The air was grim as Analeigh waited outside the classroom, now back within the four walls of Hogwarts. Cedric had dropped her off by the carriages around half an hour ago, and she had rushed back into the castle to catch up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all who had found themselves in a predicament for the nth time.

Analeigh kept herself hidden behind a pillar right beside the classroom where the trio was, along with Professor McGonagall and Leanne, a Hufflepuff who was with Katie when the latter had gotten cursed. She struggled to hear what was going on in there without getting caught eavesdropping by them and the passers-by. All she knew now was that McGonagall was currently interrogating her friends and Leanne.

"You're sure Katie did not have this in her possession when she entered the Three Broomsticks?" McGonagall asked.

"It's like I said: she left to go to the loo, and when she came back, she had the package," Leanne said shakily. "She said it was important that she deliver it."

"Did she say to whom?"

"To Professor Dumbledore."

"Very well. Thank you, Leanne — you may go."

Footsteps padded across the stone floor as Leanne was dismissed. Analeigh pressed herself closer to the wall, hoping that the pillar and shadows were still enough to keep her hidden from view. Leanne ended up walking past her and not noticing a thing, looking glum with her head bowed as she returned to her common room.

"Why is it when something happens, it is always you three?" McGonagall then said. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Analeigh stifled a chuckle as she agreed with the Transfiguration professor.

"Believe me, Professor, I've been asking myself the same question for six years," Ron replied, making Analeigh's grin widen in amusement.

"I'm almost surprised that Miss Heart wasn't present when it happened," McGonagall added. Analeigh's smile dropped, but she ended up nodding again to herself when she realized that the woman was right. Whenever and wherever she was around those three, especially Harry, some sort of trouble followed them. If only McGonagall knew that she actually was present at the scene, but was too far away to be directly involved. "Oh, Severus."

Analeigh tensed, having not even seen Snape arrive. She wondered if the man saw her hiding there, but when she peeked out from her spot, it seemed that he had come from the opposite end of the hall and was now entering the classroom.

There a long pause. Analeigh presumed that they were observing the cursed item and that they were waiting for Snape to give his thoughts on it.

"What do you think?" McGonagall spoke up, sounding anxious.

"I think Ms. Bell is lucky to be alive," Snape drawled.

"She was cursed, wasn't she?" Harry said. "I know Katie. Off the Quidditch pitch, she wouldn't hurt a fly. If she was delivering that to Professor Dumbledore, she wasn't doing it knowingly."

"Yes, she was cursed," McGonagall confirmed gravely.

"It was Malfoy."

Analeigh nearly slapped a hand to her face at that. It was one thing for Harry to accuse Malfoy of horrible things when he was around his friends, and a whole other thing to say it to teachers. And yet, in spite of that, Analeigh's mind drifted off to what happened at the Three Broomsticks right before she bumped into Cedric — when she saw Malfoy walk out of the loo, looking suspicious. Was Harry actually right? Did Malfoy really take part in cursing Katie Bell? More importantly, was there an attempt to hurt Dumbledore?

"That is a very serious accusation, Potter," McGonagall said in shock.

"Indeed," said Snape."Your evidence?"

"I just know."

Harry was digging his grave deeper by the second. At the same time, Analeigh tried to rid her head of thoughts of Malfoy truly being that evil, no matter how vile and unpleasant he could be.

"You 'just' know," Snape repeated. "Once again, you've astonished me with your gifts, Potter, gifts mere mortals can only dream of possessing. How grand it must be to be the Chosen One."

Thankfully, Harry didn't respond anymore, but Analeigh was sure that he was fuming.

"I suggest you go back to your dormitories," McGonagall interjected. "All of you."

Analeigh paid attention to the series of footsteps, the sounds becoming slightly louder by the second. At long last, three shadows emerged from the doorway, and Analeigh pushed herself off of the wall to meet her friends halfway.

"Holy hipogriff," was the first thing she said, falling into step beside them.

"Were you eavesdropping this entire time?" asked Ron.

"Sort of."

"You're mad."

"Oh, come on, I saved you three at least thirty minutes of your life that you would've used up explaining all of this to me," Analeigh pointed out, earning a disbelieving scoff from Ron.

"Fair point," Hermione said, a faint smile on her face.

"How much did you hear?" Harry asked, fidgeting slightly. Analeigh presumed it was because he knew she witnessed him accusing Malfoy of cursing Katie and being on the receiving end of their professors' scolding. It wasn't exactly a proud moment for him.

"I got here when Leanne was talking about Katie leaving the bathroom with the necklace," said Analeigh. "How is she? What else happened?"

"Well, it turns out what Leanne and Katie were arguing about was the package itself," Hermione answered, bringing her voice down when they passed by a group of students in the hall.

"What was inside?"

"An opal necklace of some sort. Leanne was wary about it, but Katie was so insistent on delivering it. She ended up touching it when it ripped open, and that's when she got cursed."

"Madam Pomfrey was able to heal her, though, right?"

"Oh, so you didn't hear everything, then," said Hermione with a small grimace. Analeigh raised her eyebrows, urging for her to continue. "Snape healed her — a bit. He was with Katie and Madam Pomfrey at the hospital wing up until now."

"Really?" She shouldn't have been surprised since he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, after all. He was more than capable of doing such a task. But after all their unpleasant encounters with him over the years, it was still a bit difficult to view the man as a competent wizard, and even possibly a good person. "Wait, what do you mean 'a bit'?"

"He only stopped the curse from progressing any further. He couldn't actually reverse anything."

"Apparently, Madam Pomfrey hasn't been able to do much, so they might be sending Katie to St. Mungo's soon," Ron finished. "I'm sure the whole school will know by tomorrow."

"It's terrible, what that necklace has done to her," Hermione shook her head sympathetically. "I can't imagine who would want to curse someone like —"

She stopped talking, remembering what Harry had claimed earlier.

"I know you all think I'm crazy," Harry said simply, catching onto Hermione's abrupt pause. "But I know it was him."

"If you're right... why? Why would he even do such a thing?" Analeigh questioned.

"You know why — or at least, why I think he did it," said Harry exasperatedly. "It's because he's a Death Eater."

Analeigh exchanged glances with Hermione and Ron, the air becoming thick with awkwardness and tension. But Harry wouldn't back down, looking at each of them with conviction.

"I'm sure of it."

★ ★ ★

The first dinner hosted by Slughorn with his select group of students — the Slug Club, as he called it in his invitation — took place in the Potions Master's office. There was a large, circular table at the center of the room and chairs all around it. Different platters of food and glasses of beverages were scatted atop it, and the plates and utensils were formally set up for each guest. The fireplace was lit, blazing behind Slughorn himself and providing the group with light and warmth alongside the candles that decorated the room.

Analeigh was sat in between Neville and Hermione, the latter having Harry on her left side. She was clad in a green jumper, plaid skirt, and thick tights, all of which were enough to keep her warm from the cold weather outside but also cool while staying within the confines of Slughorn's office. All her friends were dressed in similar outfits, those that were casual yet presentable; they were perfect for the occasion and to make a good impression on Slughorn. But as the dinner went on, it seemed like they were wanting to impress the man less and instead wanting to head back to their dorms room even more.

The whole meal consisted of Slughorn talking about achievements. While some were happy to boast about their accomplishments or the legacies of their famous relatives, others were uncomfortable. Analeigh herself had to endure Slughorn's scrutiny as he had wanted to know everything there was to know about the Triwizard Tournament.

"Blimey, I almost wish Dumbledore invited me to come back and teach here earlier. I'm sure the tournament was a blast!" he had said. "So, your first challenge — dragons, correct? Such magnificent creatures in their own right, and even their body parts are helpful for different purposes. You all know we use them in many potions ingredients, eh?"

There was a chorus of agreements and nods from the guests, albeit sounding and looking reluctant — maybe even bored.

"Dragon hair, dragon claw, dragon dung... oh, the list goes on. But never use dragon blood, of course, that's just barbaric! So, Heart, you had to get an egg from the dragon, yes? And you didn't get injured at all doing it?"

"Yes, Professor, we had to retrieve the egg that held the clue to the next task," Analeigh replied. "Er, but I did get injured. Got a nasty burn, but the healers were quick to help afterwards."

"I see! And in the next task, you were underwater?"

"That's right."

"Wonderful! Word has it that Mr. Potter would've been first place there if he hadn't saved the others, eh?" Slughorn said proudly. All Harry could do was give a quick nod, desperately wishing that everyone could put their attention elsewhere, or at least, back to Analeigh. "As for the last task — what did you encounter in the maze? A chimera? An erumpent, perhaps?"

"No, but there were acromantulas, a sphinx, and enchanted hedges, sir," said Analeigh.

"Blast-Ended Skrewts, too," Harry whispered as more of a side comment, but Slughorn — ever the attentive man — heard him.

"I've never heard of such creatures," he said, intrigued. "Tell me, Harry, what are they?"

"They sort of look like... scorpions?" said Harry, uncertain if the man was aware of that animal. He looked to Analeigh for help, trying to give her the hint to continue in his place.

"A mixture of manticores and fire crabs," Analeigh elaborated. "They have armors over their bodies and stingers — or suckers — er, both, actually."

"Galloping gargoyles, that's something!" Slughorn exclaimed. "Have they only been discovered recently? I'm afraid and a little ashamed to say that I didn't even know about them!"

Analeigh, Harry, and even Hermione tensed up, unsure of how to answer. The truth was that Blast-Ended Skrewts were hybrid creatures. Hagrid actually cross-bred them a couple of years ago, which ended up becoming lesson in their Care of Magical Creatures class under him. Not wanting the gamekeeper to get into trouble, Hermione cut in and changed the subject.

"Isn't it amazing that we have three Hogwarts champions?" she said, her voice a little higher than usual. "If only the other one was still in school, we'd have all of them in the room right now in this dinner."

"Right you are, Granger! Lucky for me, though, I already met Mr. Diggory just the other day," said Slughorn.

"Really, Professor? Where?" Hermione said, pretending to be interested.

"In Hogsmeade! Miss Heart here introduced me to him. What a nice young man. It's too bad I missed him by a year — I would've invited him for a meal with all of you here."

Thankfully, the conversation soon transitioned to another person in the room before they could delve deeper into what happened at the tournament. Analeigh and Harry were eternally grateful for that as the last thing they wanted to do was relive the night of the Third Task. It was traumatic enough as it was to go through it once, and they didn't want to have to talk about it in detail with their teacher and some students they barely knew.

By the time the table had been emptied of leftovers and were replaced by dessert, Slughorn still found ways to talk all about achievements and connections. It was quite a talent, Analeigh thought to herself, to be able to keep the conversation going for so long, and even more so when it was mostly one-sided.

"So, tell me, Cormac, do you see anything
of your Uncle Tiberius these days?" Slughorn asked Cormac McLaggen, who was sitting beside him.

"Yes, sir," he responded, sitting up straight. "In fact I'm meant to get hunting with him and the Minister of Magic over the holidays."

"Oh," Slughorn chuckled, mildly impressed. "Well, be sure to give them both my best. And what about your uncle, Belby?"

All eyes turned to the next victim in the room, a Ravenclaw boy who was practically inhaling the sundae in front of him.

"For those you who don't know, well, Marcus's uncle invented the Wolfsbane Potion," Slughorn explained. "Is he working on anything new?"

"I don't know," Belby said, not even looking up to acknowledge the man. "He and my dad don't get along, probably 'cause my dad says potions are rubbish — says the only potion worth having is a stiff one at the end of the day."

Blaise Zabini, who was seated next to Belby, eyed him distastefully as the boy continued to scarf down his dessert messily. In fact, even Slughorn looked quite put off, and Analeigh had a feeling that Belby wouldn't be invited to the next dinner.

"And what about you, Miss Granger?"

Hermione slowly lowered her spoon back into the bowl when Slughorn addressed her.

"What exactly does your family do in the muggle world?"

"My parents are dentists," Hermione answered. When she was met with confused looks from almost everyone in the room, she added, "They attend to people's teeth."

"Fascinating! And is that considered a dangerous profession?"

"No." There was a moment of silence. "Although, one boy, Robby Fenwich, did bite my father once. He needed ten stitches."

Analeigh met Harry's gaze and nearly laughed out loud, the two of them finding Hermione's story — or rather, the way she told it — amusing.

The sound of the door creaking open diverted everyone's focus away from Hermione, much to her pleasure. Ginny Weasley had just entered the office, dressed in a deep maroon dress. She looked pretty as always, her clothes hugging her figure just right and her hair falling in the right places. However, what really stood out wasn't any of those good features — it was her eyes, tinged with red and slightly puffy.

"Ah, Miss Weasley," Slughorn greeted, gesturing for her to enter. "Come in, come in."

"Look at her eyes," Hermione said in a low voice.

"Has she been crying?" asked Analeigh in concern.

"They've been fighting again — her and Dean."

"I didn't realize things weren't going well for them."

"Sorry, I'm not usually late," Ginny apologized as she stepped in.

All of a sudden, Harry pushed his seat back loudly and stood straight up. Everyone stared at him in surprise, and even Harry himself looked shocked at his own actions. Eventually, he cleared his throat awkwardly in an attempt to brush it off.

"No matter, just in time for dessert. That is, if Belby has left you any," Slughorn broke the silence, chortling. Harry and Ginny sat down slowly, all while Analeigh and Hermione nudged one another knowingly.

"What?" Harry hissed when he sensed his friends' gazes burning into him.

"Nothing," Hermione said, fighting off a grin.

"Mhmm," was all Analeigh said as she scooped some ice cream into her mouth, but the teasing tone to her voice made Harry huff.

The two girls giggled to themselves, but Hermione stopped pretty quickly. Analeigh glanced at her curiously, finding Hermione's body now rigid like a rock but her eyes flitting around nervously as if to avoid someone's eyes. Analeigh scanned the room and had to purse her lips to stop herself from making a comment when she realized who was making Hermione react that way. It was Cormac, licking ice cream off of his finger and staring at her seductively — at least, what looked to be an attempt at being seductive.

"Don't say a word," Hermione said through gritted teeth.

Of course, Analeigh didn't listen to her, saying, "I told you: the look."

When the dinner was finally over, Analeigh was one of the firsts to get up, ready to leave and turn in for the night. But before she and Hermione could make a move, Harry pulled them aside.

"You can go back without me," he said.

"Why? Do you plan on staying longer?" asked Analeigh incredulously, wondering why in the world anyone would want to do that willingly.

"Yeah, I have to... get to know Slughorn."

"Oh, right," said Analeigh, still finding it odd that Dumbledore even gave Harry such a task.

"Good luck, then," Hermione told him. "Tell us how it goes."

And then, they made a beeline for the coat hanger where their jackets hung, not wanting to waste a second longer in there when they would much rather be back in the warmth and comforts of their common room.

"I thought this would never end," Analeigh whined as she shrugged on her jacket.

"Keep it down, someone might hear," Hermione scolded.

"Hear what, Granger?" Cormac swaggered up to them, a permanent smirk settled on his face as he spoke to Hermione. "I'm all ears to what you have to say."

We weren't even talking to you, was what Hermione wanted to tell him. Instead, she merely said, "It's nothing. Analeigh and I are just looking for... Neville."

"Longbottom? What for?"

"We wanted to talk to him about Herbology. There's this plant we came across in one of the library books that isn't part of our curriculum — thought he'd know something about it," she blabbed her lies, all while Neville was oblivious to their conversation and already halfway out the door.

"I see," Cormac said. He sounded unconvinced, but after a moment, he shook it off and put on a smolder once again. "Well, you can always come to me if you want to do homework together... or more."

He let his coat hang fashionably on his forearm and sent her a wink as he left their side. Once he was gone, Hermione shuddered, completely disgusted by him.

"He's moved on from just giving you 'the look'," Analeigh joked, causing Hermione to glare at her.

"Shut up."