The Mudblood

Chapter 125 : Year 6

Another lovely piece of fanart by https://www.quotev.com/29338974 :)

The pettiness of this couples' competition, along with all of the lingering teenage drama, dissolved from my consciousness as the reality of Harper's words settled. Tears were fresh in his eyes, waiting to spill, as Harmony and the other members of the Slytherin Six looked to me for a reaction. The only response I could give them was a wide-eyed blink.

"Are you asking us to go visit her in Azkaban?" Malfoy asked rather snootily from beside me. "Fitzroy never offered to visit my father when he was locked up, so don't expect her to agree to this—"

"Your father was a criminal—a murderer," I snarled, finally finding my voice. "Harper's mother was simply born with the 'wrong' blood. Of course I would go visit her. I'd break her out—"

"She's not in Azkaban yet," Harper said hoarsely before clearing his throat. "She's at the Ministry of Magic, with the other Muggle-borns that are awaiting trial."

The information was believable, and I knew Harper wouldn't lie, but still my brow knitted together skeptically. "How do you know this? Did you receive a letter?"

"You think the Ministry would be decent enough to send him a letter?" Melody scoffed with an eye roll. "Trelawney told us."

"Trelawney...?"

"Mel and I were hiding by Gryffindor tower," Harper explained, "but then Goyle found us and chased us to the Divination tower. We lost him when Harmony showed up and hexed him—"

"I was coming from detention," Harmony informed me with a wry glance in Harper's direction. "I could hear him screaming from the fourth floor."

"I wasn't screaming—"

"More like wailing," Melody interjected with a snort.

"Anyway, once Goyle scampered away, Trelawney came rushing down from her tower and told us she Saw a vision in the crystal ball of my mother locked up at the Ministry and of Rachel fleeing to save her," Harper continued as his grave demeanor returned. "If my sister gets caught, they'll kill her, and they'll kill my mum too."

I bit my lip, feeling far less frantic than my friends looked. "I believe Trelawney could have Seen that through the crystal ball, but...wouldn't it be so convenient for You-Know-Who if you and Harmony just happened to go to the Ministry where he could easily capture you? He did the same thing to Harry two years ago—tricked him into leaving Hogwarts. He could easily have done it again—"

"Trelawney told us!" Harper exclaimed as his voice became hysterical. "You-Know-Who didn't—"

"He could have...planted the image in her mind," I insisted, knowing how stupid it sounded as the words left my lips. Harry and I were the only people I knew whose minds could be so easily infiltrated by Voldemort. "Or...the Carrows could have put her under the Imperius Curse—"

"If the Carrows knew, they would have taken us both right away," Harmony insisted reasonably. "They would be leaving too much to chance with this sort of intricate plan. Besides, you know that they're not the brightest."

"Fine, you're right, but...why has Harper's mother been taken now? Why not months ago? Doesn't anyone else find this suspicious?"

Harper shook his head in frustration. "She's been hiding and they only just figured out where she was."

"Or...someone told Rookwood that Harmony Latched onto you and this is a trap."

All heads slowly pivoted toward Malfoy, whose face morphed in bafflement when our eyes met. Though the others still seemed unsure, the possibility that Malfoy would reveal the truth to Rookwood had been a concern of ours over the past month, and the defensiveness in his eyes wasn't portraying innocence.