Harry Potter and the Girl Who Never Died

Chapter Thirty-One: The Cloaked Man

Camellia is found at the moment in the great hall, doing her exams for first years. Currently the subject for her exams was Charms. She answered the questions swiftly, finishing a magnificent hour before anyone else, other than Hermione who finished ten minutes after Camellia, and Neville who finished twenty minutes after Hermione. 

There was a practical exam afterwards, Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tapdance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox -- points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers. 

They all had no problems with their exams, and their revision had paid off, not that Ron and Draco would admit it. 

Harry was having quite a lot of nightmares recently. Albus made sure that he saw them, slowly making harry believe that the philosopher's stone was in danger.

Maybe it was because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads, but Seamus, Dean, Lavender, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Draco and Camellia didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry. The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them(not Camellia's gang of course), but he didn't keep visiting them in dreams which Albus showed them, and they were so busy with their studying they didn't have much time to fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to.

Harry still believed that Snape was the bad guy, convinced that Quirrell was being threatened by him, oh how wrong he was. 

~oOo~

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Camellia couldn't help cheering with the rest.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows. "No more studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Camellia, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."

They were chatting happily, ignoring a groaning Ron who was complaining how hot it was. They soaked their feet in the lake, laughing as they saw the bottom of the lake, waving at their friends in their dorm rooms. Though they silenced when they heard Harry rambling, coming closer to them.

"I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting -- it's happened before, but never as often as this." Camellia thought about that. A scar put by Albus Dumbledore. That meant Albus was doing something evil.

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Lavender suggested.

"I'm not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning... it means danger's coming..."

Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot, though the rest listened intently. 

"Harry, relax, Lavender's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down." Neville growled. He was perfectly good at Quidditch thank you very much.

Harry nodded, but he couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something he'd forgotten to do, something important. When he tried to explain this, Dean said, "That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd done that one."

Camellia was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do with work, though. She watched an owl flutter toward the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth. Hagrid was the only one who ever sent her brother letters. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy... never... but...

Harry suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Where're you going?" said Seamus sleepily.

"I've just thought of something," said Harry. He had turned white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."

''He's right.'' Camellia whispered, casting an invisibility charm on them once more. Soon that will be the best charm up her arsenal if she keeps using it like this...

"Why?" panted Hermione, hurrying to keep up.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Camellia and Harry at the same time, scrambling up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?" Harry Potter wasn't the one in charge of talking right now. It was Harry Riddle. The twins, one invisible, another visible, reached the same conclusion at the same time.

"What are you talking about?" said Ron, but Camellia, sprinting across the grounds toward the forest, didn't answer.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes, please," said Dean, but Harry cut him off.

"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."

He saw the four of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows.

"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head -- that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

Harry sank down next to the bowl of peas. "What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I took after... so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy..."

"And did he -- did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Well -- yeah -- how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep--" Camellia groaned. They were doomed. 

Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.

"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey -- where're yeh goin'?"

Harry, Seamus, Dean and Lavender didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds. Camellia removed the charm and the five of them became visible. They met up accidentally with Harry, same expressions on each of their faces.

Harry hugged Camellia, still in control of his body. Camellia hugged her brother, soft tears running down her cheek.

''I miss you sister, and be strong. We can speak through the twin link.'' Camellia nodded. She squeezed her dear brother one more time, before his eyes became dull with a tint of gold, releasing her. The rest looked at them weirdly. Though Camellia's group seemed to understand what happened. They looked at the two of them sympathetically. No one wants to be separated from family, even more so with their twin.