Secrets

Secrets

Chapter Eight

"I would like to have a word with you all before you leave for your common rooms," Albus Dumbledore said, standing before all the young witches and wizards.

Instantly, the Great Hall came alive with the sound of whispering among the students, who wondered what the headmaster could have to say to them.

"Now, I do not wish to alarm you, but I must warn you of something. You all must be on the lookout for a phooka. It has escaped from the cage it was in near Hagrid's hut. This creature resembles a centaur. It has the body of a horse and a man's head. If you see it, please send up sparks from your wand and immediately leave the scene. This creature could be dangerous. Also, please try to stay in the castle and off the grounds. Unless, of course, you're going to class. If that be the case, then please try to travel in small groups. Thank you for your time. That is all."

As Harry and his two best friends left the hall, Harry couldn't help but overhear the conversations of the students around him.

"What if it kills someone?"

"'Could be' dangerous? What does that mean? They don't know?"

"I'm not surprised. He probably left the door unlocked."

"But I always go down to the lake! This is just great."

"I doubt it's even around anymore. It's probably long gone."

"This is exciting," Ron said sarcastically.

"I wonder what they're doing to try to get it back?" Hermione wondered aloud.

"If I were you, I'd be careful. He seemed to like you, Harry," Ron joked.

"Maybe I should just lay in the middle of the quidditch pitch surrounded by meat. Then it will come to me and I'll save the day," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, actually that's not a ba-"

"Don't even say it," Harry said with a glare.

"Calm down," Hermione said laughing, "I was just joking."

"We have to stay in the castle? How much does that suck?" Ron whined.

"Honestly, I don't think it stuck around. It most likely took off as soon as it had the chance," Hermione replied reasonably.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Harry said, though not sounding entirely sure.

"Relax Harry. You're such a pessimist. Not everything turns out badly."

"Well, it sure seems that way..." he muttered.

Hermione just looked at him, not saying anything. Ron threw his arms around his friends' shoulders, pulling them closer.

"Anyone up for a game of wizard's chess?"

Harry and Hermione groaned in unison as Ron looked at them, grinning.

*************************

"Have you guys heard?" Seamus asked, running into the common room. He ran up to the table that the trio were studying at. He looked panicked.

"No, what?" Hermione asked, sounding slightly alarmed.

"It's Neville."

"What happened?" Harry asked, his eyes growing wide.

"He was attacked while he was on his way to the greenhouse."

"Here in the castle?"

Seamus turned to answer Ron. "No, he was on the grounds. They think it was the phooka."

Hermione's eyes glistened with tears. "Is he all right?"

"Well, he's up in the hospital wing right now. They think he's going to be okay, but he won't be able to leave for a few days. All I know is there was a lot of blood. I was down by the Great Hall when they brought him by. It was all over his clothes."

"How much blood did he lose?" Hermione asked.

"Enough to make him pass out," Seamus replied solemnly.

"He was unconscious?"

"Mhmm. They were carrying him in."

"Oh my," Hermione murmured, putting her forehead in her hand.

"Did they catch the phooka?" Harry asked. There was an edge of anger in his voice.

"No. No one has even seen it, so they don't know where it went."

Harry turned to Hermione. "Not everything turns out badly, huh?"

He stood up and walked out of the common room leaving the three Gryffindors staring after him in shock.

**********************************

By the end of the week two other students had been attacked by the phooka: a third year Ravenclaw who, disregarding Dumbledore's warning, went down by the lake to read a book and a first year Slytherin who went out to prove to his friends (on a dare) that he could catch and kill the wild creature.

After these attacks, more people began taking the headmaster's words to heart. Looking out from a corridor window, one could see the grounds completely deserted. Occasionally Hagrid and Fang could be found crossing the grounds, looking around cautiously.

Many of the students began carrying potatoes around with them. Hermione came up with that brilliant idea for her and her housemates and it spread quickly. Many carried small raw potatoes while others, not too brightly, carried bags of potato chips, or like one small naive first year did, actually had mashed potatoes shoved in his pockets. The smell eventually became too much for even him to bear, though, and he caught onto the raw potato trend.

Harry lay in his bed, staring at the canopy top and thinking about the events of the past week.

I wonder if there's some way I can stop it, Harry wondered.

He listened for a moment as the others started getting up and moving about.

Maybe I should ask Hagrid about it. Find out what I'd be up against. Who am I kidding? If Hagrid hasn't gotten it yet, what makes me think I could? I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try. Well, maybe it would, Harry chuckled to himself, but it's worth a shot. Okay, so it's settled. I'm going.

Harry rolled out of his bed. He got dressed, deciding to go immediately. As he began to leave the room, he paused, and, on a second thought, grabbed his invisibility cloak and a couple potatoes.

He left the common room without acknowledgment from any of the lingering Gryffindors. When he got out to the empty corridor, he threw the cloak over his shoulders. He walked through the hallways, passing several antsy students looking for something to do. When he reached the large castle doors, he took a quick glance around to make sure no one would notice, and then pushed them open. Blinking, he raised his hand to shield himself from the blinding sun.

He began crossing the grounds at a brisk pace. He glanced around, unnerved at how empty his surroundings appeared.

It's so odd. Everything is just too...quiet.

He reached Hagrid's hut and knocked loudly on the door. "Hagrid?" he called out, knocking again.

Getting no response, he sighed and turned around. He did a quick survey of the grounds, looking for his large friends. With no success, he sat down outside Hagrid's door, waiting for him to return.

He can't be gone too long. I think he has a class sometime soon.

"Get away from me!"

Startled, Harry jumped up at the sound of the voice. He turned toward the Forbidden Forrest, searching for the location of the person.

"No! Help!"

Harry took off running.

I know that voice...

Once in the forest, he glanced around frantically, not sure what direction to go.

"Help me!" the person called again.

Harry turned right and continued running toward the voice. He came to a halt when he saw the phooka with its back to him. Draco stood before the creature, with his back pressed up against a tree. His eyes widened when he saw Harry.

"Harry! Help!"

The phooka snarled at Draco and took a few steps closer. A whimper escaped his throat as he tried to push himself farther into the tree.

As Harry took a cautious step closer, a twig snapped under his foot. The phooka swung his head around and began growling at Harry. After a moment, it stopped and tilted its head, glaring at him.

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the potatoes. He waved them in the air, drawing the animal's attention to his hand.

"Look what I've got. You know you want them."

He threw one of them so it landed near the phooka, but a few feet away from Draco. It turned its head toward the potato and then looked back at Harry.

Go to it. Please go to it, Harry thought, holding his breath. He let it out in a whoosh as the phooka trotted over to the potato. It sniffed it for a second and then began eating.

"Harry!" Draco cried, as he began running towards him.

The phooka raised his head and snarled at him. Draco halted his movement, and remained very still. The creature lowered his head and began eating again.

"Draco, don't move."

"You don't have to worry about that," Draco's face, if possible, had paled even more so than before. "What are we going to do?"

Harry didn't answer, but instead took a few steps toward the phooka.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked in alarm.

"Hey! You!" Harry called to the animal. It looked up at him as it finished its food.

Harry raised his arm with the other potato. He waved his arm back and forth as the phooka followed the movement with its eyes.

Harry turned and chucked the vegetable into the forest. The animal hesitated for a moment and then took off, running after it.

Harry ran over and grabbed Draco's arm.

"Hurry up!" he said as he took off running. Draco stumbled at the sudden movement, but quickly regained his balance.

Harry didn't stop running until the two reached Hagrid's hut. He let go of Draco's arm and pounded on the door.

"Hagrid! Hagrid! Damn it!" he cried, punching the door in frustration. "Ow!"

"Um...he might be in the Great Hall. Breakfast just started a little while ago," Draco said quietly.

"Come on," Harry called as he began running toward the castle. Draco struggled to keep up with him. They burst through the castle doors and ran straight for the Great Hall. As they entered the large room, many eyes turned in their direction.

Harry stopped in front of the head table. Professor Dumbledore looked up from his conversation with Professor Sprout.

"Yes, Harry?"

"It's the phooka," Harry said, as Draco jogged up to the table, panting. "It's in the woods. It almost attacked Draco."

Dumbledore calmly turned to the blonde boy. "Is this true?"

"Yes...he...was going to..." Draco replied, gasping for breath. Dumbledore raised his hand to save Draco the trouble of finishing.

"Minerva, please round up a few teachers, so we can catch this thing once and for all."

"Yes Albus," Professor McGonagall said, placing her napkin on her plate. She began going down the row of teachers, stopping here and there to whisper in their ears.

"Where was this?" Dumbledore asked turning back to the two students before him.

"In the Forbidden Forest. Just a little bit behind Hagrid's hut. And a little to the right.

"All right. We will try to go to it discretely. As discrete as one can be with an entire school watching, of course. Please wait here or in your common room for our arrival. I will need to speak to you both upon our return."

With that, Professor Dumbledore turned and left the Great Hall, 10 teachers trailing behind him.

"Do you want to go wait up in the common room?" Harry asked Draco.

"Oh, I don't know about that..." he trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"Don't worry. Everyone is still down here. Nobody will say anything to you."

"All right," Draco replied, a look of relief filling his face.

They left the Great Hall with a few curious stares following them. They walked the halls in a comfortable silence.

"Um, forget you heard this," Harry said to Draco as he told the Fat Lady the password. She let them in, while glancing oddly at Malfoy.

"Are you kidding me? And miss out on torturing all the little Gryffindors while they sleep?" he answered with a smirk.

Harry looked threateningly at Draco.

"Calm down, I was only joking," he drawled. "You really need to learn how to lighten up."

Harry walked over to the chair by the fire and sat down.

Draco slowly walked over to the couch, while looking around the room. He sat down and looked at Harry, not sure of what to say. They sat like that for a moment before Harry broke the silence.

"So you're talking to me again?"

Draco smirked. "It would be fucked up of me not to, after you saved my life. Don't you think?"

"Do you really think it would have killed you?" he asked, turning in his chair to face the other boy.

"Maybe. Maybe not," he shrugged.

"How come you weren't carrying any potatoes like everyone else?"

"What can I say? I'm a nonconformist. Never been one to follow the crowd," he replied with an air of indifference.

Harry gave Draco a puzzled look. "Don't you even care that you were dangerously close to being attacked? Possibly killed?"

Draco frowned. "I don't like to dwell on things. Thinking too much about things that have happened and can't be changed could be disastrous. It can make someone go crazy."

Harry was quiet for a moment.

"Draco?"

"Yes?"

"Could you do me a favor?"

"What would that be?"

"Don't hurt yourself any more."

Draco didn't answer. He stared into the empty fireplace with a blank expression.

"Draco?"

"I'll try," he whispered.

"Thank you."

Both boys jumped as they heard the portrait of the Fat Lady swing open. They turned to see Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville walk into the common room, talking loudly amongst themselves. When they saw the two, they froze, all looking uncomfortable.

Ron frowned. "Come on," he muttered.

"Ron," Harry called as the boys crossed towards the boys' dorm room.

Ron's face remained blank, as if he didn't acknowledge hearing him. The other boys looked between the two best friends, but didn't say anything. As the four boys disappeared up the stairs, the portrait opened up again and Dumbledore entered, followed by Professor McGonagall.

Harry jumped up from his seat. "Did you catch it?"

"Yes, Harry, we managed to restrain it, though it did put up quite a fight. We are now keeping it somewhere safe until somebody from the Sanctuary for Dangerous Animals can come and take it off our hands."

"Mr. Potter. Mr. Malfoy. We appreciate you finding the phooka, but," Professor McGonagall chimed in, "I must ask you both what you were doing on the grounds. We asked you to stay in the castle and you blatantly disregarded our warning."

"Oh. I was trying to find Hagrid."

"What, Mr. Potter, was so important that it could not wait until breakfast or lunch?"

"Well...I wanted to ask him about the phooka. I wanted to try to stop it," Harry stated, looking at his professor sheepishly.

"Harry," Professor McGonagall said sternly.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Mr. Malfoy, you accompanied Harry on this adventure?" Professor Dumbledore asked, noting Draco's silence.

"No. I was out there before him."

"Well?" McGonagall asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"You know the Slytherin that was attacked? I asked him where he saw the phooka. He told me about a cave near Hagrid's hut. So I went looking for it."

"Why would you two do such a foolish thing? Go looking for a dangerous creature? I should punish you both," McGonagall lectured.

Both boys looked up in protest.

"But, I won't. You each will receive 20 points to your houses for finding the phooka."

"Thank you professor," Harry said gratefully.

Professor McGonagall gave them one last stern look and then turned and left the room.

"I hope you two enjoy the rest of your day," Dumbledore said as he followed McGonagall out of the room.

Harry turned to Draco.

"Why did you go looking for the phooka?"

"I--" Draco stopped and looked down.

"What?" Harry asked.

Draco frowned. "I wanted to be the hero for a change."

Draco spun around and quickly left the common room, leaving Harry staring after him with a dumbfounded look on his face.