Magic? || Years 1-5

Blaise Zabini: Year 4

"Mr. Bagman surely wouldn't've passed that information on purpose, though," Amisty argued.

Hermione shrugged in reply.

"And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?" Ron's eyebrows disappeared under his bangs, the incredulousness clear in his voice.

"Yeah, but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage," Harry replied.

"We never thought of her, did we. Mind you, she's definitely got giant blood, and she doesn't want to admit it -- " Ron began.

"Of course she doesn't. Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita found out about his mother," Hermione spat out, her head jerking up abruptly.

"Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth," She flicked a glance at her watch. "We haven't done any practicing! We were going to do the Impediment Curse! We'll have to really get down to it tomorrow! Come on, Harry, you need to get some sleep."

Amisty trudged up to the girls' dormitory behind Hermione, still trying to wrap her mind around all the information as she slipped under her covers. She stared up at the scarlet canopy above her head, and soon enough her eyelids fluttered closed.

-=+=-

They were spending every spare minute they could going over hexes with Harry in empty classrooms.

In fact, Professor McGonagall had allowed them to use an empty Transfiguration classroom since she was so tired of finding them all over the castle.

"No, Harry!" Amisty insisted for the thousandth time. "I'm not going to teach you the Stinging Hex!"

"Amisty, c'mon! It's an important hex! Besides, it's not like I'll be casting it on you!" He replied stubbornly.

"But you haven't even mastered the Shield Charm!" She argued.

"You're still doing really well, though. Some of these are bound to come in handy," Hermione added quickly.

"I can master Shield Charms another time," He retorted. "Just once! We don't have any idea what'll be in there!"

She glared at him, shaking her head slightly before, "Aargh... Fine!"

"Yes!" He grinned, hopping from foot to foot happily.

"Where exactly are you going to be casting it?" She demanded as she pulled out her wand.

"Not me, that's for sure," Ron piped up from across the room, still recovering from a Stunning Spell from Hermione.

"No," Harry agreed. "If one of you could throw some of those cushions into the air I could hit them down?"

"I guess..." Amisty muttered, nodding to Hermione, who threw up one of the cushions. She raised her wand, narrowing her eyes, "Piquer!"

There was a blast of light and sparks, and the pillow fell to the ground, still crackling a bit with static electricity.

"I can see how that'd hurt," Hermione winced.

"Wait, do it again," Harry stepped back, his own wand in his hand this time.

"Piquer!"

Harry watched carefully, and after a number of times, he was able to knock down his own few cushions.

"Come and look at this," Ron called them over, leaning out the classroom window. "What's Malfoy doing?"

Amisty scampered over to the window, curious, closely followed by Harry and Hermione.

The four of them peered outside, catching sight of the three token Slytherins standing underneath a tree. Crabbe and Goyle stood to watch, arms crossed and smirking as they flanked Malfoy.

The boy in question was holding a hand to his mouth, speaking softly and gaze flicking around from time to time.

"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," Harry commented, head tilted to the side slightly.

"He can't be, I've told you, those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts," Hermione countered. "Come on, Harry, let's try that Shield Charm again."

Amisty stayed by the window for a minute longer, her eyes narrowed as she surveyed the scene below.

The blond kneeled down, brushing off his hands on his robes before straightening. She leaned further, nose almost brushing against the glass of the window.

Malfoy glanced up, and she could have sworn his gaze captured hers for a split second. That wasn't possible, though, as she was fifty feet above him at least.

-=+=-

Harry received a reply from Sirius the next morning, he had sent one the night he found out about Snape.

If Voldemort is really getting stronger again my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore's protection, but all the same, take no risks; Concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters.

Amisty glanced over at him and was relieved to see he was nodding. He was nervous, definitely, but he definitely seemed far more sure about what he was doing this time 'round.

Short author's note because I'm literally posting this as I'm writing an exciting part so I gotta go. That and I'm gonna go get dessert because dessert is great. Okay, yeah. See you in the next chapter! And thanks for reading!