The trio headed out of Hagrid's hut and on their way they ran into the young wizards who were watching earlier. They are very young and have an intense curiosity, so Harry had expected them to run back to the castle in a rush, but instead, they are chattering on the side of the path, discussing whether they should go back or not.
"Those brats." Ron shook his head as he remarked sagely.
Harry looked back at them and guessed in his mind that these students would not have a clue that they might be sewing clothes for Professor Hagrid's dear brother in the Care of Magical Creatures Class later. A damn cloth that is probably bigger than a tent, is now hanging in Hagrid's hut.
They walked up the stone steps and saw Valen walking outside at the entrance of the castle. Harry's mood perked up, he ran over and lock his gaze with Valen.
"Is Professor nearby?" He asked excitedly.
After that lengthy night, Valen re-acquired the gluttonous snake and carried it around every day, reassuring herself that all her treasures are inside. She looked up quizzically, and when she heard Harry's question, she held out her other empty hand to point in the direction of the great hall.
The golden trio walked into the great hall and turned back when they didn't spot their target, "Should be there." Hermione said, gesturing in the direction of the Staffroom, it dawned on Harry, but there was some hesitation in his mind, Snape might be in the Staffroom, and lately, he's trying his best to avoid looking at Snape.
"Come on, let's have a look inside." Hermione said encouragingly.
Harry was just about to push the door open when, to his surprise, he heard Draco Malfoy's shaky voice from inside, "Yes, I'm sure." Harry's hand retracted. The trio looked at each other, somewhat unsure. Then Professor McGonagall's stern voice was heard from the room, "Mr. Malfoy, you know the consequences of perjury."
Draco did not respond, seemingly stumped by the question.
At that moment Professor Hap's voice was heard in the room, "Let me ask him a few questions - Malfoy, can I assume that you didn't know what Avery and Umbridge were up to, and they claimed that they are your father's friends, which caused you to let your guard down?"
"... Yes, Professor."
Felix muttered to himself, " Well, it's understandable. For that reason, you followed them to the - well, the girls' lavatory -"
"The abandoned one."
"Pardon?"
"It's the abandoned girls' lavatory." Draco swallowed hard and said.
"Okay, so you followed them to the abandoned girls' lavatory and Umbridge forced you to help them and even asked you to make a deadly vow, but it was disrupted when Miss Granger suddenly appeared?"
"Yes."
"Felix-" the serious voice of Professor McGonagall interjected.
"Later you felt afraid and kept avoiding them?" Felix continued the question.
"Yes." Draco whispered in a low voice.
"Well, I see." Felix's tone lightened, and he said with conviction, "I guess Avery must have sneaked up on Crabbe and Goyle later and cast a Confundus Charm on them-"
"Felix, I should remind you that the Confundus Charm has a time limit." Professor McGonagall uttered in exasperation.
"I know, Minerva. But Crabbe and Goyle's brain -" Felix paused, "isn't exactly bright, they're in a state of confusion at all times, they might have even taken it as their own thoughts after the effect of the spell had ended, and only those who know them best would be able to spot the anomaly ... such as Mr. Draco Malfoy."
The sound of Professor McGonagall's intake of breath was heard from the room. Harry listened in disbelief, he could picture Professor McGonagall pursing her lips and her chest heaving violently, just as she had done a few days ago when he had worked up the courage to convince her to allow the students to assist Hogsmeade.
She must surely be furious.
"All right, Mr. Malfoy." Professor McGonagall said, "Thank you for your testimony, and I will consider temporarily holding off on expelling Crabbe and Goyle unless there is new evidence that-" she paused, "suggests that they were voluntarily aiding and abetting the You-Know-Who. "
"Thanks, Professor." Malfoy said in a grateful tone.
The sound of footsteps was heard at the door, Harry, Ron, and Hermione scrambled away from the doorknob as the door opened and Draco Malfoy looked at them in surprise, Ron grinned, "Hello." Draco gave them a hard stare and slammed the door behind him, and without saying anything, he turned and left.
After that father-son 'session' at the Christmas holiday, Lucius had told him a few things - not just about the present situation, but also about the plans for the future. According to his father, even if the war ended and Hap's side won, he intended to gradually become low-key and diminish his influence.
"I'm undercover, but I'm also a Death Eater, and as long as I'm active, those two labels will remain. So the Malfoys will be relying on you when the time comes."
...
Harry knocked on the door. But inside Professor McGonagall was talking loudly and their knock was ignored.
"Felix, Crabbe, and Goyle didn't have any signs of being under a charm."
"... It's hard to tell."
"Malfoy's testimony was full of holes, and he said he had an argument with Crabbe."
"Well, it was a bit odd, but after the touch-ups I just applied, it might make slightly more sense, right?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood awkwardly in the entrance, watching as Professor McGonagall cornered Professor Hap against the wall with her arms crossed, and Professor Hap kept gesturing for her to calm down.
"Pfft." There was a chuckle heard from the corner and Harry jerked his head back to see Sirius sitting in an engraved chair, clutching his teacup and watching the drama.
"Potter, Weasley, Granger," Professor McGonagall spotted the trio in the room, she took a few steps back and took a few deep breaths, her face regaining its composure, "Very well, I will find Professor Dumbledore and explain the situation." She took a large step out of the room.
Aside from the golden trio, only Sirius and Professor Hap are left in the staffroom.
"Um - can I ask what just happened?" Harry asked impatiently.
Sirius bristled, "Congratulations on seeing a good show, someone turned black and white and treated the school rules and laws like they were nothing. Sheltered two potential Death Eaters, no, it should be three."
"You mean Draco Malfoy?" Ron said, "He came over to speak up for Crabbe and Goyle? That's not like him."
"That's right, once he realized those two not only broke school rules but could also potentially be shoved into the Wizengamot trial sequence, he wanted to back off." Sirius leaned back his body, letting the front legs of his chair pivot, and said dismissively, "After a few questions from Minerva, he panicked, and that's when our righteous and kind Professor Hap descended from heaven to fabricate a plausible excuse for Malfoy. What a noble act!"
"Tell me, Felix, how much did the Malfoys pay you?" Sirius asked with a wide grin.
"That's a question you should ask Remus, the Malfoys have bought a fair deal of 'Future World' company products. He knows the exact figures." Felix said lightly.
He walked over unhurriedly, and picked up the teapot on the table, pouring himself a cup of tea. Then three cups descended next to the trio and Felix gestured towards the three, who sat down with their teacups.
"Well, Harry, what are you doing here?" He asked.
Harry was stumped.
There are many things he wanted to ask, but he figured Professor Hap wouldn't tell him so readily. Over the last few days, he had found a number of suspicious things when he had discussed and analysed everything with Ron and Hermione.
The matter of Headmaster Dumbledore arranging for someone from the Order of the Phoenix to infiltrate the school ahead of time could be explained by the discovery of clues about Voldemort's troop movements, but there are a few things that seemed too much of a coincidence.
Why did Snape appear near the Headmaster's office, which happened to be around the same time as Umbridge? But it would make sense with the explanation that his mission was to deliver the password to the office. And then there was Professor Hap, whose appearance was also packed with theatrics; if he had been a few seconds later Umbridge would have disappeared with the Horcruxes.
But if Professor Hap had been there all along ...
"It's like the adults have joined together to stage a play." Hermione stated back then.
Neville's parents seemed to know something, but they had already left. Harry had brought it up to Neville a few times, acting casually, but each time he became squirmy and Ron asked, "Did you get beaten up by your mum and dad? Tell us about it, we won't laugh at you." Neville gave him a stern look.
So Harry had no choice but to let it go.
He cleared his mind of these random thoughts and asked slowly, "What's going to happen to Crabbe and Goyle?"
" Suspended on probation, I guess." Felix said carelessly.
"Their father-"
" Got caught red-handed." Sirius suddenly interjected, " for attacking the Ministry of Magic, and is probably in the company of the Lestrange brothers at the moment." With that, he gave Felix a provocative look, as if expecting a retort. But Felix reacted flatly.
"Oh, er, what about Malfoy?" Harry asked, holding his breath, "I mean Lucius Malfoy?"
Sirius's face suddenly scrunched up.
" He made his escape."
"How?" Ron asked.
Sirius put his upright chair down and looked at them, "I suppose he was lucky to get away in advance. Amelia told me she was glad that she didn't remove the Anti-Apparition zone she had set up a while back."
"What was that thing?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Remember the Ancient Magic Rune exchange held in Hogsmeade earlier?" Felix asked and the three nodded. More than remembering, it is a vivid memory; Voldemort had killed the Headmaster of the Ilvermorny School that day, stolen Salazar Slytherin's snakewood wand, and destroyed a small part of Hogsmeade shortly afterward.
"... We speculated at that time that Voldemort might take the opportunity to break into the Ministry of Magic - there is something there that is important to him. For this reason, the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix had set up traps in advance, and the Anti-Apparition zone was one of them. It's a pity he didn't show up last time."
Felix's tone seemed light, but several people in the room could feel the hidden chill in it. Once the Anti-Apparition zone is turned on ... Voldemort wouldn't be able to escape and be caught by the combination of the two, Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Hap. Then it was most likely that the war would've been over that day.
"Professor?" Hermione asked, "I saw in the paper that the Shafiq-"
"Oh, I know about that." Felix interrupted her and Hermione fell silent.
Before leaving, Harry asked a question, "Do you still believe Snape? After all that happened?"
"You should call him Professor Snape." Felix replied.
So Harry got the answer in his mind.
...
"Lucius Malfoy is one of your men?" Sirius abruptly asked as he closed the door.
Felix looked at him with a smirk, "Did you smell it?"
"Don't use that metaphor." Sirius muttered in discontent.
"I thought you'd like - yeah, you're right." Felix said.
Sirius straightened up in surprise, " And you're telling it to me just like that?" He couldn't help but look up and down, "He's not going to be sold out by you, just because he's no longer valuable, is he?"
Felix rolled his eyes.
"What image do I really have in your mind?"
" Scheming and cunning." Sirius subconsciously said.
Felix glared at him, pondering an excuse to beat him up, Sirius shivered and hurriedly changed the subject, "What are you going to do for Valentine's Day? Got a date?"
"Of course I do."
"Really? With who?" Sirius asked with interest.
"Meh." Felix said dismissively.
.....
February 14th. On Valentine's Day, students lined up in long lines ready to spend a pleasant day in Hogsmeade. That's when they saw Filch standing in front of the main entrance of the school, staring at passing students with a rude look and checking for prohibited items.
"Filch is as unpleasant as ever and likes to catch students red-handed." Ron said.
"But at least he's on our side, isn't he?" Harry said.
"And your requirements are too low." Ron said, and abruptly hid behind Harry, " Block me."
"What's wrong?" Harry looked uncertainly in the opposite direction to Ron as Parvati and Lavender Brown passed by in a pair.
"She wants to ask me out for the weekend." Ron whispered, waiting for them to leave before he stepped out.
"Lavender?" Harry guessed.
"It's her." Ron said smugly, "Can't help that, I am so popular. I received several cards."
It occurred to Harry as an afterthought that he also seemed to have received quite a few cards this year, and Ginny said she was getting her hands sore from opening them. At that moment, they saw Professor Hap appear at the entrance, dressed formally, and Apparated away at the school gate.
" Someone asked the Professor out?" Ron asked in surprise.
"I don't know." Harry said dryly, seeing Ginny coming over in a pretty purple dress, and he pretended like he didn't see Luna, who had carrot earrings on and a dress full of shiny glittery sequins, beside her.
It is nice to have an extra person, it reduces a lot of embarrassment. Harry thought.
.....
Diagon Alley, Sword Castle.
Felix stood at the entrance and looked around for a while, then walked in. A number of people had gathered in the spacious hall on the ground floor, and most of them had their faces covered tightly with scarves.
These people stood some distance apart from each other and seemed completely uninterested in making small talk.
Clammy trotted over.
"Is everyone here?" Felix asked.
"All present! Seven Squibs, and twelve wizards with spellcasting problems, they're all here." Clammy said quickly, "These are their profiles." She shoved a stack of parchments into Felix's arms, then looked at him with an expectant look.
"Have a good time -"
"Bye." Clammy said simply, before turning her head to run away.
Felix smacked his lips, suddenly feeling a little depressed. He jerked his hand and the heavy door slammed shut behind him.
"So, everyone, are you ready to feel the magic of magic?"
------------
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