Between Snow, Homework and Suspicions
With the return of the cold, that familiar weather that announced the end of autumn also began to appear; it came accompanied by a beautiful fall of snow and ice. Especially the Black Lake, which, being frozen, looked like it was made of steel; a shiny and rigid layer that prevented that fool… Percy from trying something idiotic. Unless, of course, he wanted to catch a cold.
That was what Harry thought as he looked out the castle window. He also managed to see Hagrid, who was defrosting the flying brooms. The groundskeeper was wearing such strange furs that it was better not to ask where they came from; his shoes, on top of that, had a rather beaver-like style.
Harry's distraction was obvious; everyone already knew that this week the Quidditch season would begin, as well as the first match in which he would be a player this Saturday.
Gryffindor versus Slytherin. against his most favorite house in all of Hogwarts; Harry thought as his nerves showed every now and then when he failed in some classes, making clumsy movements with his wand… or when he ignored his brother trying to annoy him.
"Pig Potter." Percy, who had been trying to talk to him for a while, could not help using the nickname his brother hated to get his attention.
And it seemed to work, because Harry looked at him with an annoyed expression. "Stop calling me that," he said, frowning.
"It's your fault for not listening," Percy replied as he lifted his shoulders as if he had no other choice.
Harry rolled his eyes at the excuse.
"Are you worried about that thing where the Quidditch referees suddenly disappeared during matches and then appeared in the Sahara Desert months later?" Percy asked while taking a bite from the sandwich in his hand.
"Am I worried? No. Now that you said it? Yes." Harry said with a sigh loaded with sarcasm as they kept walking. He had stopped only to look out the window.
Percy simply laughed with a bit of guilt and followed him, happily eating.
"It's been cold lately. Maybe we should ask Hermione for one of those fires you can carry inside a jar in your pocket," Percy commented while looking up at the slightly cloudy sky. Puffs of vapor escaped his mouth every time he spoke.
"A jar with fire in your pocket. Only you would think that's a good idea," Harry replied with disbelief.
"Better than freezing, isn't it?" Percy answered instantly, but then looked back at Harry with an amused smile. "Wow. You're being very aggressive with your older brother. It makes this older brother feel sad about your upbringing," Percy said, exaggerating while wiping away fake tears.
"Don't start," Harry said without stopping.
Percy smiled slightly, dropping the act. Sometimes his nonsense really helped Harry stop worrying so much, and that was what kept them so close.
Percy was about to put the last piece of his sandwich into his mouth when, at that moment, Snape appeared from a corner as if he were an evil wizard accidentally summoned in a dark ceremony.
Harry and Percy froze when they saw him. After all, Snape was not exactly kind to them; he rather hated them from head to toe, and he did not even try to hide it.
To make matters worse, the moment he saw them, Snape began to walk toward them with a slight limp. Harry briefly glanced at one of the professor's feet before returning to his neutral expression; getting annoyed at him right before his first match was not a great idea.
"What do you have there, Jackson?" Snape asked in that cold voice, looking at him as if searching for a reason to punish him.
Percy, who had not yet eaten his last piece of sandwich, made a confused face, looked at his food and finally lifted it toward Snape. "What? Do you want some?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.
Harry choked on a laugh. Not entirely, because his lips betrayed him with a barely visible smile. He saw Snape's eyes narrow even more toward Percy.
"It is forbidden to eat in the corridors. And food must not be taken out of the Great Hall or the kitchen," Snape said slowly, before taking the sandwich from Percy's hands. "Five points from Gryffindor."
He walked away limping, making it clear that he had only gone there for one purpose: to take points from them for no reason.
"He probably invented that rule," Harry muttered while observing Percy, who was making faces of sadness and annoyance for having lost his last piece of sandwich… and house points. "I wonder what's wrong with his leg."
"I don't know; but I hope it hurts a lot," Percy answered with a vengeful look.
That made Harry chuckle softly as he shook his head and dragged his brother toward the common room, where Ron, Hermione and Neville were waiting to do homework.
Right there, Hermione was already acting like a teacher, correcting Neville's and Ron's work, both of whom looked quite depressed; surely because Professor Granger had failed them again.
And it seemed the next ones would be Harry and Percy. Well… only Percy. Harry was good at his homework; not the best at theory, but not far behind. And in practice, of course, he was the best in the class; without cheating like Percy, who, ever since Hermione discovered his shameless methods, had become her target for academic rehabilitation.
Which only made Percy feel a deep desire to flee every time he saw her.
Too bad Harry grabbed him by the arm to stop him from escaping. All this time Percy thought they were simply going to the common room to have fun.
"You tricked me," Percy said with a tragic and betrayed look as he saw the books around Hermione, Neville and Ron; the latter two writing with their heads down while Hermione watched them seriously.
"Come on, you need to stop cheating and learn properly," Harry said with a devilish smile while dragging Percy to the study group.
Hermione looked up at them with a serious expression while holding Percy's notebook in her hand, reading its contents with a truly harsh look before letting out a deep sigh.
"I really don't understand how… aaah." Hermione let out another deep sigh. "If the professors saw your homework, they would immediately realize you're cheating; didn't you think about that?" she asked, looking at him sternly.
Percy said nothing; his mouth was completely shut, and he had an expression of absolute guilt.
"Wait… you cheat?" Ron asked as if he were only just discovering it.
"Of course not…" Percy said, although he was terrible at lying, especially because his eyes were nervously darting all over the room. "I just have dyslexia. But when it comes to practical work, maybe I'm too good." His fake pride was as transparent as water.
"Yeah, I don't believe you," Hermione replied instantly, popping his ego bubble without any effort.
Harry silently laughed at his brother's suffering.
"Nev, help me," Percy pleaded desperately to his best friend.
"I'm sorry, Percy; but Hermione is really helping us improve our grades and I seriously need it," Neville said, feeling slightly guilty for not being able to save him.
Percy could only deflate as he sat down, while Hermione began explaining the theory from the beginning. Luckily for him, or maybe unluckily depending on the point of view, Hermione had a tremendous amount of patience when it came to teaching. And unfortunately, listening to her talk at the speed of a magical machine gun was even worse than trying to read an entire book.
"Hey, Harry. Professor McGonagall is looking for you," one of the Weasley twins said as he entered the common room.
"Maybe it's about the match tomorrow," added the other, with a very revealing smile.
Harry nodded with a "thanks" and stood up.
He headed to the staff room, where McGonagall was supposed to be. He knocked on the door, but got no response. Just in case, he knocked a second time, this time a little harder. However, with a single knock, the door opened completely; it seemed it wasn't locked.
Harry's eyes widened with surprise at what was happening inside.
Filch and Snape were there. And Snape had his leg up on the desk; it was completely battered, covered in blood and deep bite marks. Filch was trying to clean the wound as best as he could.
The bite was very familiar… too similar to the one left by a gigantic mouth full of teeth.
"Potter." Snape looked up and shouted in fury when he saw the open door with Harry frozen in the doorway.
"Uh… Professor McGonagall…" he tried to say.
"Out. Get out of here right now." Snape cut him off harshly while quickly covering his leg.
Harry shot out of the room before Snape came up with more points to take from Gryffindor. He hurried down the stairs, heart racing, and returned to the common room.
Seeing him come back so quickly, Percy and the others looked at him strangely.
"And what did she want?" Percy asked, trying to change the subject to give his brain a moment of rest.
Harry thought about how to explain it… and eventually told them what he had seen.
"A bite?" Ron asked, frowning.
"Wait… you mean maybe it was the big dog?" Hermione said, processing the information quickly. Harry nodded.
"And what if it was Snape?" Ron suddenly blurted out, wearing the look he got whenever an absurd yet exciting idea crossed his mind. "On Halloween. Maybe he tried to get in and look for whatever the dog is guarding. And used the troll as a distraction. Or maybe he brought it here himself."
Hermione's eyes widened like saucers. "It can't be. He's not very nice, but he wouldn't steal something Dumbledore is guarding," she said quickly.
Ron shook his head with a sarcastic smile. "Do you really think all the professors are good? Being a professor doesn't make him innocent."
Neville lifted his hand slightly, catching everyone's attention.
"Actually… that day I saw Grover going toward the Forbidden Forest and then coming back. I actually saw him do it multiple times." Neville looked nervous. "I never paid attention, but after the Halloween attack, knowing the troll came from the forest… now that I think about it, it sounds suspicious."
Percy frowned instantly. "Neville, Grover is our friend," he said firmly, as if suspecting someone close were an unforgivable sin.
Harry understood that reaction perfectly. He knew his brother well; sometimes his protective instinct blinded him. And the fact that Neville, of all people, had noticed something suspicious… that already meant a lot.
"Wait, Percy," Harry said before his brother entered his official guardian mode. "Where did you say Grover came from?"
"Transfer student from… the United… States," Percy replied with annoyance. But then he seemed to remember something as he now actually paid attention to his friend's country of origin.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked, confused by their reaction to something as simple as a country.
Harry sighed. "It's not racism or anything like that. It's because of something our Aunt Mor told us," he explained with a thoughtful expression.
"What thing?" Ron asked.
"That if someone came from there it might be because of us… or rather that we should be careful, because they could be an enemy instead of an ally. And that Percy would be in danger if that were the case." Harry said it seriously, glancing at his brother.
"What?" they all exclaimed at the same time.
"And why is that?" Neville asked quickly, worried about Percy.
"Well… our Aunt Mor is very mysterious, so she never fully explained it. She just said we should be careful. And if Grover was sent because of Percy, then… if he's an enemy…" Harry didn't finish the sentence. He didn't even want to say it.
Percy clenched his fists tightly. He didn't want to doubt his friend, but he couldn't ignore Mor's warning either.
Now they had two suspects:
Severus Snape, Potions professor.
And Grover Underwood, one of Percy's friends.