Harry Potter

Trolls and Dungeons

.:~*~:.
CHAPTER TEN
Halloween
.:~*~:.

Despite all the fuss that was made over her scar's sudden activity, Harry was still alive three weeks later. Pomfrey enforced occasional check-ups to make sure Harry would not end up flopping over dead with no warning, but everyone recognized the appointments had no point other than to soothe worries. Pomfrey's scans never picked up on anything, even when Harry's head was killing her. Honestly, the build-up just stressed them all out more.

Luckily for her and her friends, there was something to distract them from her possibly imminent death.

The only thing Hagrid had let slip was that someone named "Flamel" was involved with the forbidden corridor, but it was enough to start. The moment they were kicked out of his hut, Hermione was already planning how they would figure out who he was, beginning with his connection to Dumbledore. They were all more than excited to be making headway in solving the mystery (if feeling a little guilty about manipulating Hagrid; the half giant was so nice and well-intentioned and honest that it felt mean to squeeze information out of the him). The entire trip to the library was full of enthusiastic commendations to all of them for managing to unlock a part of the puzzle. Even the strange stares and Madam Pince's shaming glares could not bring them down from that high. Harry felt positively fantastic with such a bonding experience with her friends under her belt.

Unfortunately, while the planned research sounded like a simple task, one that might be done within the week, it was not. Hermione had forgotten something she had oft bemoaned over the past few weeks: the library did not have even the slightest semblance of a system. All of the books were scattered in a seemingly random order, with no regard to author, subject, or date. There was the possibility that Madam Pince would know of a book discussing Flamel—she appeared to have the entire (imaginary) list of books memorized—but they could all agree that asking for help felt like cheating. They could not in good conscience take full credit for solving the mystery if they asked for help. And so the four settled down for the long haul.

Three weeks later and they were no closer to the prize than when they had begun. Harry's head was spinning with new information, and she hadn't even been reading the entire time. Even Hermione admitted they had to allow time for homework, eating, and sleeping. But they had been pouring over book after book after book and Harry was not sure she would ever welcome the sight of an aged tome again. The subject could be truly interesting, but just as Professor Binns made the history of magic into the most boring monologue ever, so too did the books for their respective topics. They were authentic in more than just appearance; the language was dry and used unfamiliar slang that even Neville (the one most versed in wizarding literature) could not understand.

"We're going to have to read the entire library at this rate," Theo moaned as he snapped yet another book shut. It was the third of his stack, showing that, if nothing else, his skim-reading was improving. Harry wished she could say the same, if only to get rid of her current read.

"On the bright side," Hermione offered sympathetically without glancing from her own unbelievably thick tome, "we will never struggle with classwork again." To her left stood a large pile of hefty volumes she had picked out for herself, while to the right was the meager one she had already finished.

Theo shook his head with a groan. "I'm not sure it's worth it."

Harry sighed when she realized she had been rereading the same paragraph for over five minutes. Her head was hurting again, and that might have had something to do with it, but she had been out of sorts all day. It was Halloween; a date that held more than one meaning for Harry. It was the day her parents had died, the anniversary of probably the single, most horrible thing she had ever experienced, and the reminder of what she had lost. Every year since, something had always gone wrong in some way, much as hers and Dudley's birthdays went for her. And before the past summer, she had only focused on the years following.