Muggle | 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑊𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

Chapter 116

"Well?" Harry demanded, his eyes piercing into mine. "Didn't you?"

      I knew I had to make a choice; either to tell him that I knew but couldn't tell anyone, which might've made him angrier than he already was.

     Or to lie and say no; but in this case, I was still worried because I had told them I only knew big events. And to be honest, a girl being cursed by a necklace meant to kill Dumbledore doesn't classify as a small matter.

I knew Harry was going to hate me if he found out that I was lying all along. I knew I was probably going to get the same reaction as Fred's when he had figured out that I knew about his father being attacked.

But I had to be responsible for once. I had to keep it all a secret, until the time was right.

"No," I finally said in a small voice, trying to look firm and I shook my head at him. "But, listen... even if I knew things like this, I still couldn't tell you. Dumbledore has forbidden me. And if you trust him, then you should trust his decisions as well."

Harry looked at me intently for a second longer before nodding and then taking off his scarf. Ron let out a gasp as he then bent down and carefully lifted the necklace, covering it with the scarf.

"We'll need to show this to Madam Pomfrey," he said.

And so we followed Hermione and Leanne up the road, back toward the castle grounds.

"It was Malfoy," Harry said out loud, not being able to keep it to himself anymore.

"Look," Ron started hesitantly, "didn't that girl say Katie got it in the girls' bathroom?"

"She said she came back from the bathroom with it, she didn't necessarily get it in the bathroom itself —"

"McGonagall!" said Ron warningly.

Sure enough, when we looked up we saw Professor McGonagall hurrying down the stairs to meet us.

"Hagrid says you five saw what happened to Katie Bell — upstairs to my office at once, please!"

     After following McGonagall up to her office and explaining all that happened, Harry suddenly asked,

"Professor, can I see Professor Dumbledore, please?"

"The headmaster is away until Monday, Potter," said Professor McGonagall, looking surprised.

"Away?" Harry repeated angrily.

"Yes, Potter, away!" said Professor McGonagall sharply. "But anything you have to say about this horrible business can be said to me, I'm sure!"

Harry hesitated at first, but finally blurted out, "I think Draco Malfoy gave Katie that necklace, Professor."

      I groaned to myself at that.

"That is a very serious accusation, Potter," said Professor McGonagall, after a shocked pause. "Do you have any evidence?"

"No," Harry shook his head feebly, but then told her all he had seen in Diagon Alley.

"Potter, I appreciate you telling me this," McGonagall started after he was done explaining, "but we cannot point the finger of blame at Mr. Malfoy purely because he visited the shop where this necklace might have been purchased. And what's more, is that Mr. Malfoy was not in Hogsmeade today."

Harry gaped at her for a few seconds.

"How do you know, Professor?"

"Because he was doing detention with me. He has now failed to complete his Transfiguration homework twice in a row. So, thank you for telling me your suspicions, Potter," she firmly, "but I need to go up to the hospital wing now to check on Katie Bell. Good day to you all."

       And with that, she walked toward the classroom's door and opened it, gesturing us to get out.

      But as I was just about to follow Harry, Ron, and Hermione, McGonagall stopped me by saying, "You stay behind, Hooper. I need a word with you."

       Gulping, I nodded and walked back inside, ignoring the trio's curious glances and so closed the door behind me.

     "Yes, Professor?" I said worriedly.

      "Is there anything you would like to say about this matter, Hooper?" she asked, looking down at me sternly.

       I was growing irritated at hearing things like that and now I wished that nobody else knew my secret.

       "Well?" said McGonagall.

       I sighed. "I'm sorry, Professor. But I'm under strict orders from Professor Dumbledore to only speak to him on matters such as this. Surely you trust him?" 

      McGonagall looked down at me for a few seconds before she nodded. "Very well, Hooper. You may go."

      Bidding her goodbye, I left the office and went back to the Gryffindor common room, my head hurting.

***

Ron, Hermione, and I made a silent agreement to ignore Harry each time he brought Malfoy up.

      Even though I knew Harry was right all along to suspect him, I still wanted to bang my head on a wall because of his obsession. He never seemed to let the matter go and all of us were growing tired of it.

Before, everything had happened so fast that I could barely process any of it. But now that things had cleared out around me a bit more and I had finally taken it all in and had let them sink in, my mind freely wondered once again.

I often thought back at my last visit to see Fred, a goofy smiled spreading across my face each time I was reminded of that night.

I fell into a daze in the middle of classes, thinking of how he had told me 'I love you' as he held me.

But each time I pictured what had happened afterward, I felt a shiver run down my spine and my stomach lurched excitedly.

And I kept wondering what would've happened if we hadn't stopped...

"Miss Hooper!" My head shot up as Professor McGonagall snapped one day during a lesson.

"Y-yes, Professor?" I said hesitantly, all eyes now on me.

"You will do well to pay attention to my class," she said firmly, and that was enough for me to stop my mind from wondering during her lessons.

Slughorn kept his dinner parties and suppers going, inviting us. Hermione and I attended them each time, but Harry had still failed to show up.

At first it was fascinating for me to hear all about famous and well-known witches and wizards, although both Hermione and I had agreed that it wouldn't kill him to take a break from bragging about all the well-connected people he knew.

"Tonight was at least better than the last one," said Hermione earnestly.

     We had just returned from Slughorn's office, the both of us sitting in the common room, chatting on the couch with Crookshanks purring next to us.

Hermione and I were now getting along better than before, which I was extremely glad about, because not once had I felt alone as she always kept me company.

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad," I said, nodding. "I was really glad to meet a famous Quidditch player up-close. I mean I know I'm not a fan of flying, but I still love Quidditch. We met the captain of the Holyhead Harpies, for God's sake!"

"She seemed a bit full of herself, though, didn't she?" Hermione mused.

"A little," I shrugged. "She's only a few years older than Sirius... do you think he knew Gwenog Jones personally back in his Hogwarts days?"

"Dunno, maybe —"

But her words were cut off when Crookshanks made an angry hissing sound and grumpily jumped off the couch.

"What's the matter with your cat?" I raised the brow, watching the ginger fur ball walk away.

Hermione just chuckled. "Yeah... she can sometimes be sensitive like that."