The Girl Who Saw Tomorrow II » Harry Potter

2.59 | Another Xenakis

There were benefits of having your skull cracked and being poisoned. At least, for Harry and Ron there were, the best of which was that Hermione was friends with Ron again. Hermione even escorted them down to breakfast where Margaret continually regarded Harry with an unimpressed look.

Harry finally tore his eyes away from where Ginny was sat about a foot away from Dean, stabbing at her food (the two of them had had a row earlier that morning, heard by half of the Gryffindor tower) and raised a brow at Margaret.

"Okay, what is it?" he demands.

"Nothing," says Margaret sarcastically. "Nothing at all."

Harry looked ready to pester until she spoke what was on her mind, although at that moment, a familiar barn owl with a bowtie swooped down on the table.

Harry recognised the owl to be Markus's at once. Margaret quickly untied the scroll tied to its leg, allowed him to drink from her goblet of orange juice before shooing him away before he could catch attention of the rest of the Gryffindor table.

"That was Barney, wasn't it?" aska Harry.

Margaret snorted. "Barney... He complains about my pop-culture references when he's the real Gen Z extraordinaire."

The words flew right over Harry and Hermione's head, for they were both looking at her in confusion. But Margaret just shook her head dismissively, reading the note quickly before looking up to meet their expectant gazes.

"I'll tell you later. What time do we have to be in Dumbledore's office today?"

"Eight o'clock," says Harry. "Is everything all right?"

"It seems to be. I guess we'll see," says Margaret thoughtfully.

"Listen," says Harry after a moment, "I know you probably won't like this, Margie, but... I've made arrangements to keep an eye on Malfoy."

"What do you mean, Harry?" asks Hermione.

Harry looked conflicted, glancing at Margaret to find her giving him a stare that was the mother of all disapproving looks. He shifted away from her as unnoticeably as possible and cleared his throat before repeating her own words:

"I'll tell you later."

Margaret hissed at him and he scooted even further away. "Why?" she demands.

" Because Malfoy's been acting weird," he replies, sounding slightly frustrated. "I've been trying to keep an eye on him through the map and I've noticed he disappears from Hogwarts... It doesn't make any sense, I know, but it is what I saw."

"He goes to the Room of Requirement," Margaret tells them quietly. "It doesn't appear on the map... Have a look next time."

Harry blinked, feeling his jaw drop on its own accord. He fiddled through his robes but stopped himself before he could pull out the Marauder's Map. It would be foolish to try to check it in the middle of the Great Hall, even if he really wanted to.

Harry had thought that the map showed everything, but what if it did not? What if his father and his friends never discovered the Room of Requirement or never knew what it truly was?

"Of course," Hermione breathes. "If the Room of Requirement is not plotted on the map, anyone inside it would be invisible."

Margaret gestured vaguely towards Hermione to show that she had made a point.

"Of course... He kept disappearing on the seventh floor... Of course," Harry mutters. "I've been so stupid..."

"How very surprising," Margaret comments under her breath, but Harry hears it anyway causing him to poke her in retaliation.