Harry collapsed into one of the comfy chairs in the common room by Ron and Hermione. He swung his bag to the side and took a deep breath. The three of them were the only ones in the Gryffindor common room.
He hadn't talked to the two of them all day, not even in classes. After lunch, Harry and Malfoy had decided to skip the rest of their classes for the day, which Harry knew would backfire on him, especially considering one of those classes was Umbridge's. But they needed as much time as they could muster to figure out the reversal to the spell.
Malfoy and Harry had put (most) of their bickering aside for the day to research everything they could. Malfoy made sure to remind Harry that he would get weaker as time progressed and they needed to get as much done as possible before Malfoy was too weak to help him.
Ron and Hermione immediately interrogated him as soon as Harry sunk into the plush chair.
"Where have you been Harry?"
"You haven't spoken one word to us all day, are you okay?!?"
"You've missed Umbridge AND Snape's class! What've you been up to?!"
Harry gave a deep sigh and closed his eyes for a second before answering.
"I skipped."
"Harry! Why? You surely know that the consequences from Umbridge and Snape won't be good!" Hermione frowned. "Are you doing Okay Harry? you seem ill... If you need to talk about anything then Ronald and I are always here for you- I know after what happened last year you can't be in a good place. Mental health is just as important as physical health. I understand if that's why you skipped but that wasn't too wise, you don't want another detention with Umbridge!"
"Yeah mate, we're always here for you. But don't cause more problems for yourself than you need! You don't want to spend more time with those twats then you have to."
Harry gave Hermione a slight smile. "Thanks Hermione, that means a lot. But that's not why I wasn't in class this afternoon."
"Oh?" Hermione questioned.
"Remember that Latin spell that we found in Umbridge's desk that time when we were the last ones left in the class room because we needed to finish that assignment? And Umbridge left for a moment to do something?"
"Wait what?" Ron questioned.
"You weren't there Ronald, you were in the infirmary whining about getting sick"
"Oh yeah."
"Anyways, Harry, didn't I tell you that you should've put it back? She could've caught you!"
"Well I didn't."
"Figures" Hermione huffed. "What about the spell?"
"Well..." I saw on the back of the page a title. "In Libro Mors."
"-The Book of Death." Hermione cut in.
"Exactly." Harry nodded. "So I thought to look in the Library for the book and, of course, I couldn't find it. So last night I ventured to the Restricted section."
"Hold up." Ron stared at the two of them. "You found a mysterious Latin spell after snooping around Umbridge's desk. And on the back of it there were the words 'The Book of Death.' inscribed onto it? Does that not concern you in the least?!"
"Oh yes I'm very concerned." Harry replied.
"But also Ronald does it surprise you at all? I mean it's Umbridge!" Hermione paused to think for a moment. "But Harry, have you turned it in to Dumbledore? It could be dangerous."
Harry looked down in shame. "I didn't and now i wish i had."
"What are you talking about mate?"
"Yeah Harry, why haven't you shown Dumbledore?"
"Er....well when I went to the restricted section in the library last night, I found the book."
"And...?"
"Well I found this spell translated into English. And i know it was a spell because I knew a few words in Latin because i had to study Latin in muggle school and i still remember a bit of it. And as I read it i kinda whispered it out loud. And after I read it i heard a noise and looked at the Marauder's Map and guess who had also decided to also pay a visit to the restricted section."
Hermione gasped, "It wasn't a teacher, was it?"
Harry shook his head. "No, it was Malfoy."
"What the bloody hell was Malfoy doing down there?!"
"I don't know, Ron." Harry sighed. "But he's a prefect so he probably wouldn't have gotten in trouble for wandering the halls after curfew."
"What happened next, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Well I hid under the invisibility cloak, but Malfoy already knows I have an invisibility cloak so he pulled it off of me. But then we made eye contact and Malfoy spazzed out. Like his eyes turned red for a moment and he hurled over like he was in pain. So I asked him what happened but then he kept on asking me what I did. And I was confused because I hadn't even taken my wand out! But then he saw the parchment in my hand and he saw the book and he accused me of casting a curse on him!"
"A curse?!? But how? You hadn't known anything about the incantation and you hadn't even pulled your wand out!" Hermione spoke.
"That's what I said! But then he told me about the incantation i was reading. He said it shouldn't be in the restricted section because it shouldn't even be at school. Apparently to cast it a person who was derive from magical blood has to read it in their native language and whomever that wizard first makes eye contact with next becomes the victim of the curse and is sentenced to a slow death whilst the caster of the curse gets their heart's desire."
Ron frowned. "But Harry you made eye contact with Malfoy... does that mean...?"
"Malfoy is slowly dying." Hermione whispered with wide eyes.
She stood up from her chair and paced. "And all dark magic comes with a price, Harry. The heart's desire part is sketchy... This is absolutely terrible, Harry! You've basically killed Malfoy... oh dear goodness.... I mean Malfoy can be a git sometimes but that doesn't mean he deserves to die! Do you know if there's any way to reverse the curse? Do you know how long you have to figure out if you can reverse the curse?" Hermione's eyes widened, "Is it already too late? Is Malfoy... Dead? Already? Goodness please tell me that's not the case..."
Harry shook his head. "Malfoy hasn't died. He told me the date that he's supposedly going to die is implanted in his head by the curse and he told me it's July 31st, 1996."
"But Harry, that's- "
"- My birthday, I know. What a coincidence." Harry put his head in his hands and sighed.
"I dunno mate this seems kinda fishy to me... Maybe he's faking? I don't see how this could be possible. Without any knowledge of this 'curse' nor a wand to cast it. It just seems unlikely." Ron suggested.
"Well Malfoy seemed to be doing a really good job faking then. I mean his eyes turned red! And he's seems more ... I dunno... vulnerable if that's the right word." Harry replied
"What I'm wondering is how Malfoy already knew about such a curse. He certainly knew more then the book said or else Harry woulve known what he was doing in the first place." Hermione looked at the two of them, thinking hard.
"I mean his dad's a Death Eater, he probably learned loads of stuff about the dark arts from him. I mean have you even met Malfoy, he's down at Knockturn Ally every Tuesday, I swear." Ron reminded her.
"I'm extremely concerned that the book is even at Hogwarts. Its gotta be illegal to preform that curse, I wouldn't be surprised if that book is illegal to have possession of. I mean can you imagine what someone can do with a book like that! Horrid things! I mean it's titled 'The Book of Death' what other spells are in that book? That book is very dangerous!"
"Yeah, I know." Harry leaned back in his chair, with a worried expression on his face.
"Harry do you have the book with you still?" Hermione asked suddenly.
"Er yeah, its in my bag, one moment." Harry replied and reached over the arm of his chair to pull up his bag. He set the bag in his lap, pulled out the old book, and proceeded to set his bag back down on the floor.
"Oh good! We need to show this to Dumbledore immediately!" Hermione reached for the book.
"Wait no." Harry interjected. "If we show this to Dumbledore then he'd know I was in the restricted section without permission, out of bed after hours, and snooping around in a teacher's stuff. A teacher from the ministry at that! I could get in so much trouble and I can't risk being expelled and having to live with the Dursley's again for the rest of my school years."
Ron piped in. "Harry, if you ever get expelled we'd take you in in a heartbeat. Mum wouldn't stand to let you live with those prick muggles of yours. But that aside, Harry, I think you're right. You could get in lots of trouble for all that. Maybe we shouldn't turn it in..."
Hermione looked at them with a bewildered expression.
"Have you two gone mad? That book is extremely dangerous! What if someone gets their hands on it? Like a Death Eater, or Voldemort? In third year Harry's god father managed sneak inside the school into the Gryffindor common room multiple times to try and kill Ronald's rat. I wouldn't put it a past a Death Eater to try and get their hands on that book... And now Malfoy knows that book exist and has become victim of it- I'm positive he has connections. Anyways, Harry I'm sure the fact that you're turning in the book and exposing Umbridge will out weigh all the rules you broke. Anyways Dumbledore might be able to figure out how to reverse the curse!"
"But Hermione, if the Ministry of Magic finds out I preformed that curse I could be thrown right into Azkaban, especially considering it could result in the death of an upper class pure blood student who is the son of a man who works at the ministry and would stop at nothing to get his way. I mean three years ago he blackmailed the council members to send Dumbledore out of the school. Imagine of he found out that I cursed his son to a death sentence."
"But it was an accident!" Hermione exclaimed in a shrill voice.
"Hermione, the ministry nearly had him expelled because he defended himself from a Dementor. They'd ravish at an opportunity to throw him in Azkaban, whether it was an accident or not. We can't risk that." Ron told her.
"But wouldn't it look worse if Umbridge found that book in Harry's bag? I mean she's creating so many rules, she could probably find any reason to search Harry's stuff if she suspected Harry of stealing the Latin incantation off her desk. Then she could get you in way more trouble or having it and she wouldn't get blamed at all for having it!"
"What if I just hide it really well?" Harry suggested.
"Oh. Hide it really well." Hermioned sighed in exasperation. "Well if you don't want to turn of in to Dumbledore and you don't want to be caught with it then maybe you'd be better off just burning it." Hermione eyed the warm fire burning in the fireplace in front of them.
"I can't do that I need to read through it and try to find a reversal of the curse!" Harry argued.
"Are you really sure you should be reading through that book? I mean you read a few words out loud and ended up accidentally cursing someone to death! This has to be the most dangerous book I've ever seen."
"But Hermione, what if the counter curse is right here and we end up destroyed our only way to stop Malfoy from dying."
"Are you sure the bloody git is worth all of this? I mean this is serious stuff."
"Ronald, of course saving Malfoy is worth all of this! He may not have been too nice to us in the past but that's not worth the rest of his life!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Hermione's right." Harry said grimly. "I did this, now I need to make it right. We don't need another death of a Hogwarts student."
The three of them were silent for a few minutes, thinking, until Ron broke the silence.
"I think its time for us to go to sleep. We can figure out what to do with the book in the morning." Ron yawned.
"Okay..." Hermione said with uncertainty.
And the three of them went off to their dormitories, with frowns across all their faces.