Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1434: Lively Hogwarts

Hagrid hesitated and moved his large feet restlessly.

What on earth had he overheard?

Hagrid’s demeanor piqued Evan’s curiosity as well.

“Well?” Harry urged.

“Well — I jus’ heard Snape sayin’ Dumbledore took too much fer granted an’ maybe he — Snape — didn’ wan’ ter do it anymore —”

“Do what?”

“I dunno, Harry, it sounded like Snape was feelin’ a bit overworked, tha’s all — anyway, Dumbledore told him flat out he’d agreed ter do it an’ that was all there was to it. Pretty firm with him. An’ then he said summat abou’ Snape makin’ investigations in his House, in Slytherin. Well, there’s nothin’ strange abou’ that!” Hagrid added hastily, seemingly realizing this statement could be misunderstood. “All the Heads o’ Houses were asked ter look inter that necklace business —”

“Looking into the necklace business within the school… The Headmaster suspects that a student was behind it,” Hermione murmured thoughtfully. “And this time, the person who sent Slughorn the poisoned wine is inside the school as well. Evan and I discussed this before — we believe…”

“It was Malfoy!” Harry said without hesitation, as if he had known it all along.

There was no need for discussion. Whenever something bad happened at school, Harry’s instincts told him who was responsible.

Looking at Harry’s expression, Evan thought about it and felt that it would be better to admit it. There was no point in continuing to hide it.

Anyway, no matter what was said, it would not change Harry’s mind: the bad things that happened in the school were either done by Malfoy or Snape.

Besides, why hide it from Harry?!

In fact, as long as Harry didn’t do anything impulsively, Evan would prefer to tell him everything.

“It must have been Malfoy who did it,” said Harry. “Think about what I overheard on the train at the start of the term, and the conversation during Apparition practice. All the evidence shows that Malfoy is sneaking around, up to no good. I’ve been watching him closely for a long time — his behavior has been really suspicious, he —”

“Well, Harry, we also believe that Malfoy did it,” said Evan.

“What?!” Harry was stunned for a moment. He didn’t expect Evan to support his idea. “Evan, you believe Malfoy is the culprit too?”

“Yes, that’s what Hermione and I thought when we discussed it last time,” said Evan. “Look, whoever is behind this has to be a Death Eater. And while ‘Death Eater’ isn’t exactly a flattering title, they are, after all, the elite of Voldemort’s Dark army — not just any wizard can join. Voldemort wouldn’t recruit underage wizards lightly. Right now, among the students at Hogwarts, the only one who might qualify as a Death Eater is Malfoy. I can’t think of anyone else.”

“Malfoy is already a Death Eater — he admitted it!” said Harry excitedly. “Now that we’re sure he’s behind all this, what should we do?”

“I think it’s best to do nothing. If even we know about this, then there’s no way Dumbledore doesn’t,” said Evan. He was worried that now that Harry knew the truth, he might act recklessly. “Dumbledore must have his own plan. Remember what he told you last time when you brought this up? He told us to stay out of it.”

“He’d rather trust Snape than trust us,” said Harry bitterly. “I think Dumbledore might be —”

“Wha’ on earth yeh’re talkin’ abou’?” said Hagrid uneasily, just reacting from the shock brought by Evan’s words. He kept paying attention to his surroundings to make sure that there was no one else around, while twisting his crossbow uncomfortably in his hands; there was a loud splintering sound and the crossbow snapped in two. “Look, Evan, Harry, Hermione, I know what yeh’re like abou’ Snape and Malfoy, and I admit that people like them are as rotten as they come, but there’s no way they’re Death Eaters. Dumbledore trusts them, so I don’ wan’ yeh three getting caught up in suspicions that don’ exist. What yeh’re sayin’ is impossible! I’d sooner believe someone’s tryin’ ter sabotage the Gryffindor Quidditch team…”

“Look out,” said Hermione tersely.

They turned just in time to see the shadow of Argus Filch looming over the wall behind them before the man himself turned the corner, hunchbacked, his jowls aquiver.

“Oho, I caught you!” he wheezed. “Out of bed so late, this’ll mean detention!”

“No it won’, Filch,” said Hagrid shortly. “They’re with me, aren’ they?”

“And what difference does that make?” asked Filch obnoxiously. “What gives you the right to take students wandering around the castle in the middle of the night?”

“I’ve got every righ’. I’m a ruddy teacher, aren’ I, yeh sneakin’ Squib!” said Hagrid, firing up at once.

There was a nasty hissing noise as Filch swelled with fury; Mrs. Norris had arrived, unseen, and was twisting herself sinuously around Filch’s skinny ankles.

Ever since this cat had been petrified by the Basilisk years ago, she had only gotten weirder!

“Get goin’,” said Hagrid out of the corner of his mouth.

They did not need telling twice; Evan, Harry and Hermione hurried off.

Hagrid’s and Filch’s raised voices echoed behind them as they ran. They passed Peeves near the turning into Gryffindor Tower, but he was streaking happily toward the source of the yelling, cackling and calling,

When there’s strife and when there’s trouble

Call on Peevsie, he’ll make double!

Merlin’s beard, it was the middle of the night, and the castle was still this lively.

Did none of them ever get tired?

Evan certainly was. He just wanted to sleep.

He was not the only one who wanted to sleep. The Fat Lady was snoozing and not pleased to be woken, but swung forward grumpily to allow them to clamber into the mercifully peaceful and empty common room.

It did not seem that people knew about Ron yet; Harry was very relieved: He had been interrogated enough that day, but he didn’t want to sleep. He was still thinking about the information that Evan had just told him and wanted to go over it again.

Now that they had admitted Malfoy was behind everything, trying to convince Harry to do nothing about it seemed even more difficult.

If possible, Evan felt it would be best to discuss the matter tomorrow.

But the conversation didn’t go any further, because soon, Elaine came out of the dormitory in her pink pajamas, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

She had been waiting for Evan because she hadn’t had her nightly milk…

This child was a troublemaker in her own way — perhaps even more troublesome than Filch, Peeves, and Harry combined.

In the end, Evan transformed into a cat and was carried off by Hermione.

During one experiment, they had discovered that in his Animagus form, Evan could enter Hermione and Elaine’s dormitory without triggering Hogwarts’ protective charms, as long as he didn’t transform back inside. Ever since then, he was often asked to visit as a little cat…

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