Harry Potter and the Sacrifice of the Traitor

Chapter 15

The excited group of chattering students rode in the rattling bus up to the large Castle, which completely dominated the city skyline. They got off the bus when it stopped, and Professor McGonagall checked that they were all still together, then led them to the Castle entrance. It took a very long time to explore the Castle thoroughly - Hermione seemed more and more excited and interested with every new room to look at, but after only ten minutes, Ron was complaining loudly that his feet hurt.

'Why can't we use a Hover Charm or something, so we don't have to walk so far?' he moaned to Harry, who nodded sympathetically.

'Weasley! That's quite enough of that sort of talk. Remember where you are!' said Professor McGonagall sharply from behind them, making them jump.

Harry and Ron moved hastily away into the next room. Nearby, Harry could see Malfoy smirking at them, and he almost tripped over his feet in an effort to get away before Malfoy could make some snide remark to inflame his already uncertain temper. His feet hurt too.

At long last the professors decided they had viewed the Castle for long enough, and allowed them to return to the entrance, where they sank down on the ground gratefully, waiting for the bus. However, an unpleasant surprise was in store.

'Right then, class,' said Professor Biddle cheerfully. 'As it's a lovely warm day, I thought it would be nice to walk down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Who can tell me something about this Palace?'

Predictably, Hermione's hand was the only one who shot into the air.

'The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the Queen's official Edinburgh residence. It is full of history, and you can even visit the room where Mary Queen of Scots' secretary and confidant, David Rizzio, was murdered in a plot involving her second husband, Lord Damley, in 1566,' she gabbled breathlessly.

'Who cares?' Harry heard Malfoy mutter to Crabbe and Goyle. He was forced to agree with Malfoy, but Ron scowled at him, and tried to look interested in Hermione's talk.

Luckily, Professor Biddle took pity on the glazed looks on everyone's faces. She briefly explained who Mary Queen of Scots was, and then chivvied them all back to their feet, and led the way down the Royal Mile. Hermione was still talking.

'Did you know Ron, the Royal Mile is actually a mile and an eighth long, which is an old Scots Mile,' she said knowledgably.

Harry could tell Ron was reaching the end of his tether, and was about to say something unfortunate. However, at that moment they were interrupted by the most enormous booming noise Harry had ever heard. It sounded like a war was about to break out right behind them. The whole class turned round, and Harry scrabbled desperately for his wand, which of course he had not been allowed to take with him.

Professor Biddle laughed. 'It's all right class, it's just the One O'clock Gun up at the Castle. Very impressive, isn't it!'

'That's not the word I would have chosen,' muttered Ron shakily, and Harry nodded fervently in agreement. Even Hermione was quiet for the next few minutes, as they all shook their heads to clear them.

The walk down the Royal Mile was actually quite pleasant, now that Hermione had stopped regurgitating history books at them. Harry and his friends made certain to walk well away from the Slytherins, and it was nice, walking along in the warm sunshine. There were a few acrobats and stilt walkers entertaining the crowds, and Ron and the others from wizarding families goggled at these in amazement.

'How do they do that?' Neville asked in amazement, coming up to them as an acrobat turned a backflip. 'Surely they've got to be using magic?'

Hermione elbowed him sharply, and glanced around to make sure the Professors hadn't heard his remark.

'Of course not, Neville,' she said impatiently. 'It's just training and some natural ability.'

Harry looked back at the acrobats as they neared the bottom of the Royal Mile. He hadn't seen this sort of thing up close before either. The Dursleys hadn't exactly made a habit of taking him to street fairs in the past.

They were allowed a rest, to eat some Muggle style sandwiches that the house elves had presumably prepared for them, and some Muggle icecream from a van near the Palace, and then they plunged into the Palace and explored it thoroughly. Once again they were exhausted by the time they had finished looking at everything. Professor Biddle gathered the group together, looking at her watch.

'Right then class,' she said briskly. 'We have one hour before you need to be back at the station to catch the train back to H-, back to school.' She glanced round, to make sure no Muggles were too close. 'I suggest you have a look around Princes Street, where you can pick up some Muggle souvenirs, or if you really can't walk any further, you can go into the Gardens and relax. Behave yourselves though, we will know if you have been doing anything you ought not to.' She fixed them with a glare, strongly reminiscent of Professor McGonagall's, and then let them go.

The chattering crowd of students dispersed into the crowd. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked round at the shops.

'Let's walk right along the street and go in whichever shops we like the look of,' said Ron, and for once, Hermione agreed with him. They hadn't gone far though, when they heard a shout behind them. Neville was trotting hopefully towards them.

'Can I stay with you, Harry?' he panted. 'I think I'd get lost in a Muggle city like this, by myself!'

'Of course you can,' said Hermione, and the four of them set off up the street.

They spent a lot of time in a bookshop, much to Ron's disgust, while Hermione picked up several large volumes. She had some of her own Muggle money, and said she wanted to get a bit more light reading matter. Ron snorted, but wisely didn't say anything. They then spotted a sports shop, and the three boys dragged Hermione across the street to it. She tutted impatiently while they pored over the sports equipment, and Harry explained in a whisper all that he knew about football and cricket games, which wasn't much. Ron smirked, clearly thinking that it served her right for making them go into the bookshop. They saw a souvenir shop on the way back towards the station, and bought things like pens, bookmarks and t-shirts, which Ron and Neville wanted to take back to their families. Hermione bought some postcards, to send to her family, as she explained. They spent the last of their money on more ice-creams, which they ate sitting in the park, enjoying the afternoon sunshine.

Just as they re-entered the station and headed for their platform, they heard a familiar sneering voice from behind them.

'Good Lord, Potter, haven't you already got enough lame ducks following you, with the Weasel and the Mudblood here, without having Longbottom as another hanger on?' drawled Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle both sniggered stupidly.

'Shut up, Malfoy,' said Harry wearily. He had quite enjoyed his day out, in spite of all the walking and the unrequested history lectures from Hermione, and didn't really want to spoil it with a fight. Ron, however, appeared to have no such feeling. He lunged at Malfoy immediately, only stopped by Harry grabbing the back of his shirt as he passed him. Malfoy stepped back involuntarily, then plastered his smirk back on his face.

'Oh dear, I seem to have struck a raw nerve. I've seen the two of you holding hands all over Hogwarts, Weasley. It's really quite disgusting, and just when I thought your family could sink no lower,' he said.

Harry and Neville started to drag Ron away. People passing were looking slightly nervous, as the two groups of teenagers glared at each other.

'Maybe she's got some money, and that's why you're going around with her. Can't think of any other reason,' continued Malfoy smoothly.

Ron lunged again at Malfoy, and managed to kick him sharply on the shin. Malfoy gave a cry of pain and glared at them out of watering eyes.

'Just you wait, Weasley, I'll pay you back for that,' he snarled. 'I can't wait till you see what's in store for you and your filthy friends!'

With one last heave, Harry and Neville pushed Ron through the barrier onto the magical platform, and into the nearest carriage of the scarlet steam train which was sitting there, puffing gently. Hermione followed them, scarlet with rage.

'I've had just about enough of Malfoy,' she said shrilly. 'I know what the Hat said about co-operation, and I know some of the Slytherins are ok,' (Ron snorted furiously at this) 'but honestly, he is just getting on my nerves.'

'Never mind, Hermione', Ron growled. 'We've got the last Quidditch game of the season coming up soon after Easter, and we're going to pound Malfoy's face into the dirt.'

'I'm going to get that Snitch before him if it kills me!' said Harry, unthinkingly. Then he realised what he had said, and flushed, wishing that he didn't have to worry about Voldemort killing him before he could get to any Quidditch games.

'I wonder what he meant about what's in store for us, though,' said Hermione, calming down slightly.

Harry shrugged. He suspected it was something to do with the owl he and Ginny had seen Malfoy sending in the middle of the night.

Neville wisely changed the subject, although perhaps asking Hermione a question about the Palace of Holyroodhouse wasn't the best choice of a new subject. Ron settled down in a corner of the carriage, and scowled out of the window all the way back to Hogwarts.

He cheered up when they got back up to the castle, where a large and delicious supper was waiting for them in the Great Hall. They spent quite a lot of time telling their friends in other years about the trip.

Ginny sounded very enthusiastic about the shopping streets in particular, and Harry found himself wishing he could have taken her to the Gardens. He could almost imagine them sitting in the shade of one of the large trees there, with her head nestled on his shoulder. Then he jerked awake from his daydream. What on earth was he thinking about? Surely Ginny was just a good friend of his. He certainly couldn't afford anything except friendship with anybody. Even being friends with people was putting them in danger, he thought sourly.

Shaking the daydream off, he dug into a large helping of shepherd's pie, listening to Dean and Seamus, who were showing Dean's sister Jessica, and Mark Evans, some of the Muggle souvenirs they had brought back. Dean, Jessica and Mark were trying to explain to Seamus, Neville and Ron what the pencil sharpener (with a picture of the Castle) was used for. This proved rather difficult as they had failed to buy any pencils to go with it. Harry snorted quietly with laughter, and smiled at the others when they looked at him. He finished his supper, and spent the evening practising Levitation Charms and Summoning Charms without his wand, giving himself quite a headache by the time he gave up and went to bed.

The next weekend it was the start of the Easter break. A lot of the students had gone home for the holidays, including Malfoy, much to Harry's relief. Malfoy had taken to lurking in corners, and smirking knowingly at Harry and his friends when they passed, and it was really starting to get on Harry's nerves. They were all sure that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were planning something, and that Malfoy knew something about it, but they had no way of getting any more information. Harry had even sent an owl to Remus Lupin, trying to subtly ask if he had any ideas, but had only got back a cheery message saying he would try to get over to Hogwarts to see the final Quidditch game, and not to work too hard. The first comment pleased Ron, and the last comment annoyed Hermione.

Harry spent a lot of time over the holidays talking to Ginny, or playing wizard chess and Gobstones with her. Hermione had gone home to spend some time with her parents, and Ron was slouching around looking very glum and moody. Harry discovered that Ginny also had a fondness for Muggle things, like her father. However, in her case it was more sensibly channelled into old Muggle games. Harry hadn't played very many games as a child, of course, but he knew the principles of games such as Monopoly and Blackjack, and they spent some time laughing over these games. Ron joined them sometimes when he was in a good mood, but was often so grouchy they almost preferred it without him. Harry was still confused about his feelings for Ginny - he felt that they were growing very close, even closer in some ways than he was to Ron and Hermione. He felt that this could be dangerous for her though, and avoided thinking too much about the problems having a relationship could cause them both.

The holidays came to an end, and all the students returned. Harry had to endure the sight of Ron forgetting his dignity and throwing himself into Hermione's arms, babbling about how much he had missed her. She went rather pink, but looked pleased at this unusual show of affection as well.

'Did he really miss me that much?' she asked Harry curiously, while Ron ran up to his dormitory to fetch his set of chessmen, for a game he had challenged Neville to.

'I think so, yes,' replied Harry. 'He was certainly pretty grouchy all holidays.' He thought about asking her whether it was worth being more than friends with somebody, or whether he might be setting himself up for more embarrassment, as he had suffered with Cho. However, Ron came hurtling back down the stairs at that moment, and the chance was lost. Harry decided later it was just as well, as Hermione would have wanted to know who he was developing feelings for. He wasn't sure he was ready to acknowledge them himself, but he knew he didn't want Ron to know anything yet.

Classes resumed, and everything went smoothly for the next couple of weeks. The Polyjuice potion was nearly completed, and Professor McGonagall started them Transfiguring themselves, instead of just each other. The Muggle Studies classes would be coming to an end soon, as Professor Biddle thought they should know enough to get by if they were stranded in the Muggle world for a while. She warned them that there would be a test at the end of term. The class groaned at this news, except for Hermione, who looked very cheerful. Their Conjuration lessons were also going well. They had all mastered the Conjuration of simple objects such as quills or parchment, and most of them could Conjure larger objects such as ropes, bags or even chairs. Dumbledore had said that they were undoubtedly the most talented class he had ever taught. Of course, his eyes had been twinkling more than ever when he said this, so they weren't sure whether he was telling the truth or not, but they knew he was pleased with them.

Even Harry's nightmares seemed at last to be subsiding. He still missed Sirius, but it had been weeks since he had woken up calling his name, and reaching out in his sleep to stop him falling through the veil. Even his new nightmare about facing Voldemort and finding none of his spells worked only woke him occasionally. He supposed this was because he was finally making some progress in wandless magic. Hermione, to his surprise, was less keen on this than she had been. He suspected this was because she had been unable to do anything without a wand yet. Ginny had been the biggest help, gently suggested other spells to try when he got too frustrated with one that wouldn't work.

The only thing really annoying Harry was that he had still not found out what Hermione's big secret was. He had even confronted her once, when she had made one too many excuses about seeing Professor McGonagall.

'You know my big secret,' he had complained. 'Don't you trust me?' He didn't often like to think of the Prophecy, or of the danger his friends might be in if Voldemort found out that they knew it. However, he did feel it was unfair that she wouldn't share her secret. He wondered if it was even anything he wanted to know, but the fact that Hermione was so very secretive about it made him more and more curious. Of course, Ron and Ginny seemed to have found out, and that made him even more annoyed that she wouldn't trust him.

Hermione tutted impatiently. 'Of course I trust you, Harry,' she said. 'But I promised Professor McGonagall I wouldn't tell anybody until I had mastered it.'

'But Ron and Ginny know!' Harry pointed out. He was aware he was sounding like a whining child, but couldn't help himself.

Hermione looked upset. 'Harry, they found out by accident, I didn't tell them,' she said gently. 'I'll be ready to tell everyone, and show you too if you want, in just a few weeks. Professor McGonagall says I'll be ready by the end of the year.'

'I wouldn't tell anyone you told me,' said Harry hopefully.

Hermione bit her lip. She seemed almost to be considering telling him for a moment. Harry pushed his luck. 'Even if Ron and Ginny found out by mistake, they've kept the secret. Why can't I keep it as well?'

'Well,' said Hermione slowly. 'I suppose you do have a point.'

Harry held his breath. Was he finally going to find out the secret Hermione had been hiding all year, ever since last summer at her parents' house?