Even though summer had arrived the Hogwarts, dousing the grounds in sunlight and flowers blooming all throughout the greenhouses.
The beautiful weather was far from how everyone was feeling, however.
The hospital wing had become banned from visitors.
Stopping Amisty not only from visiting Hermione, but from seeing Madame Pomfrey as well. The girl herself had lost much of the color in her face, her cheeks no longer rosy and her eyes were shadows of the glimmering emeralds they once were.
The effects of the past weeks were catching up to her, no doubt, and Hermione's attack was the main culprit.
"We're taking no more chances. No, I'm sorry, there's every chance the attacker might come back to finish these people of..." The healer had told them, peeking through a crack in the door.
That wasn't the only thing that was going wrong.
Now that Dumbledore was gone from the castle, barely anyone was in the hallways anymore.
Now any, rare as it was, laughter sounded fake and shrill, silencing just as fast as it started.
Amisty, Harry, and Ron were all using Hagrid's clue, scouring the castle for any sign of spiders.
It proved almost impossible as they were forced to move along in the group of Gryffindors. Not to mention it seemed as if there were no more spiders in the castle.
The bugs had fled, something the students couldn't do.
The group of friends was in Potions now, Amisty sitting beside an empty seat and empty cauldron.
Just another reminder that Hermione wasn't with them.
"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore. 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..." Malfoy commented, his voice loud as ever.
Snape walked past Harry's table.
"Sir. Sir, why don't you apply for the headmaster's job?" Malfoy asked, stopping the Potions master in his tracks.
"Now, now, Malfoy. Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough," Snape replied, a small smile on his face.
"Yeah, right. 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 -- " Malfoy urged, smirking just like he always did.
Seamus was in the corner, pretending to throw up into his cauldron. Fortunately for him, when Snape walked away he didn't spot him.
"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now. Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger -- " His voice was cut off as the bell rang, signaling the end of the class.
Amisty had leapt to her feet, Ron as well, and the two of them were fighting through the crowd of leaving students to reach the blonde. Amisty's vision was tinted red with anger.
She would've reached him if Harry hadn't grabbed her and pulled her back. Ron was being held back as well, by Dean.
Harry had to grab his other arm as well and now he was struggling with two furious Gryffindors.
"Let me at him. I don't care, I don't need my wand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands -- " Ron snarled.
"Harry, let me go! Don't tell you you're going to let him get away with saying that?" Amisty seethed, her eyes barely more than slits.
She almost escaped his hold when Snape shouted, startling her.
"Hurry up, I've got to take you all to Herbology," He ordered, marching off to the doors.
Harry and Dean dragged the two of them to the back of the room, both still struggling.
They weren't set loose until the entire class was headed down to the greenhouses.
Professor Sprout's assignment for them that day was to prune the Abyssinian Shrivelfigs she had been growing. Amisty tugged off the dead leaves, working together with Ron and Harry.
It was quite calming, a good way to vent off some of her anger as long as she imagined the leaves and dead twigs were Malfoy himself.
At the thought, a slight, wry smile drifted up to her face.
"I just want to say, Harry, that I'm sorry I ever suspected you," Ernie Macmillan had joined them, looking very awkward. "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 -- "
Ernie held out his hand and Harry shook it without hesitation. After that, Ernie and Hannah joined them.
"That Draco Malfoy character, he seems very pleased with all this, doesn't he? D'you know, I think he might be Slytherin's heir," Ernie commented, snapping off dead twigs.
"That's clever of you," Ron replied stiffly
He hadn't forgiven Ernie as quickly as Harry did.
"Do you think it's Malfoy, Harry?" Ernie asked, oblivious to Ron's cold demeanor to him.
"No," Harry answered, his voice firm and sure. Ernie and Hannah's eyes went wide at his certainty.
Amisty focused her attention back on the plant, trying to ignore the awkward silence that had fallen between the group. So when Harry hit her rather harshly on the hand with his shears she jumped.
"Ouch!" Ron exclaimed, also a victim of the hit. "What're you -- "
"What was that for -- " Amisty's voice overlapped with his until he cut them out when he pointed out a line of spiders.
They were scurrying along quickly as if going to a meeting.
"Oh, yeah. But we can't follow them now -- " Ron started, but Amisty jabbed him with her elbow to stop his talking.
Ernie and Hannah were listening in.
"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest..." Harry whispered, his words going unnoticed by the two Hufflepuffs as Amisty pretended to accidentally drop her shears on the ground.
Apparently, Ron and Harry didn't know the importance of subtlety.
Once class ended and Professor Sprout was leading them to their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson the group of friends trailed off to the back of the group of Gryffindors.
"We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again. We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the forest with Hagrid, he might be some help," Harry decided, keeping his voice low.
"Right. Er -- aren't there -- aren't there supposed to be werewolves in the forest?" Ron asked, fidgeting with his wand nervously.
"And bugbears..." Amisty muttered, lightening the mood only slightly.
She had told them all about the story, leaving out the part about Malfoy. Her words pulled out a wan smile from Ron, and even Harry cracked a tiny grin.
They took their seats at the back of the class, once again Amisty was sitting next to an empty seat.
"There are good things in there, too. The centaurs are all right, and the unicorns..." He replied as if he were reassuring himself.
Just as Ron opened his mouth to reply, Professor Lockhart waltzed into the room, beaming. It was a shock to everyone, as all the rest of the teachers had grim and bitter expressions.
"Come now. Why all these long faces?" He asked brightly, resulting in everyone trading shocked and annoyed glances. "Don't you people realize the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away -- "
"Says who?" Dean countered, his voice a volume not even Lockhart could see as admiration.
"My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty," Lockhart replied slowly, smiling gently.
Amisty felt her finger twitch.
"Oh, yes he would," Ron argued, speaking louder than Dean did.
Lockhart was starting to look a smidge displeased.
"I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," Lockhart grinned, sounding pleased with himself.
Ron opened his mouth to retort but closed it after a quick kick from Harry beneath the table.
"We weren't there, remember?" Harry warned, trying not to draw too much attention to himself.
The class went on without too many interruptions, but Lockhart's constant remarks of how he knew Hagrid wasn't good, and that there was no chance of any more attacks.
Fighting down her own sharp-tongued words, she looked over at the note Harry had thrown to her.
Let's do it tonight.
That was all it said. She looked over at the desk beside her where Ron and Harry were waiting expectantly for her reply.
With a determined look on her face, she nodded.
-=+=-
Echo came back that same day, fluttering through the window of the girls' dormitory and down to the common room where Amisty was sitting.
Harry and Ron were versing the Weasley twins in a game of Exploding Snap, with Ginny off to the side watching. Amisty was on her right, her gaze torn away to the owl that had arrived.
Unsurprisingly there was a letter attached to her leg. Ginny didn't seem to notice the owl's arrival, seemingly transfixed on the game.
Her usually bright brown eyes were slightly glassy as if she wasn't with them in the room.
With careful fingers, as to not distract the match going on between the boys, she tore open the envelope and reached into her bag.
She wrapped her fingers around the bag of owl treats she had bought in Diagon Alley, giving two to the tawny owl, who nuzzled her hand in thanks before flying up to the owlery.
Dear Amisty,
I had promised that I would reveal my name, and I have. Unfortunately, your owl flying off with my letter has left me with only one valid decision, I won't reveal my name again. Not in this letter, at least. On the topic of the new rules, I'm rather upset. I can't believe the Quidditch matches are postponed, I'll miss playing out on the field, and now with no evening activities, I'll be bored until midnight! Now Amisty, are you feeling well? Your eyes have gone dull and you seem like you're ready to break. I'm quite worried for your health.
I hope all is well, Me
She smiled down at the caring words, an expression she hadn't had in awhile with everything happening.
So her mysterious pen pal played Quidditch, that was a step closer.
But it was something a smidge more than an annoyance that they refused to tell her their name.
She couldn't stay mad at someone she barely knew, after all, and convinced herself that maybe it was for the better. There was still a part of her brain that had other views on the issue.
What was the big deal about a simple name?
After a quick glance at Harry to make sure he knew she hadn't gone on without them, she went up to the girls' dormitory and tucked the letter away with the rest of them.
Her reply would have to wait until after the visit to the forest.
A quick glance at the clock told her it was well past midnight, and when she went down the stairs it was only Harry and Ron down there.
Once she reached the end of the staircase two doors clicked shut. She joined them and Harry threw the cloak over them all. Once again they dodged around the monitors in the halls, but this time there weren't any close encounters.
With quiet steps, they squeezed out of the front doors and started toward Hagrid's house.
"'Course we might get to the forest and fine there's nothing to follow. Those spiders might not've been going there at all. I know it looked like they were moving in that sort of general direction, but..." Ron broke the silence as they were walking through the grounds, his voice trailing off wistfully.
Once they reached Hagrid's house, the windows now dark and gloomy with him gone, and opened the door, Fang went wild.
He barked up a storm, his voice echoing. Amisty grabbed a tin of treacle toffee off the top of the mantel and fed it to him, gluing his mouth shut.
The Invisibility Cloak was left on the table as there was no use for it when they were wandering around in a pitch black forest.
"C'mon, Fang, we're going for a walk," Harry patted his leg and the boarhound trotted happily along behind them, bounding around and lifting his leg on one of the many trees.
He didn't know what was going on inside the castle. Harry pulled out his wand.
"Lumos!" He whispered, a small light illuminating their path toward the edge of the forest.
Amisty copied his action, the end of her own wand lighting up and sending a ghostly white glow over the trees. As if it didn't look haunting enough.
"Good thinking. I'd light mine, too, but you know -- it'll probably explode or something..." Ron nodded, looking down at his own wand with a trace of disgust in his blue eyes.
Amisty searched the ground, in search of the bugs. She spotted two, racing away from the light and into the darkness of the trees.
Both Harry and Ron got a sharp nudge in their side from her, and she pointed out the two bugs.
"Okay. I'm ready. Let's go," Ron sighed dejectedly, looking at the spiders as if they were monsters.
So they set off into the forest, led only by the ends of their wands and Fang's sense of smell.