A Calm Before Something Worse
Harry and his group were in the Great Hall. The celebrations after each trial were starting to feel like a show everyone looked forward to. Unfortunately, everyone understood that the last one would probably come with the final trial, once it was over.
Still, people were already pushing the idea of turning it into a new tradition. A "school unity celebration."
Though honestly… it was just an excuse to throw more chaotic parties.
Especially the students about to graduate, who were a bit annoyed that these kinds of celebrations had only started happening in their final year.
Still, it was better than being part of the class that had graduated the year before, missing all of it, along with how Hogwarts now seemed to be changing.
Meanwhile, Harry and the others sat at their table, eating calmly while talking among themselves.
"It's weird not seeing Sirius wandering around here at lunch. He always tries to show up just to say something ridiculous," Daphne said, glancing toward the professors' table for a moment. Her gaze briefly landed on her mother, who, as usual, gave her a subtle warning look.
Sirius's absence hadn't gone unnoticed.
And for some reason…
it didn't feel like something minor.
"Now that you mention it…" Hermione said, looking toward the Headmaster's seat, which was empty. Then she glanced toward the History professor's spot before turning to Draco. "So… you still don't know what your mother is investigating?" she asked, unable to hide a bit of curiosity.
"Even if she hasn't said anything, it's obvious what she's looking into," Draco replied, his tone calm, but with an edge to it. Hermione and Daphne looked at him immediately, confused.
"It's pretty clear if you've been reading the papers," Harry added, glancing at them for a moment. Then he remembered Hermione had started avoiding them ever since Rita began writing all that nonsense. And Daphne had been far too busy enjoying annoying Viktor Krum lately to bother reading them.
"It's about the supposed death of my aunt Bellatrix, along with several Death Eaters. I'm sure my mother doesn't believe that's entirely true, and whatever she's investigating is related to that," Draco said, his voice turning slightly rough.
"She thinks your aunt isn't dead?" Daphne asked, watching him closely.
"She survived a war serving You-Know-Who, and endured more than fourteen years in that prison… only for them to suddenly claim the Dementors went mad and killed everyone. And among those names, most of them are… familiar. The Dark Lord's inner circle. Where… my father was as well," Draco said, trailing off for a moment, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to say more.
Harry watched him briefly, then continued for him.
"If any of them got out, the first thing they'd do would be hunt down anyone they consider a traitor. And Draco and his mother would be at the top of that list," Harry said.
"Especially since, thanks to the paper, he's now pretty famous as a complete blood traitor," he added, with a faint smirk.
Draco rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed, but still gave a small nod.
"A complete traitor? When was that said?" Hermione asked, confused.
Harry and Daphne both looked at her with slightly amused expressions.
Hermione immediately remembered one of the early articles claiming she was Draco's girlfriend. She straightened up at once, opening her mouth in protest.
"But that article was a lie written by Rita Skeeter," she said in a rush, defensive.
"Yeah, but you know there are plenty of people who don't see it that way. Especially…" Daphne said, glancing toward the Slytherin table.
A small group still clung to blood purity, as always, staring with open disdain at anyone they considered beneath them. And then there was the other group, led by Pansy Parkinson. She seemed to feel Hermione's gaze and looked up for a moment, her eyes filled with pure hatred as she locked onto her.
She drove her knife into a piece of steak as if she were imagining it was Hermione's face.
Hermione ignored her and turned back to the table. "Honestly, the wizarding world is insane," she muttered.
After lunch, the group quickly moved on to their next class. As they descended the castle steps, they headed straight for Hagrid's hut. Today's lesson was Care of Magical Creatures, and Hagrid had finally returned to teaching.
As they approached, they spotted Madame Maxime standing near the entrance to Hagrid's hut. She looked like she had been waiting there for quite a while, perhaps hoping to speak with him.
But when she saw the students approaching and the door still not opening, she let out a quiet sigh, turned around, and began walking back toward the Beauxbatons carriage not far away. Even then, she kept glancing back at the hut, as if hoping he would come out.
But he didn't.
Not until she disappeared inside.
And then, suddenly, the door opened.
As if he had been watching from inside, waiting for the exact moment she was no longer in sight.
Harry and the others exchanged a glance, noticing the timing.
Still, it wasn't really their place to get involved in the love problems of two very large adults… literally.
"It's good you're all here. I've got a nice surprise for you today," Hagrid said with a grin, looking at the students gathered in front of him, before turning his gaze toward a corner of the pumpkin patch.
There, several boxes lined up in a row made everyone swallow nervously, a bad feeling settling in their stomachs. The last time Hagrid had presented something like this, it had been the Blast-Ended Skrewts… and it had started almost the same way.
Even Harry felt his soul drop a little. It wasn't like he was a fan of raising those kinds of creatures… and he really wasn't.
But, to everyone's relief, when they got closer and looked inside the boxes, they found a bunch of small, furry creatures. They looked soft and fluffy, with long snouts. They stood up against the edges of the boxes, lifting their tiny noses, their bright eyes fixed on the students.
Or rather… they were staring very closely at anyone wearing something shiny.
Some of them even raised their little paws, flat like tiny shovels, as if asking to be picked up.
"They're Nifflers," Hagrid explained with a grin, noticing the students' reaction. "You'll mostly find them in mines, and they love shiny things."
Just as one student stepped closer, one of the little creatures suddenly jumped and bit Terry's wrist, snatching his watch in one swift motion. Terry yelped and stumbled back, falling flat on the ground, earning a few amused laughs from the others.
He quickly stood up, clearing his throat. "I just… tripped," he said, trying to play it off, even if his earlier scream had been very real.
"They're very useful as treasure hunters," Hagrid continued, clearly pleased now that everyone was smiling. "Thought we could have a bit of fun with them. I've buried some gold coins around here, and we'll have a little competition. Whoever finds the most wins a prize. And you might want to hide anything valuable, these little ones have quick hands," he added, inviting them to pick their partners.
And Hagrid wasn't wrong.
When Harry reached into a box to pick one up, it immediately climbed up his clothes and made a beeline straight for the pocket where he kept his watch. Harry caught it just in time, lifting it up in one hand and holding it in front of his face. The little creature tilted its head slightly as it looked back at him.
Draco, on the other hand, picked one up more carefully, raising an eyebrow as he studied it. The one he chose stared right back at him… before glancing at his hair, as if considering pulling a strand.
Daphne grabbed the most restless one of the group. It squirmed in her hands like it could barely wait to run off and dig for something shiny.
Hermione's, however, was the calmest of all. It simply curled up in her arms as if it were taking a nap, making her smile softly at how adorable it looked. She didn't notice that one of its little paws was slipping out underneath, slowly pulling at the chain of her pocket watch… which was steadily disappearing into its stomach.
The class turned out to be surprisingly fun. The Nifflers dove into the ground as if they were swimming through it, then popped back out, dropping leprechaun gold coins into their human partners' laps.
The most efficient one, unsurprisingly, was Daphne's. Not just because it was fast and completely unrestrained, but because at one point, she started digging alongside it, pulling up most of the coins herself.
Hermione quickly decided that wasn't fair, and, as usual, almost started a competition that nearly dragged Harry and Draco into it as well. Thankfully, their housemates stepped in before things got out of control… to the point that some of the other students started handing over their own coins just to stop them.
By the end of the class, out of the hundred coins, Harry, Draco, Hermione, and Daphne each ended up with twenty-five, tying perfectly. Everyone else was left with nothing.
But at the same time… a crisis avoided was the best kind of victory.
Hagrid, who had prepared a Honeydukes chocolate as a prize, could only sigh and break it into four pieces before handing them out, finally bringing the class to an end and releasing everyone from what had nearly turned into chaos.
Still, Harry and his group stayed behind to help Hagrid gather the Nifflers.
"Oh, come on, it got away! Harry, catch it!" Daphne called out as her little partner suddenly bolted, clearly not ready to go back into its box.
Harry, who was holding four of them in his arms, couldn't react in time as it slipped right between his legs.
"Alright, I'll get it," he said, placing the others back into their boxes first, not without taking his watch back from one of them.
The others let him handle it while they dealt with a few more troublesome ones that clearly hadn't had enough fun yet.
Harry followed after the escapee, scanning the ground as he searched for it.
But as he moved forward, he realized he was getting closer and closer to the Beauxbatons carriage. That made him slow down for a moment. There were far too many valuable and shiny things inside for a Niffler to get into.
So he picked up his pace, heading straight for the door.
But just as he was about to step inside, someone suddenly came out and bumped into him.
Harry took a step back and lifted his gaze, immediately meeting a pair of beautiful, almost ethereal blue eyes. Familiar.
Then his eyes dropped slightly… to her arms.
The little Niffler was resting there, happily playing with her necklace.
A small smile formed on Harry's lips as he looked back up at her face.
"Well… looks like it found you first."
Fleur blinked, still caught off guard from the collision, her expression shifting into slight confusion at his words.