Sirius Black daughter - Athena Black (Book 2)

Nineteen

Athena was in a very good mood the next day as she had stopped Snape from entering her mind, all to be ruined by Harry and Ron telling her what they saw and heard yesterday. 

Summer was creeping over the grounds around the castle; sky and lake alike turned periwinkle blue and flowers large as cabbages burst into bloom in the greenhouses. But with no Hagrid visible from the castle windows, striding the grounds with Fang at his heels, the scene didn't seem fit to Athena; no better,in fact, than the inside of the castle, where things were so horribly wrong. 

Athena, Harry and Ron had tried to visit Hermione, but visitors were now barred from the hospital wing.

"We're taking no more chances," Madam Pomfrey told them severely through a crack in the infirmary door. "No, I'm sorry, there's every chance the attacker might come back to finish these people off. ..."

With Dumbledore gone, fear had spread as never before, so that the sun warming the castle walls outside seemed to stop at the mullioned windows. There was barely a face to be seen in the school that didn't look worried and tense, and any laughter that rang through the corridors sounded shrill and unnatural and was quickly stifled. Athena seemed to think that Hagrid's hint about the spiders was easy to understand — the trouble was, there didn't seem to be a single spider left in the castle to follow. Athena looked everywhere she went, helped by Harry and Ron. They were hampered, of course, by the fact that they weren't allowed to wander off on their own but had to move around the castle in a pack with the other Gryffindors. Most of their fellow students seemed glad that they were being shepherded from class to class by teachers, but Athena found it very irksome. 

One person, however, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere of terror and suspicion. Draco was strutting around the school as though he had just been appointed Head Boy. Athena didn't realize what he was so pleased about until the Potions lesson about two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid had left, when, sitting right behind Draco, Athena overheard him gloating to Crabbe and Goyle.

"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said, not troubling to keep his voice down. "I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won't want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in. ..."

Snape swept past Harry, making no comment about Hermione's empty seat and cauldron.

"Sir," said Malfoy loudly. "Sir, why don't you apply forthe headmaster's job?"

"Now, now, Malfoy," said Snape, though he couldn't suppress a thin-lipped smile. "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I dare say he'll be back with us soon enough."

"Yeah, right," said Malfoy, smirking. "I expect you'd have Father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job — I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir—"

Snape smirked as he swept off around the dungeon, fortunately not spotting Seamus Finnigan, who was pretending to vomit into his cauldron.

"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy went on. "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger —" The bell rang at that moment, which was lucky; at Draco's last words, Ron had leapt off his stool, and in the scramble to collect bags and books, his attempts to reach Malfoy went unnoticed.

"Let me at him," Ron growled as Harry and Athena hung onto his arms. "I don't care, I don't need mywand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands —" 

"Hurry up, I've got to take you all to Herbology," barked Snape over the class's heads, and off they marched, with Harry, Ron, and Athena bringing up the rear, Ron still trying to get loose. It was only safe to let go of him when Snape had seen them out of the castle and they were making their way across the vegetable patch toward the greenhouses. The Herbology class was very subdued; there were now two missing from their number, Justin and Hermione. 

Professor Sprout set them all to work pruning the Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. Athena went to tip an armful of withered stalks onto the compost heap and found Harry face-to-face with Ernie Macmillan. Ernie took a deep breath and said, very formally, "I just want to say, Harry, that I'm sorry I ever suspected you. I know you'd never attack Hermione Granger, and I apologize for all the stuff I said. We're all in the same boat now, and, well —" He held out a pudgy hand, and Harry shook it. Ernie and his friend Hannah came to work at the same Shrivelfig as Athena, Harry and Ron. 

"That Draco Malfoy character," said Ernie, breaking off dead twigs, "he seems very pleased about all this,doesn't he? D'you know, I think he might be Slytherin's heir." 

"That's clever of you," said Ron, who didn't seem to have forgiven Ernie as readily as Harry."Do you think it's Malfoy, Harry?" Ernie asked. 

"No," said Harry, so firmly that Ernie and Hannah stared. 

A few minutes later Athena felt Harry nudge her. She turned and saw him pointing at something. He was pointing out the spiders.

"Oh, yeah," said Ron, trying, and failing, to look pleased. "But we can't follow them now —" 

Ernie and Hannah were listening curiously. Athena's eyes narrowed as she focused on the spiders. If they pursued their fixed course, there could be no doubt about where they would end up. 

"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest...." said Harry and Ron looked even unhappier about that. 

At the end of the lesson Professor Sprout escorted the class to their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Athena, Harry and Ron lagged behind the others so they could talk out of earshot. 

"We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again," Harry told Athena and Ron. "We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the forest with Hagrid, he might be some help."

"Right," said Ron, who was twirling his wand nervously in his fingers. "Er — aren't there — aren't there supposed to be werewolves in the forest?"  

"There are good things in there, too. The centaurs are all right, and the unicorns ..." said Athena.

Ron had never been into the Forbidden Forest before. Athena and Harry had entered it only once and had hoped never to do so again.Lockhart bounded into the room and the class stared at him. Every other teacher in the place was looking grimmer than usual, but Lockhart appeared nothing short of buoyant. 

"Come now," he cried, beaming around him. "Why all these long faces?"People swapped exasperated looks, but nobody answered. 

"Don't you people realize," said Lockhart, speaking slowly, as though they were all a bit dim, "the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away —" 

"Says who?" said Athena loudly. "My dear young lady, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty," said Lockhart, no matter how much ever cheerful he tried to sound, Athena could sense fear in his voice. 

"Oh, yes he would," said Ron, even more loudly thanAthena. 

"I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," said Lockhart in a self-satisfied tone. 

Ron started to say that he didn't think so, somehow, but stopped in midsentence when Harry kicked him hard under the desk. 

"We weren't there, remember?" Harry muttered. 

But Lockhart's disgusting cheeriness, his hints that he had always thought Hagrid was no good, his confidence that the whole business was now at an end, irritated Athena so much that she yearned to throw Gadding with Ghouls right in Lockhart's stupid face. Athena got a note from Harry: Let's do it tonight. Athena read the message, nodded and showed a thumbs up.