Book of Memories

Chapter 7: CHASING THE PUFFSKEIN

The very next morning, by the time Harry woke up, there was another line of people standing outside their tent. Mrs. Weasley had apparently let him sleep until midday and the line just kept getting bigger and bigger. He wouldn't have minded so much except there were plenty of cameras trying to take a shot of him asleep...

Mrs. Weasley shooed them all away and Harry was grateful for it... He had something to eat and then they were off to the Burrow, the Weasley house.

They arrived just in time for dinner. After finally getting down to having a peaceful birthday without half a million people screaming in his ear, Harry got another shock.

"Your aunt and uncle have something to give you!" said Mrs. Weasley to Harry as they finished eating. She then gave Uncle Vernon a stern look. Whatever he was about to give, he didn't look too happy about it. A birthday present? Well, they have been acting strangely lately...

Uncle Vernon walked out and returned with a small, purple bag. He gave it to Harry and forced out a "Happy birthday" along with Aunt Petunia.

Harry weighed it. It seemed heavy, too heavy for just a toothpick or a wad of ear wax. They already sent him some socks (a pair of smelly old ones from Uncle Vernon) and Sirius would probably turn them into dung beetles if they sent him another napkin. Was there a card inside? A single and some change maybe? Perhaps he could exchange Muggle money for a silver Sickle or something.

"Open it already," said Aunt Petunia.

He put a hand inside and grabbed a small, light, black box that was about four inches high and two wide. Inside this box was where all the weight was, all right. He pulled the top off.

Harry's mouth fell to the floor, burrowed itself all the way through the planet and came out the other side. When it returned to the kitchen, it moved without sound for a moment and he swore his heart stopped beating too. When it started again, his voice returned as well.

"A- a real present?" He looked up at his aunt, flabbergasted. She didn't change the look on her face so he turned to look at Sirius, who was already smiling.

He looked down at it again. It was just a gold wristwatch, a very handsome, gold wristwatch. The band and face were both made of gold. Every other segment of the band was white gold as well as the lock at the ends. To Harry, it was more than a watch, it was a turning point.

Yes, he thought, Snape would be giving out sweets this year, Voldemort would make an apology on national radio, Professor Trelawney would stop predicting his death and Professor McGonagall would take her hair out of that infernal bun.

Harry tore apart the casing and pulled it out. He just sort of stared at it for a while. It was still just a handsome, gold wristwatch. Harry's old watch became waterlogged during the second task of the Triwizard Tournament two years ago and wore it out of habit even though it was broken. Never, did he think, would the replacement come from the Dursleys.

He finally put it on.

"We all chipped in but they paid slightly more," said Sirius. "It's twenty-four karat gold. Mechanical so it works at Hogwarts. And just to be sure, it's got an unbreakable Water Proof Charm," he added, smirking.

There was also a birthday card inside the bag with everyone's name on it.

Harry continued to stare at it later that night in Ron's room. The Dursleys, Sirius and Harry were to stay for one last night, have breakfast, then go back home.

"It's just a watch, Harry," said Ron, rolling his eyes.

"No, no. You don't understand," Harry explained. "When I was eleven, Dudley was about to go into a fit because his parents only got him thirty-seven birthday presents."

"THIRTY-SEVEN?" Ron bellowed.

"And they had to buy him two more when we went to the zoo. Now that I remember, that was the first time I ever went to a zoo," Harry added dreamily. He shook his head, remembering what happened next. "That was when I set the boa constrictor loose." He then giggled at his own feat. "I didn't think I could hate anyone more until I met Draco Malfoy. I hope both of them drop dead."

"Me too," Ron agreed.

Harry took off both his necklace and watch, laying the necklace neatly in the middle of the watch. He now had three things he treasured most: his Dragonback, the Order of Merlin necklace and a handsome, gold wristwatch. He was getting quite a collection of extravagant jewelry. What was next, an ear ring? He frowned at the thought. It looked good on Bill, but not on himself.

The entire summer has gone excellently so far aside from the small hiccup with Cho in front of half a million people (he would never forget how red his face went). Best of all, this summer was finally a real vacation. For a fleeting moment, and it was a very strange feeling, if for some odd reason Hogwarts blew up, he wouldn't mind the current living arrangements.

But Harry's heart had been floating on clouds for the past month and he couldn't care about that. He scrunched up his pillows and crawled into bed.

The final month of summer vacation had gone just as smoothly as the first month. An article turned up in the Daily Prophet about the win against the United States written by Rita Skeeter. Ever since Hermione found out that Rita had been illegally searching Hogwarts grounds two years ago for news stories, she seemed to have been behaving nicely...

Harry continued to mark off the days on his calendar until his return to Hogwarts. At three weeks left he received the letter with all the books required.

SIXTH-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6 by Miranda Goshawk

Monster Book of Monsters, Grade 4 by Rubeus Hagrid

The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, Revised by Adelwyn Aladi

Unfogging the Future, Advanced by Sibyll Trelawney

Wonderful World of Magical History by E. Lundi

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Revised by Phyllidia Spore

Moste Potente Potions, Revised by Severus Snape

Herbology and Beyond by Phyllidia Spore

Master Guide to Transfiguration by Minerva McGonagall

Harry Potter: Lucky or Legendary by Fleur Delacour

The Power of Healing, Grade 2 by Petunia Dursley

Two of these, of course, caught Harry by surprise. Fleur Delacour would finally be working at Hogwarts like she said she would two years ago. That last book, Power of Healing, Grade 2, by who? No, can't be. There's another woman out there, a witch, named Petunia Dursley. And what about Hagrid. Hagrid wrote a book? Fleur must have had to write one as a graduation requirement or something...

Harry went with Sirius to Diagon Alley to buy the books. The Monster book of Monsters Grade 4, thankfully, didn't bite like the first one did. Ron and Hermione met them there. They, too, wanted to know if Harry's aunt was a witch...

Should he bring the list to his aunt? What would she do? No, he knew. She would just say there's a witch that has her name, that he should never show her things from his school and send him back up to his room. What a question that was!

Two and a half weeks left (he really wanted to know if his aunt used to be a witch)... Two weeks left (Harry started to avoid her)... One and a half (she would just get upset)... One week until the first of September (Harry didn't go to sleep until three in the morning)... Four days left (Sirius would know)... Two days left (Ron and Hermione were badgering him to ask)...

Sirius, Harry and Uncle Vernon (thankfully not Aunt Petunia) drove to King's Cross. Sirius would come stay at Hogwarts as he and Snape had to perform a check-up to see how close Sirius was to a full recovery. Best of all, next year Sirius and Harry would be able to move out of the Dursley's and into, Sirius suggested, Harry's old house. He was positively exploding with happiness at the idea but Dumbledore would have to agree first. The start of a normal life, he thought, at last.

On the Hogwarts Express, Sirius took a compartment with the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, which they all knew was Fleur Delacour at this point. Ron, Harry and Hermione took a compartment for themselves. As there was nothing interesting going on, Harry decided he ought to do what he hadn't been doing lately since he read his book list: sleep.

The train ride was uneventful. That made four years out of six Harry got to see the Sorting and eat at the feast. As expected, sitting up at the staff table next to Snape, was Fleur Delacour who graduated from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic two years ago. By the look on Ron's face, there was no doubt he still fancied her as much as he did two years ago. Harry rolled his eyes and dug into the chicken that appeared in front of him.

"So what d'you think is going to happen this year?" asked Harry.

"Nothing, I hope," said Ron, stuffing his face full of pork chops, staring up at Fleur.

"I can't believe the book they made us get. 'Harry Potter: Lucky or Legendary,'" said Hermione. "They're going to use any bit of the book in whatever class -"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts -" said Harry.

"- it's used in?" finished Hermione, ignoring Harry.

"All I know is that it's going to be embarrassing."

Embarrassing. wasn't the word for it. Defense Against the Dark Arts was the first class they had the very next morning.

"'Arry," began Fleur, but she couldn't keep a straight face. Everyone had just sat down and class just began and it didn't look like Fleur would be able to look at Harry ever again.

It was very hard for him to pick up the book from Flourish and Blott's in the first place. There, sitting in the window, were hundreds of copies of the book all of which were, as noted by the date, finished only two months ago. They were on special order for Hogwarts students -- there weren't enough copies made to go around to everyone yet. On the front cover was a picture that, for once, didn't move and that was because it was hand-drawn, taking up the entire front cover. At the very top were the words Harry Potter, and at the bottom, Lucky or Legendary.

The artist took great care in posing Harry's face carefully. His hair was parted at the bangs, an accurate depiction of the real scar easily viewable. Harry's facial expression in the drawing, unfortunately, was showing him grinning, almost evilly. He was standing sideways, his wand clutched like a knife over his head, his other hand stretched out in front, looking ready to duel. Most embarrassing. of all perhaps was not his stance but that he was dressed in the bloodied robes he found himself wearing while dead, missing his soul, for a week last summer.

It was public knowledge that most pictures of Harry from the wizarding world were hard to come by as the most you ever saw was an arm or an ear. This drawing would go down in history.

Knowing exactly what Fleur wanted, because she kept pointing her finger at the first page of Harry Potter: Lucky or Legendary, Harry took a deep breath, sighed loudly, took another deep breath and began reading aloud,

"'Be it luck or by skill? Was it his well-known mother, Lily Potter, that protected him from death or is it something that has yet to be discovered?

"'Wizards and witches the world over know of the story. Harry Potter, at age one, survived the Killing Curse with nothing happening to him but a lightning-shaped scar appearing on his forehead. This curse is, of course, unblockable and the only way to not die from it is to hurl oneself from it's path unless your name happens to be Harr-' Can someone else read this?" said Harry in a much louder voice and sounding (and feeling) highly distressed.

Hermione, to his relief, took over at once.

"'Unless your name happens to be Harry Potter. Only some details have been fleshed out and it has been long thought the young man holds undiscovered magic. His deeds are many and his triumphs are great but let us take a quick overview of some of them.

"'At the age of eleven, Harry and two fiends, Hermione Granger-'" and she went very pink "'- and Ronald Weasley-'" he, too, went very pink "'-took it upon themselves to stop He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named from acquiring the Philosopher's Stone from Hogwarts. Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley helped young Harry get to a chamber deep underground where he encountered He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. When nearly being strangled to death, he discovered He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's host, one Professor Quirrel, could not touch his skin. This held off He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named until Albus Dumbledore could come to the rescue. This, as has been agreed, was pure luck on Potter's part. It is known that his mother's sacrifice prevented Quirrel from touching young Harry. It is undeniable, however, that not many students might try such a thing, including many adult wizards and witches.

"'A year later, Potter found himself, again with the help of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, face to face with a giant basilisk in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's mythical Chamber of Secrets. While arguing with a spirit of Tom Riddle, who early in life became He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Potter showed true faithfulness to Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, came to Potter's rescue with the school Sorting Hat which contained a blade of Godric Gryffindor. Fawkes disabled the basilisk's method of attack and, though the mentioned is also believed to be luck, not many twelve year olds would find enough courage in themselves to take on a snake of that size with just a sword. Potter killed the basilisk and destroyed the spirit of Tom Riddle which was bound to a diary.'"

At this point, Harry was so red that he sunk into his chair, covered his face with his hands and covered the scar with his bangs. Hermione's and Ron's face were just as red as Harry's. Neither of them expected to hear their names.

"'In his fourth year at Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter had both been tricked by Bartemius Crouch Jr. The Triwizard Tournament was held at Hogwarts that year and the Triwizard Cup had been turned into a Portkey. Diggory was killed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Thus was the second coming of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named when one of his followers, thought to be dead, Peter Pettigrew, performed illegal Necromancy. Young Potter, with an extraordinary will to come out alive, ended up facing the rare effect of Priori Incantatem instead of meeting the front end of another Avada Kedavra. If two wands with the same core are forced to fight, they form a cage of light, encasing the owners. A small burst of light must be sent to one of the two wands and that wand will be forced to regurgitate shadows of people it has killed in reverse order. Needless to say, Potter met the shadows of Diggory, Bertha Jorkins, Muggle Frank Bryce and of course Lily and James Potter. He escaped death from He-Who-Must-'"

"I'm not listening to any more of this," said Harry hotly, leaning forward, still hiding his face.

"Ze 'eadmaster asked me to cover zis material," said Fleur calmly. This did not give Harry much choice. "I vould not ask anyone to read a book I wrote in my own class unless I 'ad to." She had a point.

And then she smiled.

"Vould you like to tell us more details about any of zis events? Perhaps how you vere able to figure various zings out?" Harry took his face out of his hands and noticed the entire classes was looking at him, all except Ron and Hermione. "I do believe zat you are holding magic zat has not yet been discovered. Part of zis class is to find zat out. Zat, and much of vat you haff done is ze work of an Auror."

The effect of Fleur's small speech and the text from the book on Harry was incredible. He was about to put the scenario in that Fire Quidditch game out with the bad memories of living with the Dursleys, he had completely forgotten his first four years at Hogwarts, this past summer and was ready to lay to rest all the reasons that gave him the Order of Merlin necklace. But, gold wristwatch glinting in Neville Longbottom's eye, all the thoughts that he swore were in a Pensieve came rushing back... and they were just as unpleasant as the first time around.

He grabbed the plaque on his necklace against his chest for self-comfort and, with Ron and Hermione's help, began explaining their methods of figuring out the mysteries starting with the Philosopher's Stone.

Let it be known, the fact that he wanted to know whether he was just very lucky or holding undiscovered magic aside, that he did not enjoy his first lesson with Fleur.

That afternoon, Hagrid was overcome with joy at the fact that his book got published. It covered everything he ever taught and more, which of course he would be teaching. Harry was reminded heavily of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. He glanced at the chapter listing and saw some items he wished weren't there:

Six - Mountain-troll

Seven - Dementor

Eight - Balrog

There were some creatures he might like to see:

Nine - Forest Fairy

Ten - Centaur

Eleven - Puffskein

"I got me some help from Newt Scamander an' him and I wrote this book," said Hagrid brightly, coming out from his hut. "Got it published just over the summer!"

Care of Magical Creatures was still with the Slytherins. Malfoy wasted no time in bickering.

"What are we doing first, Hagrid, Nundus or Manticores?"

Hagrid frowned.

"What's a whatever-you-call-it?" Harry whispered to Hermione.

"A Nundu is the most dangerous creature known. They look like giant leopards and their breath can kill you. Takes a hundred wizards to manage just one!" she whispered back, having already memorized the book. "Manticores aren't much less deadly."

"I don't think I want ter have a Nundu as a pet, Malfoy, but I'll try hard ter get yeh a manticore!" chortled Hagrid. It was enough to shut Malfoy up. "Now, gimme a minute while I get summat from me hut." Hagrid disappeared inside his hut and returned with another box. He liked to put things in boxes. This only caused confusion and sometimes fear as even the smallest of creatures can grow to be very dangerous. Inside this boxes, thankful to say, were some of the cutest animals Harry ever laid eyes on. Hagrid went back and pulled out more when he saw the huge smile on everyone's face.

Spherical in shape and covered in custard colored fur, there were about three to a box. They looked rather like fur balls. In their mouths, they had dull teeth. One of them kept sticking it's tongue up at Pansy Parkinson.

"Puffskeins! Go on, pick one up. They don' bite, but they may stick a tongue up yer nose and try ter eat yer boogies," said Hagrid as if there was nothing odd about it. "They don' mind bein' thrown about either. So much fur they lan' with a sof' thud."

They were softer to the touch than a tuft of feathers. Harry picked one up and put it to his face only to feel something thin, wet and long crawl up his nose. The puffskein had indeed tried to pull a boogie out of it. Harry looked over at Pansy again and noticed there was a boogie hanging out of her nose. He tapped Ron and Hermione on the shoulder and they watched as Harry threw his puffskein and it landed right on Pansy's face. She struggled to get it off and when she did, the boogie was gone. Harry, Ron and Hermione sniggered and went up to Hagrid.

"Can we keep one?" asked Hermione. "They're so cute." Hagrid looked shocked at her request.

"You actually want ter keep one?"

"Why? They don't breath fire, do they?" asked Hermione anxiously.

"No, 's just that - just that I didn't expect anyone ter like them so much! Sure, yeh can keep one."

"Why not? They're adorable!" Adorable wasn't the word. If you cuddled one of them, they cuddled back, their soft fur warm to the touch.

"Just wait till the end of class an' I'll let yeh pick one. On'y one! Yer not supposed ter have any pets other than an owl, cat or toad. They're low maintenance. Just stick 'em in a corner and they'll eat anythin'. Just watch out. They like to eat yer boogies while yer asleep. 'S their favorite." Hagrid grinned broadly. He wouldn't cover a creature unless there was something odd about it, it was just Hagrid's way...

"I'm not going to survive Fleur's classes," said Harry later that night in the Gryffindor commons. It was late at night and they were the only ones still left. Harry had the puffskein they picked out, a particularly fuzzy and cuddly one, in his lap and it was munching on dead spiders from his hand. The spiders didn't bother anyone but Ron who had been staring at them ever since he took one of the squashy armchairs farthest from Harry as possible.

"Now she's Professor Delacour," said Hermione hotly. Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, looked ready to pounce the puffskein in Harry's lap any minute.

"Do you have to feed that thing spiders?" asked Ron, eyeing them nervously.

"It found them, not me," said Harry, denying any responsibility. "I mean, is this class really necessary? I would have run out the door but she probably would have taken an obscene amount of points from Gryffindor."

"No she wouldn't," said Ron quietly.

"It's embarassing!" yelled Harry.

"You're not going to find out any other way," assured Hermione. "You're the topic of so many meetings worldwide and-" Harry gave Hermione a glare that made her fall silent. He went back to keeping an eye on the puffskein.

"I think I'll call it Hedwig Junior- kidding! Just kidding!" Hedwig could be heard hooting loudly from the sixth years' dormitory. "What d'you think of the name Cappy?"

"Cappy?" repeated Ron. The puffskein rolled around in delight.

"Cappy it is," said Harry brightly. Cappy finished the last of the spiders, rolled onto the floor and began to rock back and forth oddly at Harry's feet.

"These are really weird creatures," said Hermione staring at the puffskein. "Cute... but really weird."

"Hey!" Harry half shouted, half whispered. "Where's it going!" The puffskein decided to wander towards the portrait hole. With a great leap, it pushed the portrait hole open and went outside. "Come back here!" hissed Harry. He grabbed his wand from a table and stuffed it into his pocket.

Harry, Ron and Hermione got up from their chairs and climbed through the portrait hole.

"Cappy," hissed Ron, "come back here!" Cappy continued down the corridor. Harry, Ron and Hermione broke into a run as the puffskein rolled down a corridor at the end.

"Where's it going!" hissed Hermione.

"I don't know but let's just hope we don't get caught," Ron hissed back. "Once, that's it! One more time and it's going back to Hagrid!"

Cappy did an about-face and slipped right through Harry's fingers, heading towards the stairs. They chased it all way to the third floor corridor.

"Last time we were here we found Fluffy," said Ron nervously.

They stopped at the door leading into Fluffy's room and watched open-mouthed as Cappy unlocked the door with it's own magic and slipped inside. There were no growls, no gross ripping sounds or banging noises. The three paused for a minute.

"You think it's safe... in there?" asked Hermione.

"I went down here last year," said Harry calmly. "Got bored one night. It was empty. There's nothing in there."

"Are you... sure?"

"Yes now let's go," he hissed. Harry pulled on Ron and Hermione's wrists and they walked unnerved down the third floor corridor with him.

"But it was locked," gulped Ron.

"Come on!" He dragged them to the door and poked a head inside.

Harry turned to Ron, glared at him and then stepped inside. Ron and Hermione followed when Harry signaled it was clear. Cappy was no where to be seen. Hermione stomped a foot and growled.

"Where did it go?" she said looking all around. Harry pointed at the trap door which was wide open. "I refuse," she said, folding her arms.

"Fine," said Harry gruffly. "But I'm going after it. It's not like I haven't been in deadly situations before," he added glaring at Hermione again.

Hermione bit her lip then stepped closer. She didn't say anything but Harry knew she had changed her mind, however reluctant the decision was.

"Ron?"

"Fine."

"Accio Dragonback," said Harry, holding his wand out. Within seconds, his broom came flying in front of him. "I bet you my entire vault at Gringott's every spell and enchantment they used to protect that stupid stone is gone. Engorgio. Each of us hang from a ledge and keep a hand on the Dragonback. I'll lower us in."

That part of the plan went smoothly. For a brief moment, he thought of what looked to be another death-defying, Dursley-annoying moment. Down at the bottom, it was pitch black except for a small candle in the center of the room where the Devil's Snare used to be.

"Umm, Harry, wh-what's that growling noise?" asked Hermione.

"I say we just find Cappy and get out of here," replied Harry. "How's that sound?"

"Best plan you've had all night," said Ron, talking very fast. "Lumos!"

The tips of their wands glowed brightly. None of them took notice, but Harry's was glowing the brightest.

"The growling stopped," said Hermione.

"Weird," said Ron.

"Quiet you two," hissed Harry. "There, that furball rolling on the floor," he added, pointing at Cappy. "STUPID PUFFSKEIN! COME BACK!" He tore down the stone passageway leading to where the flying keys were. Cappy bounced off the floor and banged into the door hard, knocking it down. "I'm going to make it live with my aunt and uncle when I catch it," Harry said hotly. And then Harry heard something that made him freeze.

"Vernon," someone was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address -- how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"

"A-aunt Petunia?" said Harry, creeping forward. It was coming from where the giant chess set was.

"Watching - spying - might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.

Harry grabbed the Order of Merlin plaque dangling from his neck. This, for some odd reason, gave him lots of comfort. He, Ron and Hermione entered the room with the giant chess board. It was still intact but they could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down, the chess pieces on the sides. This unnerved the three of them greatly.

"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want --"

Harry turned to look at Ron and Hermione. Both of them were staring nonplussed at the figures of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley.

"What the -" started Harry, but he couldn't finish.

"No," Uncle Vernon said. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer... Yes, that's best... we won't do anything..."

"But --" started Aunt Petunia.

"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"

The two of them vanished while Harry's eyes were closed during a blink. Harry's grip on the plaque loosened to the point of letting go as he looked around the room.

Dumbfounded, Harry found a moment's sanity and spotted Cappy. He snatched her up; she was munching on a rock. "On the Dragonback!" Harry ordered.

They flew as fast as Harry could manage out through the flying key room, out to the Devil's Snare room, through the trapdoor, locking Fluffy's room and stayed on the Dragonback all the way to the Fat Lady's portrait.

"I'm not going to ask," the Fat Lady said, staring at the Dragonback.

"Good," Harry panted, "don't. Password's Flobberworm. Reducio," he added pointing his wand at the Dragonback. She swung open to admit them.

"Don't ask me what that was," said Hermione flatly as they all slouched into armchairs. "What were they doing there? They didn't notice us at all! Harry, what was that? What were they talking about?"

"My Aunt's a witch, I guess," said Harry, holding Cappy very firmly in his hands. "But, they said exactly that five years ago." He gave Hermione a very distressed look. "When I got my acceptance letter - did I ever tell you this?" Ron shook his head. Harry grabbed the plaque again. His put his free hand on top of Cappy and played with the fur between his fingers. "They just wanted to ignore it, figured if they didn't bother, if it seemed like I didn't want to go... First they tried to get me out of the cupboard because they knew they were being spied on. Still got letters. Then we moved to a hotel. Got more letters there. Then we moved to some stupid hut out at sea. That's when Hagrid finally came to get me."

He let go of the plaque and stood up quickly, tossing Cappy onto the floor. Cappy wandered over to Hermione and rolled around by her leg.

"Good night," he muttered at the shocked faces of Ron and Hermione and climbed the stairs.

Ron and Hermione only spoke again when Harry was out of earshot.

"Really desperate to stop him from coming, weren't they?" said Hermione.

"What do you think?" asked Ron.

"I don't know." They exchanged dark looks. Hermione snatched Cappy and put her (at least, Hagrid said it was a her) in a temporary cage. Cappy would be locked up at all times from then on.

Up in his room, Harry changed into pajamas and laid his watch and necklace on his bedside table then shut the curtains of his four-post bed tightly. Mr. Weasley's words came in handy again. "Put it out of your mind, Harry," he had said. Harry took the very good advice for a third time.