated when Keung was sent back to my office after getting into a fight with one of his classmates.
"When he arrived, he informed me about his feelings and how he no longer felt welcomed at Hogwarts. I could see that his patience had nearly left him and when he asked me about the Flamora weapons, I made the decision to answer him. To this day, I do not know if that was a mistake. I decided to show him an ancient scroll that was given to me on one my travels many years ago. The scroll contained information regarding the creation of the Flamora weapons, how only those that have been cut by such a weapon could ever wield its true power. The scroll was also the only existing document that had the instructions on how to summon the Flamora weapons."
"So a document does exist…" Harry said softly to himself as he started to think. "Why were you not sure if telling Keung about the Flamora weapons was a mistake?"
"I will answer that question soon," Dumbledore assured him as he took a deep breath. He looked at around his office and his eyes soon fell upon Fawkes, who seemed like he was sleeping. "Do you recall in the article from the Daily Prophet explaining that Veronica's wand was missing?"
"Yes," Harry replied. "The article said that it was strange because her friends said that she would never go anywhere without her wand."
"Well the truth is that her wand was at the scene of the murder. However, no one had recovered it. On the night before the day that Keung was sent to my office for fighting, Fawkes had found it and brought it to me. My intention with the wand was to send it back to her parents with a letter expressing my deepest sympathies. Keung completely lost his composure when he saw the wand on my desk. I did my best to console him, but I knew that this was something that he would have to handle on his own. There was not anything that I could say to him that would keep him from grieving over the loss of someone he loved.
"Professor McGonagall soon appeared in my office and told me that there was an issue that I needed to attend to. Feeling that everything would fine, I told Keung to stay in my office as I went with Professor McGonagall. However, to my surprise, when I returned to the office, Keung was no longer there. After walking to my desk, I found a note on from Keung.
"The note read that he was going to find Magnolia and seek vengeances for Veronica. I then noticed that Veronica's wand was gone and so was the scroll that possessed the instructions on how to summon the Flamora weapons. I was not sure if I should of notified the Ministry of this matter, because it would cause Keung look guilty for Veronica's murder. It would also give Bagnold a reason to send her Aurors after him. I finally decided to allow Keung to be on his own, and I hoped that his knowledge and conscience would give him the strength to move on with his life. After Keung left my office that day, he had never returned to Hogwarts."
Harry sat in his chair silent, unsure about how to respond to everything Dumbledore had just said to him. Dumbledore smiled at him as he crossed his fingers, "Keung has a good heart, but for these past eight years, he has lacked guidance. Be wary when you're around him. He is strong and I know he wishes to protect you and your friends from Magnolia. However his emotions can be very unstable. I am incredibly impressed knowing that he has mastered a Flamora blade, I just hope that it doesn't corrupt him."
"Corrupt him?" Harry asked, causing him to sit straight in his chair.
"The Flamora weapons are incredible dark spells that needs to fee off of the user's life-force in order to be summoned," Dumbledore answered. "If he isn't cautious on how he uses it, the darkness could possibly consume him. Hence my warning to you about being wary when you are around him."
Harry nodded and relaxed in his chair again. Harry's eyes had started to grow sore and he found it incredibly difficult to fight off his yawn. Dumbledore smiled at him again as he rose from his chair.
"It's almost one o'clock. I suggest you get back to your dormitory and get some rest."
Harry got up from his chair and gave Dumbledore a weak smile. "Good night, Professor."
"Good night, Harry," Dumbledore's smile grew warmer, his eyes still twinkling.
Harry left the office and made his way down the steps. The stone gargoyle took him back down to the entrance of the secret passageway. He placed his hands in his pockets and shuddered softly as the cold of the night hit him. He looked back and watched the stone gargoyle conceal the passageway. He slowly made his away towards the Gryffindor common room, allowing his mind to wonder as he walked.
"I hope Keung is all right," Harry muttered softly to himself as he walked up to the Fat Lady's portrait. "Rectatis Ignormus."
The Fat Lady looked at Harry with a piercing glare when she woke from Harry's words. She let out a soft sigh and reluctantly opened the passageway for him. Harry walked into the common room to find Ron and Hermione sitting in their armchairs, both sound asleep.
He quietly walked over to their chairs and smiled at them. He knelt in front of Hermione's and looked at her sleeping form. She looked so peaceful, so relaxed. He softly touched the side of her face with his hand and she opened her eyes. A soft smile formed on her lips when her vision focused on Harry.
When she realized that she wasn't dreaming, so pushed herself off her chair and gave him a tight hug, her arms around his neck, her face buried into his neck. Harry smiled to himself as he wrapped his arms around her and embraced her, never wanting to let go.
"Harry…" Ron said with a yawn as he started to move in his chair.
Harry and Hermione unwillingly released each other and looked over towards him. He raised his arms and stretched his back. He then rubbed his eyes and looked over towards them. Harry took a seat on the couch between their armchairs and watched the fire.
"How is Nancy?" Harry asked.
"She's doing all right," Ron said as he tried to fight of a yawn. "Madame Pomfrey said that she wanted her to stay in the hospital wing tonight to let her ankle heal. She should be out and about by tomorrow."
"What about Snape?" Harry asked, his tone lowering.
"He'll be fine too," Ron said with a harsh tone. "The wounds he got weren't too horrible. She says that he needs to spend the weekend in the hospital wing and he should be completely fine by Monday."
The three grew silent as the watched the fire. Harry's mind was still moving in circles around the facts that Dumbledore had explained to him. He tried to piece as much of it as he could together, but there was still missing pieces.
"What happened?" Hermione asked as she looked at him. "What did Dumbledore say to you?"
"He told me a lot," Harry replied, his eyes still on the fire.
Harry took his time to explain everything he had heard from Dumbledore, making sure to not skip over any details. When he had finished, he looked up at his two friends to see looks of surprise on their faces. He expected this. It was a lot of information to absorb, but not everything that was explained by Dumbledore made perfect sense. Dumbledore was unaware of several things when it came to Keung's story; either that or he didn't wish to share it with Harry.
Hermione suddenly rose from her chair. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it and took a seat next to Harry on the couch. Ron unable to see the paper, too, stood from his chair and settled next to Harry.
Harry looked at the paper and realized that it was a Daily Prophet newspaper dated back several years ago, but on the exact same month and day as the issue that discussed Veronica Cross' murder.
"Where did you get this?" Ron asked as he looked at Hermione.
"The library," she said quietly as she turned the paper towards the article she wanted.
"You mean to tell me that you stole something out of the library?" Ron asked, his eyebrow rose.
"I'll put it back. I just noticed it, but I didn't get a chance to talk about it because we were all getting ready to leave," Hermione replied, trying to make her crime seem like something that couldn't be avoided. "So I took it with me."
Hermione turned to the proper page and the two focused on an article at the center of the page. They saw a picture of a house on fire with several people around it, screaming. Harry looked at the caption and read out loud, "The burning of the Cross Family home."
Harry looked at Hermione and she insisted that he continued. He looked back towards the article and started to read out loud again.
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The home of Malcolm, Jennifer, Willard, and the late Veronica Cross burned down last night. The authorities believed that the burning of the house was intentional when the Ministry of Magic officials were unable to extinguish the fire. The fire was surrounded by sort of protective shield that the officials were not able to bypass. As a result, the officials were not able to do anything, aside from watching the house burn.
By early morning, the house had been completely demolished. Ministry of Magic officials were able to recover the bodies of Malcolm and Jennifer Cross, but were unable to locate their son's, Willard. The Ministry of Magic would appreciate the public's help in finding Willard Cross. Unfortunately, because all of the family photo albums were destroyed in the fire, they were unable to produce a photograph of Willard. The Ministry had to resort to discussing the matters with the Cross family's neighbors to produce a sketch of Williard's image (pictured on the left). Any sort of information to the whereabouts of Willard Cross would be invaluable.
Malcolm Cross was best known for his work as an Auror in Russia and other east European countries. He had placed many dark wizards and witches in the wizard prison, Azkaban, during his twenty years of hard work for the Ministry of Magic. He retired last year from the position as an Auror and took a new position with the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. Jennifer Cross was a humble woman who always placed her family before herself. Neighbors and family friends commented on how their family was always full of joy before the murder of the daughter, Veronica. Willard, their younger child, was a growing boy who should true potential on the Quidditch pitch.
The hearts and prayers of the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet go out to the family and friends of the Cross family. This is a true tragedy and Ministry of Magic will do everything within their power to bring the culprits to justice.
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"Blimey," Ron said with a gasp as he looked over at the sketch of Willard Cross. "That picture would not do anyone justice."
"Ron," Harry replied with a harsh tone. He looked down at the article again and softly said, "So everyone, except for Willard, was murdered."
"Yes," Hermione said as she looked into the fire. "Something doesn't seem right about the whole thing. There are too many missing pieces."
"Hey, you don't suppose that all of this was done by Magnolia Reins," Ron suggested as he lowered himself to the ground, resting his hands behind his head. "You know…like she was assigned by You-Know-Who to kill the Cross family because of all the things that Veronica's dad did."
"It would seem like it," Harry replied, unsure of where his train of thought was going.
"But you said that Keung told Dumbledore that Magnolia Reins killed Veronica on accident," Hermione brought up as she looked at Harry. "I doubt Magnolia would just go out and kill the rest of Veronica's family if the cause of Veronica's death was really an unfortunate accident."
The three grew silent again for several minutes. Harry and Hermione were staring again into the fire, while Ron stared aimlessly at the ceiling of the common room.
"I'm tired, I'm going to get to bed," Hermione finally said with a yawn.
Harry smiled at her as he got up and stretched his back. He looked back down at his friends and saw Hermione smiling with her arms raised towards him. He helped her up and found Ron on the ground with his arms also up.
"You're joking," Harry said with a small laugh.
"Oh Harry," Ron said in a pleading voice. "I can't get up."
"Lazy git," Harry said with smile as he helped Ron to his feet.
They watched Hermione walk up the stairs towards the dormitories and the followed close behind her. She waved at the boys one last time before she made her way through the large door that led to the girls' dormitory.
Ron and Harry looked at each other and made their way up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. Harry allowed his mind to wander some more hoping that it would come across something he hadn't thought of yet, and may help him figure why anyone would want to kill Malcolm and Jennifer Cross.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
A few weeks had passed and the Fall examinations were steadily getting closer. The common room was filled with students reading books and quizzing each other on potential examination questions. Hermione was sitting in her favorite armchair rereading several chapters in her Advanced Potions textbook while Harry laid on the ground in front of Hermione's armchair, looking over several of his textbooks. Crookshanks purred as she curled his body against Harry's side. Ron and Nancy had disappeared; another tutoring session Harry and Hermione figured.
Hermione sighed as she closed her potions textbook. She enjoyed potions to an extent, but it was truly one of her most unentertaining classes. It was a very small class, only consisting of five students, including herself. She was incredibly timid when it came to that class. She didn't know any of the other students, she being the only sixth year in Gryffindor to pass Snape's requirements to enroll into Advanced Potions, and she felt incredibly uncomfortable due to the fact that Snape constantly glared at her.
Snape had been particularly colder to her, Harry, Ron, and Nancy. After recovering from his injuries, he talked with the four during lunch and painfully awarded each of them twenty-five points for saving his life. The four knew that he didn't want to give them points for it. It seemed more likely that someone else believed that they should have be awarded something for the hardships and that Snape should have been the one to deliver the message.
Hermione looked down at the floor where Harry was laying. His textbooks were pushed off to the side and he, instead, had the Quidditch strategy book she had given him for his birthday out in front of him. He had several pieces of parchment dispersed on the floor next to the book, and to what Hermione could figure; he had different Quidditch maneuvers drawn out on them. She then noticed him playing with something in his left hand and a smile grew on her face when she realized that it was the snitch that she had also given him for his birthday.
Harry noticed her eyes and he looked up at her with a bright smile. She placed her potions books on her armchair and sat on the floor next to Harry.
"Preparing for your first game?" she asked as she picked up one of the maneuvers that Harry was designing.
"Yeah," Harry replied as he gave her another smile. "Tonight is going to be our last practice before the game, and in three days we'll see if we're going to win or sink."
"I have all the faith in the world in you, Harry," Hermione smiled at him, which magically calmed his tensed nerves.
Harry had been incredibly worried about their first game. The Gryffindor practices were running smoothly, but the team still faced its usual bumps. William and Ginny were still known to allow their anger to flare towards one another, causing Harry to put their practice on hold in order to prevent the two from getting into a fistfight. Andrew and Jack's beater abilities had improved slightly in the sense they can now somewhat aim where they struck the bludger. They, however, still had trouble getting into their proper positions, which in turn, never allowed them to gain control of either of the bludgers.
The only thing that Harry was grateful for was the fact that Ron and Dean had improved greatly. Ron's reflexes had heightened incredibly and he no longer lost his confidence if he were to allow to quaffle to get by him. He still cursed at himself for not stopping it, but his head remained in the proper setting and he was able to recover. Dean's flying had also improved incredibly. He wasn't prepared to do anything too advanced on his broom, but he was at least able to maneuver and fly in a straight path.
"What are you trying to do?" Hermione asked him as he started flipping through the pages in the book.
"I'm trying to figure out a way for Dean to get open shots at the hoops," Harry replied, still flipping through the pages of the Quidditch book.
"Is Dean good?" Hermione asked with an interested voice.
"He has a really good arm. The best throw I've ever seen. He can throw a quaffle from halfway across the pitch and make it in any of the hoops he wants," Harry explained as he moved from his laying position to a sitting one. Crookshanks got up and stretched his back, before hopping into Hermione's lap and curling into ball. "Though the problem is that all his throws move in a straight path. A keeper could easily stop the shot if he were expecting it."
"Oh," Hermione responded as she looked at the parchment again. "So what you need is a way to get Dean out in the open, but keep the rest of your opponents distracted."
Harry nodded and Hermione gave him a smile. She took his quill from his hand and began to scribble and draw on a piece of blank parchment. Harry looked at what she was writing and realized that she was scribbling down a Quidditch maneuver. He looked at her with a curious expression and decided not to ask any questions until she had finished. When she did, she placed his quill down and showed him the parchment.
"I call it the…hmm…One Time Fake Out Pass," Hermione grinned as she started to point specific things out. "Now, Ginny is really agile on her broom, so you'll have her charge directly into the center of the opposing defense with the quaffle. You then have William fly in after her, making them think that she will pass the quaffle to him for the shot. However, she doesn't pass the quaffle to him, she will pass it over to Dean. Now Dean should be somewhere within passing range of Ginny, but no one will suspect that he will take the shot, if William is there…"
"Then when he receives the quaffle, he'll have a perfect shot at a misdirected keeper," Harry finished, his eyes filled with awe as he looked over the parchment. This made Hermione smile and she crossed her arms with a very satisfied look. "Hermione, this is brilliant! You should be our playmaker."
"Oh no," she responded with a giggle. "It was something that I just thought of. I don't even know if will work or not."
"Believe me," he nodded. "If everything goes according to what you said, it will definitely work."
Harry gave her a very grateful grin, but his attention soon fell on the clock in the Gryffindor common room. It read quarter-to-seven. He then quickly started packing his things, which slightly startled Hermione.
"Sorry Hermione, but practice begins in fifteen minutes."
"It's okay," she replied with a soft smile.
"Thank you very much. This maneuver is really brilliant. We'll call it…The Granger One Time Fake Out Pass," he said with a professional voice.
Hermione grinned at him, her cheeks turning pink. When he was finished packing, he leaned over and quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"I'll see you later," he said.
Hermione touched her cheek and waved at him, as he quickly made his way through the Gryffindor students and out of the common room with a large smile across his face.
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