Another Prisoner, Another Professor

In Harry and Ron's room that evening.

"Give me that book," Ron demanded. "Let me see it."

"It's right here," said Harry. "'Though the full moon technically only lasts for a split second, werewolves remain in their wolf forms for approximately twelve hours, as the power of the full moon is potent and takes this long to release its hold - '"

"And the almanac says the moon wasn't completely full until four o'clock this morning," Hermione added. "So if Black were a werewolf, he couldn't have been in class." She swallowed. "You know, it was a really good idea, Ron. It made sense and everything, it was just that - "

"Yeah, yeah," said Ron. "So I'll keep Scabbers in here, then." He seemed to want to move on from the whole issue as soon as possible. "Isn't that book due back to the library yet?"

"Probably," said Harry, who had forgotten exactly when he had checked out The Historical and Practical Guide to the Werewolf. "I think I'll keep it for a little while more, though."

"Well, if that's what you want to do, you ought to renew it," Hermione said. "We could go now if you want - I'm going to try to find that blood magic book."

Professor Black had announced that the Defense Against the Dark Arts class was having a test on blood magic in another week. "What book?" Ron asked. "We already have the book, Black gave it to us."

"Not that book," said Hermione, watching as Scabbers curled up on Ron's pillow and fell asleep. "I want to find the one that was in the book shop in Hogsmeade. Black said no one had ever written down how to do blood magic, didn't he? Well, someone did in that book. There were things in there about herbs and sacrifices - the first part was just talking about it all in general, but I think there were some actual instructions in the back -"

"Hang on," said Ron. "You mean it actually said stuff like, 'in order to kill your enemy, take a vial of his blood and boil it with frog eyeballs - '"

"Well, I don't think there were frog eyeballs involved," said Hermione, "but something along those lines, I think..."

"Hermione, this could be a seriously dark book!" Ron exclaimed. "If Hogwarts has got it at all, it's probably in the Restricted Section, and we looked there already, remember? Why would you want to find it? Besides, it's not even going to be on the test."

"You're right," said Hermione, "the library probably doesn't have it, I'll have to go to Hogsmeade and get that one. Blood magic's really important somehow, can't you see that? Lupin wrote in blood on the walls of his cell - "

"But he wasn't doing blood magic," said Harry. "You've got to have the other person's blood."

"He wasn't doing it to you, but how do we know he wasn't trying to do something to himself? Lupin wrote in blood on the walls of his cell, we got here and all the books about blood magic were out of the library - "

"Black probably had them," said Ron.

" - and even though blood magic's not something that's usually taught, Black's teaching it to us anyway. Oh, and Lupin's blood was by the picture of the Fat Lady and Harry said Snape said that some of Lupin's blood was on a railing, didn't he, Harry?"

"Yeah," said Harry, "but how do we know any of this is important? Lupin's probably gone mad, maybe that's why he cut himself. Black's not like other teachers, maybe he just wanted to try something new - "

"I could agree with you," Hermione said, "if Black and Lupin weren't connected to each other. But they are, and that's what makes me think blood magic is important. Black knew Lupin had cut himself, Black knew he'd left blood in Gryffindor Tower, and then suddenly Black starts teaching about blood magic when no one else has."

"As long as we're talking about blood," Ron said, "Black's awfully pale, isn't he? He looks like Snape really became a vampire and starting drinking his blood or something - "

"He was always that pale," said Harry. "Or at least he's been that way all year. Malfoy's pale too, it probably runs in the family. Speaking of Malfoy, did you two see - "

"That bloke with the pointy beard?" said Ron. "Yeah, I want to know who that was. I bet anything he was there about Regulus's disappearance."

"He's probably a Ministry official," said Hermione. "If he could take Malfoy out of class - "

"Nah," said Ron. "We're talking about getting Malfoy out of Snape's class. Snape would excuse Malfoy to go and get measured for new robes if Malfoy really wanted him to. Hey, you know what? I bet Parkinson would tell us if she knew who he was."

Hermione looked at Ron as though he had gone insane. "Ron, she hates us! And she and Malfoy - "

"I think they must've had a row or something," said Ron. "She knew he wouldn't be happy about that petition but she started it anyway. And if she purposely passed it around today because she knew he'd be out of class, she'd probably know why he was out of class."

"She'd never do anything for Harry, though," said Hermione. "Even if they're both on Snape's bad side now, she's still a Slytherin."

"So she won't do it for Harry," said Ron, grinning. "Harry's supposed to be staying out of this whole thing anyway, right? I'll ask her, I've got the best chance, I'm still stuck sitting with her in Potions. She doesn't have to know why I want to know. I'll say something like, 'Oy, Parkinson, who was that midgety bloke with the beard, Malfoy's mum?' and she'll say, 'You're so stupid, Weasley, it was So-and-so What's-his-name...'"

"Oy, Parkinson!" said Ron in Potions on Thursday, before class had started.

"Hey, Malfoy," Harry said, hoping to distract him. "Heard this song yet? 'Oh, the Nimbuses are nimble and they'll help you catch the ball - '"

"You sound like a dying peacock," Malfoy sneered.

"You're such an idiot, Weasley," Harry could hear Pansy saying.

"'But beware, our brand-new Firebolts will decimate them all - '" Harry wanted to quit - he hated singing in public - but he wanted to make sure Ron had enough time. "'You'll be defeated, be destroyed, your hopes will all expire - '"

"Planning on swallowing the Snitch again, Potter?"

"'A Nimbus broom is just a broom - '"

"Quiet!" said Snape to the class.

Harry mouthed, "'a Firebolt is fire'" and glanced over at Ron, who gave him a thumbs-up.

"Have you got it?" Hermione asked after class as they sprinted up the stairs from the dungeon, hoping not to be overheard by anyone else. "Have you?"

"His name's Timarchus Hagen," said Ron. "He's their lawyer. I said, 'What, is Malfoy's dad filing suit against his hairdresser?' and she said my hair looked like someone vomited tomatoes on my head, and then Snape made everyone shut up, so I don't think she's got any idea that I really cared about who Timarchus Hagen was."

"They're nervous," said Harry. "Either that, or someone from the Ministry's already told them something about searching their property. Hey, Hermione, has anything about Regulus been in the paper since Saturday?"

"I've been looking," Hermione replied, "but they haven't reported anything else. As far as I know, the Malfoys haven't come into it yet."

Black looked a little better in Defense Against the Dark Arts; the circles under his eyes had lightened, and, with his hair back in a ponytail, he looked younger than usual. Harry remembered Hermione saying that Black probably wasn't any more than thirty-five. If that were true, Harry's parents hadn't been very old when they died, he realized - only in their early twenties, a few years older than Wood and Percy. No one had ever told Harry how old his parents had been when they died. He didn't know what they had done for work, or how long they'd been together before they got married, or even where exactly they were from.

"All right," said Black. "Professor Flitwick told me that you're worried about how you're going to be tested, but this test is going to be a lot easier than you think. What it's going to be is a list of statements - "

What was the worst that could happen, Harry thought, if he told Black everything he knew? He'd have to explain how he knew it, and unless Harry lied, Black was going to be furious that Harry had snuck out to Hogsmeade and later broken into his office. Harry didn't want to lie to Black, but he wasn't exactly looking forward to telling him those particular details. Still - if telling Black everything would bring them closer together, if it could help Harry to get away from Privet Drive, if it could lead to knowing more about his parents...

" - and you'll write down whether those statements are probably true or probably false and explain why."

"So," Parvati asked, "if the statement was something like 'you can't get another wizard's powers by putting his blood into you,' we'd say something like, 'this is probably true because ancient wizards tried it and it never worked - '"

"Yes," said Black, "that's a good example. Seeing as many things about blood magic haven't been proven true or false, your points are going to come from the quality of your arguments. Once we're finished with blood magic we're going to start a unit on identifying magical poisons and after that we're going to study various dark creatures, which will get us through the end of the year. Hopefully your next teacher will feel that you've had a broad base in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Wait," said Dean. "You're leaving?"

"Well," said Black, smiling slightly, "I don't intend to, but I don't think any of the previous professors did, either."

"You ought to have Professor Trelawney crystal-gaze for you," said Lavender solemnly. "If something's going to happen to you, she'll see it."

"It's a thought," Black said - Harry thought he looked as though he were trying not to laugh - "but Professor Trelawney hasn't liked me since I put a spider in her hair when she was a seventh-year. In any case, if I run into some unforeseen circumstances and can't come back to teach next year, a friend of mine's agreed to take my position. His name is Alastor Moody. You'll like him, he'll keep you awake."

"Sir," said Lavender suddenly, "sir, you should have Professor Trelawney crystal-gaze for you so she can find out what happened to your brother!"

A hush fell over the classroom. Seamus, Dean and Neville all looked confused; Harry guessed that they hadn't read or heard about the article in the Prophet. Hermione and Ron were staring at Lavender incredulously. Even Parvati looked embarrassed.

"For those who don't know," said Black calmly, "my brother Regulus disappeared several years ago during the war and last week someone found a button from his coat in the woods in Wiltshire. I'm sure the Aurors will settle the matter, Lavender, without Professor Trelawney's help."

Perhaps it was the way the rest of the class was staring, or the gentleness of Black's voice; either way, Lavender seemed to realize that she had done something wrong. Her face crumpled and she rushed out of the room, crying. Black immediately rose and went after her; in the quiet of the room, Harry could hear her sobs echoing down the corridor.

Hermione exhaled sharply. "As though Professor Trelawney could - "

"Oh, shut up, Hermione!" Parvati snapped. "She was just trying to help, just because you hate Divination - "

"If Professor Black wanted the whole class to know about his brother, he would have told - "

"Hermione," Harry muttered, "seriously, just leave it alone." Hermione's face flushed. She turned away from him and started quickly scribbling something on her parchment, refusing to look at anyone.

"You could have just laid off!" Ron told Hermione after class. Black had returned after a few minutes, while Lavender came back about ten minutes later, her eyes red but her face filled with a sort of determined dignity. "Like you never did anything stupid - "

"All right, I'm sorry!" Hermione exclaimed. "But she shouldn't have - all right, I suppose she knows that."

Back in the common room, Lavender was sitting on the couch by the fire, drinking a cup of hot chocolate and surrounded by Parvati, Katie, Alicia, Angelina, and Ginny, who had Crookshanks on her lap. "Are you okay?" Ron asked Lavender.

"She's fine now," Parvati answered; Lavender had just taken a sip of hot chocolate. "Black told her he knew she probably didn't realize everyone didn't know yet. He says they're going to find out anyway, so she shouldn't worry about it."

"Yes," said Lavender, swallowing, "that's what he said." She leaned over towards Ginny and scratched Crookshanks behind his ears. "This cat's sweet, isn't he? My mum says I can get another rabbit, now that Binky died, but maybe I'll get a cat instead."

"You can - er, you can hold him if you like," Hermione said. "Here, Ginny, let Lavender have him."

Harry and Ron went up to their room to get rid of their books, leaving Hermione with Lavender. "Sweet," Ron snorted. "The thing's a cold-blooded menace. At least Scabbers has - " They had just reached door to their room when he stopped.

"What?" Harry asked.

"The door's already open," said Ron. He rushed inside, dropping his books on the floor, "Scabbers? Oy, Scabbers! Where are you? I told everyone to leave this door shut - "

"It wasn't anyone who lives here, I don't think," Harry said, going to the head of the stairs and looking down into the common room. "Seamus and Dean got back when we did, and Neville's just coming in now. Here, see if he got in the - "

There was a startled cry; Harry ran back to the dormitory and looked inside. Ron was holding up a bloodied pillowcase, and Scabbers was still nowhere in sight.