Percy Jackson and the Triwizard Tournament

90) Ron's Suspicious of Snape - Again

"You said you'd already worked out that egg clue!" Hermione huffed to Harry the next day in Charms. We were practicing the Banishing Charm — the opposite of the Summoning Charm — and everyone was doing quite well, save for Neville. He kept hurtling heavy things, whereas he was supposed to be hurtling around cushions. Heavy things being Professor Flitwick.

"Keep your voice down!" Harry hissed. "I just need to sort of fine-tune it, all right?" Flitwick soared passed us. "Just forget the egg for a minute, all right? I'm trying to tell you about Snape and Moody...." Harry explained that he'd snuck out the night before, to work work on his egg. He told us about how he got trapped in the disappearing step, and spilled everything. Then Filch had appeared, believing that Peeves had stolen the egg. Not long after that, Snape showed up, bothered. He explained that someone had broken into his office. On the Marauders Map, before he dropped, Harry had seen 'Bartemius Crouch.' Moody had come to investigate the noise, and had revealed that he'd searched Snape's office once. Finally, Moody had discovered the Marauders Map, and once everyone had left, he asked Harry if he could borrow it.

"Snape said Moody's searched his office as well?" Ron spoke quietly, though he didn't have to. The noise of our peers was enough to block out our conversation from unwanted ears. "What... d'you reckon Moody's here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?" I frowned. I didn't like Moody, not one bit. Something about him threw me off, and I wasn't sure what. He just always seemed to be too interested in Harry, and I definitely didn't like how he'd taken the Marauders Map. Plus, while I didn't like Snape, I didn't think he was a super evil guy. Though I was curious about something else Harry had mentioned, about how Snape had held his arm as if he'd been electrocuted, only after Moody had said that some marks couldn't be erased.

"Well, I dunno if that's what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he's definitely doing it," Harry said, banishing his cushion to the floor right in front of us because he didn't bother to focus. "Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he's giving him a second chance or something...."

"What?" Ron's eyes widened, his cushion ricocheting through the air and landing on Flitwick's desk. "Harry, maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire."

"Oh Ron," Hermione shook her head, voicing my own thoughts, "we thought Snape was trying to kill Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry's life, remember." She banished her cushion, and it landed in the box we were supposed to be aiming at (I'm fairly certain only Hermione and Draco actually got it in the box. I know I missed it every time). "I don't care what Moody says. Dumbledore's not stupid. He was right to trust Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of people wouldn't have given them jobs, so why shouldn't he be right about Snape, even if Snape is a bit —"

"— evil," Ron finished for Hermione. "Come on, Hermione, why are all these Dark wizard catchers searching his office, then?"

"Maybe he used to be a Dark wizard," I said for Hermione, seeing that she didn't want to answer that question. "Dumbledore's apparently giving him a second chance for something, it could very well be that Snape used to be on the bad side." I tilted my head slightly. "Though, while he's definitely a prick, I just can't see him as a Dark wizard."

"Why has Mr. Crouch been pretending to be ill?" Hermione said after a moment. "It's a bit funny, isn't it, that he can't manage to come to the Yule Ball, but he can get up here in the middle of the night when he wants to?"

"You just don't like Crouch because of that elf, Winky," Ron sent a cushion through the window.

"You just want to think Snape's up to something," Hermione sent her cushion neatly into the box.

"I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he's on his second," I said, watching my pillow fly into Terry's face.

***

We were talking about ways to get Harry to breathe underwater. I wasn't paying much attention, bored of those kinds of conversations. Imagine not being able to breathe underwater. They brought up Aqua-Lungs, turning into a submarine, and just using a Charm.

"Percy can just make a bubble around your head," Ron said, motioning to me.

"He knows what the task is now," I said. "If he can't figure it out, he can drown."

Harry kicked me in the shin.

***

I know I had said I'd let Harry drown if he couldn't figure it out, but I didn't mean it. Especially considering Harry really was trying to figure out a way to survive the task. He skipped meals, searched through the library, and even asked the teachers for help, but he just couldn't figure it out. I could see the nervousness on his face as the day of the second task neared.

With two days left until the second task, Harry got a letter from Sirius. He'd written to him, explaining what had happened with Snape and Moody.

The letter was so short, even I didn't have too much trouble reading it.

Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend by return owl.

"Weekend after next," I said, peering down at the letter. "Here — take my pen and send this owl back straight away." Harry quickly scribbled down the date, and tied the letter back to the owl, watching it take flight again.

"What's he want to know about the next Hogsmeade weekend for?"

"Dunno," Harry said tiredly. "Come on... Care of Magical Creatures."

Hey guys, I hope you're aware that you don't have to read these ANs. If there's anything I need you to read, I put a notice at the top so you can know. Otherwise, you're perfectly free to skip it. I understand some people do, oddly enough, enjoy these little life updates, but to those of you who don't, you don't need to even acknowledge the existence of these ANs. I write these for me, because talking stuff out helps me, but I don't like talking to thin air. And I really have gotten some great advice from those of you who do read these ANs, and I truly appreciate you, more than you could ever know. But you don't have to read these if you don't want to. Anyway, today I went to the river with Kadee, Emblem, and Brianna. It was pretty fun, I made a rock pile, and we got to have some grape soda. While I was illegally (don't tell the cops) watching the new episodes for the iCarly thing, the shady website decided to try and give my phone a virus by hijacking my calendar while I was trying to get out of the pop-up, and I kept getting notifications telling me to go to a much shadier website every five minutes or so. I got annoyed and deleted the calendar, cause I was too lazy to go into settings, but I think I might have just removed it from my screen, cause I kept getting the notifications. Eventually I did turn notifications off, and I think it should run out of annoying me by tomorrow at this time. I hope so, anyway.

Anywho, I hope you have all had a joyous Thursday, and I'll see you on Saturday. Love ya!

PS. Really, guys, I don't expect you to read these. At all. Thank you to those who do, but I don't mind if you don't.