Diggory Is Still A Loser (book 2)

22- Breakout

When Celia woke up the next morning, she felt awful about the way she had treated Cho.
Cho had only wanted to be nice to her and try to include her, and she'd thrown it right back in Cho's face.
She hadn't meant to shout at Cho, but she knew there was no way to take back what she had said.
Celia's mood got even worse when she opened the Daily Prophet during breakfast and found out that 10 death eaters, had escaped from Azkaban.
Since her roommates were sitting as far away from her as possible, she couldn't discuss the breakout with them. So, Celia got up and headed over to the Gryffindor table, where her friends were talking about the news on the front page.

"This is bad" said Celia, as she sat down beside Harry and plonked her Prophet onto the table.
"I still can't believe that the Minister is blaming the breakout on Sirius" Harry said grumpily.
"What other options does he have? He can hardly say 'sorry everyone, Dumbledore warned me this might happen, the Azkaban guards have joined Voldemort, and now Voldemort's worst supporters have broken out too'. I mean, he's spent the last 6 months telling everyone that you and Dumbledore are liars" reminded Hermione.
"Why is no one else as concerned about this as we are?" Asked Celia, as she looked around at the other students, who were happily going about their day.

"The teachers look worried" Ron pointed out.
Celia turned to look at the staff table, and noticed how grave the teachers all looked.
Even Umbridge was intently reading the paper, with a scowl on her face, instead of looking through the hall for misbehaving students.
"But why aren't any other students worried?" Questioned Celia.
"Well, not everyone gets the Prophet every day. I expect they will know about the breakout by the end of the week though, because news travels fast, especially inside a school" admitted Hermione, as she began reading through the paper.

"I only started getting the paper, when Rita Skeeter started saying mean things about me in it, because I was sick of hearing about things second hand from the teachers" revealed Celia.
"Yeah, Hermione only got a daily subscription, because she wanted to know what lies the Ministry were telling each day" informed Harry.
"The Minister can't ignore Voldemort for much longer. Not now that 10 powerful death eaters have rejoined their master" admitted Celia.
"He's got to admit the truth soon, or a lot of people are going to start dying" agreed Harry.

"Oh my God!" Gasped Hermione suddenly.
"What is it?" Questioned Ron.
"It's horrible" answered Hermione, as she showed them all the article.
"Ministry of Magic worker, Bodrick Bode was discovered dead in St Mungo's, after being strangled by a pot plant, which turned out to be Devil's Snare" Celia recited out loud, as she read the first line of the article.

"Bode, that name rings a bell" frowned Ron.
"We saw him, in St Mungo's, when we went to visit Mr Weasley. He was in the bed opposite Lockhart. And we saw the Devil's Snare arrive. The Healer said it was a Christmas present" reminded Hermione.
Celia thought back to Christmas day, when they all went to the hospital. But all she could really remember about the long stay ward, was seeing Lockhart, and Neville's brain damaged parents.

"Why didn't we recognise it? We've seen Devil's Snare before, we could have stopped it from happening" Shouted Harry angrily,  causing several people to stare at them.
"It's not your fault, you had more than enough on your mind that day. Besides, no one expects Devil's Snare to turn up in a hospital" Celia said gently.
"Whoever sent it must feel like a real prat now though. Why didn't they check what they were buying, before sending it as a present to someone?" Asked Ron.
"Oh come on Ron. I don't think anyone could put Devil's Snare in a pot, and not realise that it tries to kill whoever touches it. This was murder. A very clever murder, for the plant was sent anonymously, so there is no way to find out who sent it" announced Hermione.

"I met Bode. I saw him at the Ministry with Arthur, on the day of my trial" revealed Harry.
"Now that you mention it, I've heard dad talk about him at home. He was an Unspeakable, and he worked in the Department of Mysteries" informed Ron.
"That means he was pretty important. He must have known something, which is why he ended up in St Mungo's. But whoever needed him out of the way, couldn't risk him getting better, so they sent a plant to finish the job and kill him" replied Celia.

Hermione frowned and folded up the Prophet, before stuffing it into her bag and standing up.
"Where are you going?" Questioned Ron.
"To send a letter... I have an idea. I don't know if it will work, but it's worth trying. And I'm the only one who can do it" announced Hermione.
"I hate it when she does that. I mean, would it kill her to tell us what she's up to for once? It would have taken her like 10 seconds" mumbled Ron, as Hermione headed out of the hall.
"No, but that's just Hermione's way" replied Celia.
"Come on, let's go" sighed Harry.

As the trio exited the hall, they bumped into a large hairy man.
"Hi Hagrid" said Harry cheerfully.
"Hello" replied Hagrid, as he forced a smile onto his face.
"Hagrid, are you O.K?" Asked Harry.
"Fine, fine. I'm just busy. Lots of lessons to prepare, a couple of salamanders that have got scale rot. Oh, and I'm on probation" Hagrid said quickly.
"You're on probation!" Gasped Ron.
"Shh, don't tell the whole school" whispered Celia.
"Sorry, I mean, you're on probation?" Asked Ron, more quietly this time.

"Yeah. But I was sort of expecting it. I don't know if you noticed, but my inspection didn't go too well. Anyway, I've got to go and rub some more chilli powder onto the salamanders or their tails will be hanging off... See you around" mumbled Hagrid, before dissappearing off down the corridor.
"I can't believe that hag put Hagrid on probation" Harry said angrily.
"It shouldn't come as a massive shock, you know what Umbridge is like. And she hates half humans, like Hagrid" reminded Celia.
"Yeah, I know" grumbled Harry.
"I guess we just have to wait and see who cracks first, Hagrid or Trelawney. Because mark my words, Umbridge will fire one of them, before the end of term" sighed Celia.
"I just hope that it's not Hagrid"
"Yeah, me too".