Harry Potter - The Accidental Animagus

Chapter 26 - Catching a Rat

The party was winding down for the afternoon, although it was sure to pick up again in the late evening, probably with some contraband firewhiskey, if the rumours were true. More than a few people decided to take a nap before dinner with all the excitement. Harry and Hermione snuck away to find a quiet place to talk. The Clock Tower balcony once again looked promising, even if it was getting colder in the open air.

"Harry, that really was amazing flying," Hermione said, "but you about gave me a heart attack up there."

Harry would have found that funny if it weren't for the fact that his broom's antics nearly gave him a heart attack. "I'm just glad I beat Malfoy. I think that'll wipe that grin off his face for a while."

Hermione half-smiled. "Harry, your broom..."

"Yeah, I know. I was gonna have Madam Hooch check it over."

"No-I mean, I know what was wrong. It was Snape!"

"What?"

"Snape was jinxing your broom. I saw it."

"What do you mean? He wouldn't do that."

"Harry, Hagrid said that the only thing that would interfere with a top-model broom's control charms is powerful dark magic. That means it had to be one of the teachers messing with it, and I was looking, and every time your broom acted up, Snape was staring up at you muttering something. He did it, Harry. And before you asked, I looked at Professor Quirrell, too, and I never saw him muttering anything."

"Maybe you just missed it," Harry said angrily. "He would've had to have done it before my broom acted up. Maybe Snape was saying the counter-curse."

"Harry, I know it was him."

"No, you just want it to be."

"No! It's not like that. Listen, remember when you went after the Snitch, and your room still worked? I snuck up behind Snape and used a wandless Levitation Charm to blow his hair into his eyes."

Harry's jaw dropped, too shocked and angry to laugh. "You what...! N-no...No! I don't believe it."

"Harry, will you just get over your prejudice against Quirrell?"

"Will you get over your prejudice against Snape?" he shouted. "Even if it wasn't Quirrell, I can't believe Snape would try to kill me. Not after that message he gave me the first week. There's no reason for it."

"Sure there is." Hermione counted them off. "He doesn't like Gryffindors. He didn't like your birth father. He's obsessed with winning the Quidditch Cup. He's a Death Eater double agent and needs to keep up appearances..."

"But Hermione, he's never been any worse to me than anyone else. There's no reason for him to start up now, and even if he did, trying to kill me is way too obvious."

"He was trying to make it look like an accident."

"Well, if he was, he wasn't doing a very good job of it if a twelve-year-old figured him out."

Hermione was speechless. Did Harry just put down her intelligence? It took her a minute to notice him walking away. "Harry...Harry, where are you going?"