Change the Future

HBP 15

Harry told Ron and Hermione everything that had happened during next morning’s Charms lesson.

“Wow,” Ron said, when Harry had finally finished telling them everything, Ron was waving his wand very vaguely in the direction of the ceiling without paying the slightest bit of attention to what he was doing. “Wow. You’re actually going to go with Dumbledore and try and destroy wow.”

“Ron, you’re making it snow,” Hermione said patiently, grabbing his wrist and redirecting his wand away from the ceiling from which, sure enough, large white flakes had started to fall. Lavender Brown glared at Hermione from a neighboring table through very red eyes, and Hermione immediately let go of
Ron’s arm.

“Oh yeah,” Ron said, looking down at his shoulders in vague surprise. “Sorry looks like we’ve all got horrible dandruff now”
He brushed some of the fake snow off Hermione’s shoulder. Lavender burst into tears. Ron looked immensely guilty and turned his back on her. “We split up,” he told Harry out of the corner of his mouth. “Last night. When she saw me coming out of the dormitory with Hermione. Obviously she couldn’t see you, so she thought it had
just been the two of us.”

“Ah,” Harry said. “Well you don’t mind it’s over, do you?”

“No,” Ron admitted. “It was pretty bad while she was yelling, but at least I didn’t have to finish it.”

“Coward," Hermione said, though she looked amused.

"Teenage drama" George says with a dramatic sigh.

They had one of their rare joint free periods after Charms and walked back to the common room together. They were climbing through the portrait hole into the sunny common room, and only vaguely registered the small group of seventh years clustered together there, until Hermione cried.

“Katie! You’re back! Are you okay?”
Harry stared: It was indeed Katie Bell, looking completely healthy and surrounded by her jubilant friends.

“I’m really well!” she said happily. “They let me out of St. Mungo’s on Monday, I had a couple of days at home with Mum and Dad and then came back here this morning. Leanne was just telling me about McLaggen and the last match, Harry”

“Yeah,” Harry sais, “well, now you’re back and Ron’s fit, we’ll have a decent chance of thrashing Ravenclaw, which means we
could still be in the running for the Cup. Listen, Katie” He dropped his voice as
Katie’s friends started gathering up their things apparently they were late for Transfiguration. “that necklace can you remember who gave it to you now?”

“No,” Katie said, shaking her head ruefully. “Everyone’s been asking me, but I haven’t got a clue. The last thing I remember was
walking into the ladies’ in the Three Broomsticks.”

“You definitely went into the bathroom, then?” Hermione said.

“Well, I know I pushed open the door, so I suppose whoever Imperiused me was standing just behind it. After that, my
memory’s a blank until about two weeks ago in St. Mungo’s. Listen, I’d better go, I wouldn’t put it past McGonagall to give me lines even if it is my first day back” She caught up her bag and books and hurried after her friends, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione to sit down at a window table
and ponder what she had told them.

“So it must have been a girl or a woman who gave Katie the necklace,” Hermione said, “to be in the ladies’ bathroom.”

“Or someone who looked like a girl or a woman,” Harry said. “Don’t forget, there was a cauldron full of Polyjuice Potion at Hogwarts. We know some of it got stolen. I think I’m going to take another swig of Felix,” Harry said “and have a go at the Room of Requirement again.”