Hermione was getting a little jumpy whenever the aurors passed by in the halls. It seemed that when the adrenaline wore off and her brain started to kick in again, she used it to worry. The aurors had already questioned Draco while he was still lying in the infirmary beds, against Madam Pomfrey's protestations. Pomfrey herself was questioned thoroughly regarding Draco's condition, making sure there weren't any additional poisons or other aspects of foul play. Hermione was panicking when they heard the aurors were checking so thoroughly, but Harry managed to calm her down enough that she didn't give herself away.
Throughout the following day, Hermione was running scenarios in her mind of how many ways their memory charms could be revealed. Draco could regain some memories if they didn't do the charm properly. Harry assured her that their wand-work was perfect. Madam Pomfrey might call in a mind-healer who would discover it. Harry reminded her that Draco was a little shaken but would probably be back to his old, snobbish self in no time at all. They could send in a tracker to try to retrace the route in Draco's memory. Harry told her nobody would willingly attempt to trace his path into an acromantula lair.
Her tension peaked when the aurors finally brought her in for questioning. They took her down to the same chamber in the Hogwarts dungeons that she had been held in the early morning of New Year's day. This time, she wasn't strapped to the chair, but she still felt a little distressed being back there.
"Miss Granger, we'd just like you to answer a few questions for us," the lead auror told her. He set a Dicta-quill down on the table between them.
"Yes?"
"There was an incident in your Potions class four days ago which landed multiple students in the infirmary, correct?"
"Yes, my cauldron blew up, causing me and several other students nearby to inhale some wispen bone powder." The quill made annoyingly loud scratches as it wrote down what Hermione said.
"Why did you have the wrong ingredient? Several students have told me that the potion you were brewing that day called for powdered billagrut shell."
"I'm not sure. Professor Snape handed the ingredients out to each of us that day..."
The auror nodded. Her story corroborated with the other students'. "Now when did you first become suspicious of Draco Malfoy?"
"Me? I was too busy lying unconscious in the hospital wing to suspect anyone. Although, Malfoy does seem to have something against me all the time, so he'd be the primary suspect if anything ever happened to me."
"He holds a grudge against you? Whatever for?"
"Well, he hates muggle-borns, he hates Gryffindors, and he hates Harry Potter. That's two-and-a-half out of three for me."
"If he's so hostile to you, why would you bother trying to rescue him yourself?"
"Oh, you can blame Harry for that. He'd save his own worst enemy if he could," Hermione said with an exasperated sigh. "I just tagged along to support him. I didn't want him going into the forest alone."
"Thank you, Miss Granger. You've been quite helpful." The auror stood up, holding out his hand to help Hermione up. She gave him a blank look.
"That's it?"
"Yes. You may go." The door to the dungeon swing open and Hermione calmed down considerably. Harry was waiting for her outside. They hugged each other tightly, to the amusement of the aurors. "You know, Miss Granger, it's not like we were going to keep you down here forever..."
Harry spoke up for Hermione. "The last time she was down here, it sure seemed like it."
The aurors stiffened at this comment, much like they would have if they had offended Mr. Malfoy and his band of lawyers. Earning the ire of the Boy-Who-Lived was just as bad, but they were told never to apologize for following procedure. They ushered Harry into the room without comment and sat him down in the chair, pulling out another Dicta-quill. The auror leaned against the table instead of sitting in the other chair.
"Mr. Malfoy seems to recall that you were the one who initially stunned him in the forest."
"Yes, it's possible. I think it was about the right time," Harry admitted, shrugging.
"So you admit you attacked Mr. Malfoy?"
"Attacked? No. I was in the middle of a training session and he must have walked into one of my spells."
"Training session, Mr. Potter? In the forest?" The auror gave him a doubtful look as he crossed his arms.
"I am a Triwizard Champion, you know. I go into the forest pretty often for training. Hunt a few hippogriffs, wrestle a few trolls, that kind of thing. I probably mistook him for some beast and hit him."
"Mr. Potter, this is a serious investigation. You'd have us believe you've taken on a troll before?"
"As early as first year." Harry smiled when the auror took the bait. Sometimes it was easier to lie when the truth was even wilder. "Ask Dumbledore if you'd like."
"How did you find Mr. Malfoy afterwards?"
"Retraced my steps, found a few footsteps of Malfoy, and saw them leading towards the acromantula colony. That's when I realized he was in grave danger if we couldn't catch up to him fast enough." Harry had rehearsed this line several times with Hermione, and it came out quite smoothly with the help of his occlumency.
"Why do you suppose Mr. Malfoy would be following you into the forest in the first place?"
"Are you kidding me? He's got some kind of personal grudge against me just because I didn't join Slytherin. He was stupid enough to attack me when we got back from the Christmas Hols and ended up breaking his own wand in the scuffle. I think his grudge has gotten bigger ever since."
The rest of the interview focused mostly on Harry's past scuffles with Draco. The aurors, who had personal experience dealing with the Malfoy family, didn't doubt Harry's side of the story very much but were worried about what Malfoy Sr. would do if they contradicted his son's claims. Harry was let go after about an hour. Hermione was waiting outside for him, and they both quickly ran to the seventh floor of the castle, breathing a sigh of relief when they slammed the door of the Room of Requirement shut behind them.
"That went better than I expected," Harry said, flopping down on a comfortable couch.
"I'll say. I expected them to jump out at me and shout, 'memory charm!' every other sentence."
"Fleur was right. You think too much for your own good, Hermione." He pulled her down in front of him and started giving her a neck rub. "Relax. This will all blow over soon."
"Blow over" was not really the correct term over the next week. "Blow up" was more like it. The news that Snape was soon getting ousted had already made the front page of the weekend paper.
Potions Master, Teaching Novice?
By Andrea Anderson
One of Hogwarts' youngest professors, Severus Snape, has landed himself in a hot cauldron this week following the disappearance of a young, pureblood scion. Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy, had wandered into the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts and was missing for days until Harry Potter rescued him. Lucius Malfoy pins the blame primarily on the head of his son's Hogwarts house, Severus Snape.
Mr. Malfoy had this to say: "I brought my son up as a respectable and well-mannered boy at home. When I discovered that Mr. Snape has let the children run rampant inside his own house and always failed to discipline them for hooliganism, I feared my son would become as foolish and reckless as some Gryffindors. My fears came to light this past week when he decided to wander into the forest, unafraid of the consequences."
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