"Casper, no!" Hermione cried out in desperation. "What are you doing?!" Her voice sounded almost like a plea, and her eyes showed not just fear but confusion too. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Her friend from the club was still standing there, his head thrown back, shaking the last drops of potion from the now-empty vial into his mouth. Beside him, Elliot looked indifferent to the whole scene, his eyes shifting with interest between Casper and Hermione. There wasn't a hint of regret about the wasted potion in his expression. Watching him, Hermione suddenly realized that maybe Elliot really didn't know what this potion was or what it could do.
At that moment, Honeydew slowly lowered his head and tossed the empty bottle aside. The change in him was sudden and startling—he no longer looked like a scared third-year student sneaking glances at Grimm. Now he stood confidently, with a touch of arrogance and a triumphant glint in his eyes.
"But... Casper?" Hermione said softly, then fell silent. Her voice shook with a mix of fear and disappointment. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to fit together in her mind. Casper, whom she had considered a friend, had been playing a double game. All her suspicions and theories had been aimed at the wrong person. It wasn't Grimm, or at least not just Grimm, who was the agent.
Catching Hermione's quick glance at him, Elliot interrupted her thoughts:
"Something wrong, Hermione?" he asked sarcastically. "Or were you expecting something else?" He watched her confusion with a satisfied smirk, his voice full of mockery.
"Shut up, Elliot," Honeydew suddenly cut in. His voice was calm but carried an undercurrent of authority. Elliot fell silent right away. Hermione was thrown not just by Casper's change but also by Elliot's quick obedience. She still couldn't grasp what was happening. Even so, she tried to stay composed—she still needed proof.
Casper walked around Elliot and stopped in front of Hermione, looking her straight in the eyes with a mocking smile.
"So, it's you... the League of Light agent?" she said in a scared voice. Her expression showed disbelief, or more accurately, a refusal to believe what was happening.
"Unexpected, isn't it?" Honeydew smiled casually, like they were just talking about regular school stuff and not exposing a traitor. The whole thing was throwing her off.
"But why, Casper?" Hermione tried her best, but she couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice, and tears were starting to fill her eyes.
"Why?!" He looked genuinely surprised. "What a strange question. For power, of course!" As he spoke, Honeydew started pacing back and forth, gesturing like he was just telling a funny story to his friends. "You have no idea how humiliating it is to come from a great magical family with such a strong background and still struggle with even the simplest spells! Everyone in my class, every single one, could handle them better than me! Even the muggle-borns!"
While listening to him, Hermione tried to quietly move closer to her wand, but Elliot snapped at her right away:
"Stay where you are!" His voice was cold and left no room for argument.
Hermione quickly stepped back, looking Casper straight in the eyes through her unwanted tears, and yelled, "I thought you were my friend! I trusted you!" Her voice shook with a mix of shock, hurt, and disappointment. Emotions boiled inside her like lava, ready to spill over.
"Trusted?" he said with a sneer. "It would have been so much easier if you actually did…"
Casper went silent. Hermione stood there; her head slightly bowed. Her quick breathing gave away her tension and hurt. Her lips were pressed together, her eyes narrowed. The silence didn't last long, though. Hermione wiped her eyes with her robe sleeve, looked back up at Casper, and asked, "So, you're working with Elliot?" It sounded more like a statement than a question now. No matter how much she didn't want to believe Honeydew had betrayed her, the facts said otherwise.
To her surprise, Casper laughed. Finally, he looked at Hermione, who was confused all over again, and said, "You still don't get it. Elliot has nothing to do with this."
Casper paused, like an actor making a dramatic pause. 'He probably thinks he's on stage, performing for his friends, with all these pauses and half-answers,' Hermione thought. But out loud, she said, "But Elliot attacked me! And in the library, he was following me too. How can he have nothing to do with this?" Hermione said, outraged. The tears were gone now—she could worry about losing a friend later. Right now, she needed to get to the truth.
Honeydew looked at her thoughtfully, then made a dramatic gesture with his hand and said with a sarcastic tone, "Always so curious, aren't you? Always want to know everything! Why not share, then? It won't do any harm anyway. See? That's what real trust looks like! Take notes!" He smirked and went on, "So, here's the thing. At first, Elliot was... interested in you, I suppose. A first-year student that Dumbledore made an exception for! You caught his attention." He paused to let Hermione take it in. "But your bias against Slytherins gave me an idea. Why not use it? You honestly believed all Slytherins were pure evil. So, really, the way Elliot treats you now is partly your own doing. I just pushed you both in the right direction."
Hermione's eyes widened with surprise and the sting of realization. Maybe Casper had a point, at least a little. It was a painful thought. She glanced at Elliot with regret, but he just kept watching the scene with a blank expression, as if he was somewhere else entirely. Honeydew watched Hermione with a satisfied smirk. When he was sure he'd made his point, he continued, "My uncle Thomas's original plan didn't include—"
"Thomas Nightshade?" Hermione cut him off, stunned by the thought that had crossed her mind. "He's your uncle?"
"Yes! And don't interrupt me again!" Casper snapped, his voice suddenly sharp. His eyes flashed with anger. Hermione was shocked once more at how much her former friend had changed.
"So," he continued coldly, "the original plan wasn't supposed to involve anyone else. My uncle was sure he'd take the amulet from you during the Christmas holidays. But I decided to play it safe. I quickly found out you were interested in the Relicium Club and signed up for it. I needed a reason to get closer to you, to become friends. At first, everything was going fine, but then that Ron"—he nodded at her paralyzed friend—"ruined everything." Casper's face twisted with anger for a moment, but then it smoothed out, and he continued, "Like I said, it would've been much easier if you had trusted me... But that didn't matter so much in the end. The key to everything was Elliot."
Casper paused, then turned to Grimm, walked over, and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"You've been a big help to me, man! And you'll help me even more…" Honeydew said with a smirk. "Say, 'Happy to serve, master.'"
"H-Happy..." Elliot stammered for a moment but then obediently finished, "Happy to serve, master."
Hermione frowned. Elliot's behavior seemed strange to her before, but now... then it hit her.
"He's under a spell! But how? He's definitely stronger than you in magic."
"Of course he is!" Casper agreed eagerly, "But he's not stronger than my uncle. As soon as the attack at the fair failed, I convinced him to trust me and go along with my plan." He stressed the words 'me' and 'my,' clearly proud of his plan. "Besides, another attack during the holidays would have been too risky. The Ministry of Magic was keeping a close watch on you and your house."
Honeydew fell silent, looking off to the side as if recalling the events of the last Christmas. Then he turned back to Hermione and continued, "So, Uncle Thomas used the 'Imperius' Curse on Elliot and ordered him to obey me in everything. As you can see—simple as that!" He finished, clearly pleased with the effect his words had. Hermione thought over what he'd said. Finally, the events of the past few months were starting to make sense.
"So that's why Grimm was following me and even distracted Snape that time..." Hermione said, almost as if talking to herself.
"No, I was the one who distracted Snape," Honeydew interrupted. Noticing the question in Hermione's eyes, he explained, "Yeah, I was there the whole time, watching you. And that's how I figured out about the Invisibility Cloak. So that's my doing too. Later, I just suggested the idea to Elliot."
It was clear that Casper wanted to talk and show off how clever he was. Hermione kept him talking. She tried to show a mix of admiration and disbelief on her face and said, "But Snape caught Elliot, not you. How did you manage that...?"
"How?" Hermione's trick seemed to work. He even stood up a bit straighter, looking smug as he went on with his story. "While I was watching you, I figured having him around might be useful. Honestly, I thought he could grab the amulet from you right there in the library. But just when I decided to act, you set off the alarm, and I had no choice but to save you from Snape. There was too much risk that if they found you, they'd also find out about the amulet."
After giving Grimm an appraising look, he continued, "I wasn't really taking a risk by giving Elliot away. They couldn't expel him for that." Honeydew turned his gaze back to Hermione. "Besides, getting him caught only strengthened your opinion about him, which worked in my favor. All I had to do was smash a vase in front of him." He grinned slyly and added, "By the way, you owe me one, since I did your house a favor—Slytherin lost twenty points that day."
He looked like he was expecting some kind of thanks from Hermione. But, of course, that was just part of the act. Casper was enjoying his own cleverness. It was hard to see his face now in the growing darkness, but his voice gave away how pleased he was with himself.
'He's answered almost all my questions,' Hermione thought. But there was still one thing that worried her the most:
"So, what are you planning to do with us? You know we won't keep this a secret. And..." She hesitated for a second before going on, "...I still want to believe you're not a killer." Her voice wavered at the end.
Casper looked at her and smiled again, almost like a friend. "Of course not! Do I look like a killer? But Elliot..." he said, glancing at the Slytherin standing blankly beside him. Hermione's eyes widened in horror.
"But you don't have to worry," Casper quickly added, "because I'm your friend! With you"—he stressed the last word—"everything will be fine."
From his tone, Hermione could tell he wasn't telling the whole truth. A chill ran down her spine. Meanwhile, he went on, "You know, I'm actually glad that amulet didn't drain you completely. At some point, I really started to like you. And I think we'll stay close friends." He paused for a second, looking at the stunned Hermione, then added, "I just need to arrange a little accident for your current friends." He finished with a cold tone, nodding toward Ron and Harry, who were lying paralyzed. Hermione's heart started pounding again.
"What do you mean by... accident?" she stammered, looking at the Hufflepuff with fear.
"That's when something happens, and they stop living," he said in a playful voice, as if he were talking about something fun.
"But they'll catch you..." Hermione whispered, not believing what she was hearing.
"Me?!" Honeydew's voice sounded genuinely surprised. "For what? For helping you deal with Elliot? Tomorrow, you and I will be the heroes of the school!" he said, pretending to be outraged.
Hermione stared at him like he was a madman who was spewing nonsense.
"You don't seriously think I'll stay quiet," Hermione said in a shocked voice, trembling with fear. Now she was sure she was dealing with a madman and a very dangerous wizard.
"Oh, I do!" Casper replied in the same playful tone, but with an icy edge to his voice. "The Obliviate spell will clear up any misunderstandings between us. Tomorrow, we'll mourn your poor friends together, the ones so ruthlessly killed by the merciless Grimm! Oh, what a loss!" He raised his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes, speaking dramatically.
"You're a monster!" Hermione said, horrified.
"I know," Honeydew said calmly, watching her with a slight smirk, unfazed by her words.
"Answer me one question before we finish this," he said, then asked with genuine curiosity, "Where did you get the dragon?"
"I'm afraid that will stay a secret from you!" Hermione replied defiantly, staring him straight in the eyes.
"Fine, I'll wait until we're friends," Casper said mockingly. Then, turning to Grimm, he ordered, "Elliot, kill those two," he pointed at Ron and Harry, "and erase Hermione's memory from the moment you took the potion from her. After that, make it look like we're fighting, and when you get to the edge of the tower, fall off."
After giving his orders to the Slytherin, Casper moved back to his original spot, putting on a frightened expression again. Hermione was amazed at how quickly his expression changed. "What an actor," she thought...
Elliot raised his wand and pointed it at Harry.
"Avada..."