Chapter 26

The morning after the celebration, the Gryffindor common room was quieter than usual. Most students were still asleep, recovering from the late-night party, while the early risers chatted in hushed tones or leafed through homework they'd neglected the night before.

I woke up to the sound of faint scratching—my Hungarian Horntail model clawing at the edge of my bedside table.

With a groggy laugh, I reached out and nudged it gently. "Still restless, huh?" The dragon huffed a tiny puff of smoke before curling up again.

Stretching, I got out of bed and went to freshen up. After a shower and getting dressed, I went downstairs towards the common room.

Downstairs, Hermione was already seated in her usual corner of the common room, surrounded by books and parchment.

Her quill scratched against the page as she wrote furiously, completely absorbed in her task. She didn't notice me until I sat down across from her.

"Morning," I said with a grin.

She looked up, startled for a moment, before giving me a small smile. "Good morning. You're up early."

"I could say the same about you. What are you working on?"

She glanced at the parchment, then back at me. "Just reading ahead for the next Transfiguration lecture."

"Did you write the letter you were going to send to Padfoot?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I have it with me. Let's go to the Owlery and send it," I said with a nod.

Hermione nodded, gathering her books and parchment into her bag. We slipped out of the common room quietly, careful not to wake anyone still dozing on the couches.

As we climbed the staircase toward the Owlery, Hermione glanced at me. "What did you write to him about?"

"Just an update on everything—how the task went, what Bagman said about the next one, and… other things," I replied vaguely.

She raised an eyebrow. "Other things?"

I grinned at her curious expression. "You know, important details, like how much fun Fred and George had pranking everyone at the party. Sirius needs a laugh now and then."

Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled. "I'm sure he'll appreciate that."

When we reached the Owlery, some owls started hooting before looking at me with an eager expression. I pulled out the letter from my pocket and approached Hedwig, who hooted softly as I tied the parchment to her leg.

"Take this to Padfoot," I told her quietly. "And wait for a reply."

Hedwig nipped at my fingers affectionately before spreading her wings and taking off through the open window, a white streak against the morning sky. Hermione watched her go, a soft smile on her lips.

"It's good you didn't skip her this time," Hermione said with a laugh. "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have taken any more of your letters if you had."

I shrugged, a fond grin tugging at my lips. "She's got a temper, that's for sure."

The next few days went by in a routine. The weather grew colder, and Care of Magical Creatures became something most students dreaded.

" I'm not sure whether they hibernate or not," Hagrid told the shivering class in the windy pumpkin patch next lesson. "Thought we'd just' try an' see if they fancied a kip. . . We'll jus' settle 'em down in these boxes. . . ."

There were now only ten skrewts left; apparently their desire to kill one another had not been exercised out of them. Each of them was now approaching six feet in length.

The class looked dispiritedly at the enormous boxes Hagrid had brought out, all lined with pillows

and fluffy blankets.

"We'll jus' lead 'em in here," Hagrid said, "an' put the lids on, and we'll see what happens."

But the skrewts, it transpired, did not hibernate, and did not appreciate being forced into pillow lined boxes and nailed in. Hagrid was soon yelling, "Don' panic, now, don' panic!" as the skrewts clawed and blasted their way out.

A normal day in the life of a student attending the care of magical creature class in Hogwarts.

Next, we had double Divination, which went about as well as usual. Professor Trelawney steadfastly refused to acknowledge my pointed question about why I hadn't died during the first task as she had predicted.

Rather than that, she once again went into another discussion about what troubles would befall me next time.

"Death, my dears."

Parvati and Lavender both put their hands over their mouths, looking horrified.

"Yes," said Professor Trelawney, nodding impressively, "it comes, ever closer, it circles overhead like a vulture, ever lower. . . Ever lower over the castle. . . ."

She fixed her gaze on me, her eyes wide and misty with supposed sight.

I yawned—very widely and very, obviously. At this rate, I thought, the only death I might face was from boredom.

The Great Hall was buzzing with chatter after dinner as students lingered in their usual groups. I spotted Malfoy standing near the Slytherin table, looking uncharacteristically uneasy. Deciding to take advantage of the moment, I made my way over.

"Evening, Malfoy," I said with a grin. "You look a bit… preoccupied. Everything alright?"

Malfoy turned to glare at me, his arms crossed. "What do you want, Potter?"

"Oh, not much," I replied, feigning innocence. "Just thought I'd remind you of that little bet we made before the first task. You know, the one where you owe me a hundred Galleons?"

"That wasn't a serious bet," Malfoy shot back, his sneer firmly in place.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because I clearly remember you agreeing to the bet in front of the entire Slytherin house as well as the Gryffindor house."

Malfoy gritted his teeth, pulling out a heavy coin pouch from his robes. "Fine," he snapped. "Take it, Potter."

I pocketed the Galleons with a smirk. "Pleasure doing business with you. Maybe next time, you'll think twice before betting against me."

Malfoy's glare could've burned a hole in the wall. "Enjoy it while you can, Potter. You won't stay lucky forever."

I walked away, my grin widening as I heard him muttering angrily behind me. Across the hall, a few students were watching, clearly amused by the situation.

I made my way to the table and started eating. The sound of hurried footsteps behind me announced Hermione's arrival.

"Harry!" she panted, skidding to a halt beside me. "Harry, you've got to come, you've got to come, the most amazing thing's happened."

Saying that she seized my arm and started to try to drag me away from the table. I looked listlessly at my half finished pumpkin pie.

"What's the matter?" I asked her as we went out of the great hall.

"I'll show you when we get there, oh come on, quick." Hermione said as she continued to pull me with her.

I quickened my pace and matched her steps as she led me toward the corridor with the painting of a giant bowl of fruit.

She tickled a large green pear in the bowl, which began to squirm and chuckle before transforming into a handle on the wall.

Pulling the door open, she quickly ushered me inside the room first.

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