Silence Is Music? [Stopped Writing]

Chapter 9: Cracking Teeth & Feeding Keith

I turned the corner and ran up the stairs, changing back to myself as I ran.I burst into the common room to be met by a scared looking Neville and a singed looking Seamus. Neville hugged me and Seamus raised what would be an eyebrow, I just nodded. Casting a meaningful glance to Percy who was walking towards us.

" Ah, Harmony. How was your first potions lesson, I hear you were injured." I nodded. "Well, I believe that they should make the classrooms safer, could you believe it, I got a splinter in transfiguration the other day!" Bored with the conversation, I pointed behind him, Where Peeves was spray-painting the notice board. Percy instantly strode over to him.

Seamus gave me a questioning look and I cast that spell.

" Lets just say that a new Slytherin is in town." They were astounded and I lead the way to the Great Hall. When we got there I had written everything down on parchment. They read it and applauded. I bowed and waved Raven over. Once she had finished reading the note, I burned it and fed it to her pet pygmypuff (Keith). We turned to the Slytherin table.

I wasn't expecting them to have used the potions already but cleary some of them wanted to get rid if their potions smell. Draco walked in first, nothing wrong there. But when Crabbe and Goyle dragged a crieing Pansy into the room I was on the floor in laughter.

Pansy had evidently decided to take a shower before lunch. Her hair was sprouting some kind of grotesque fungi that occasionally dripped slime onto the floor. Her eyes were literally bulging out of their sockets, they were the size of the large apples that sat on a plate in front of me.

Professor Sprout immediately ran over as did some of the other teachers.

" What happened, Miss Parkinson?"

" Pansy, oh, this is terrible!"

" Excellent, wow. This is an extremely rare type of plant, how did you get it?"

Everyone was laughing. Even some teachers were trying to hide a smile.

" Brilliant!"

" Blimey, I wish I'd thought of that!"

" Whoever did this is my new best friend."

" Why on earth would she want to shampoo her nose hair?"

A job well done, and I made 2 new friends!

We had the afternoon off and I was going with Harry and Ron to see Hagrid at three. I decided to practise spells to improve my pranking.

We found a disused room and began. It was hard to learn them as they were more OWL level, but I was always good at that sort of thing and got the hang of them after half an hour. Neville failed and Seamus almost blew up the room so it was really just me and Raven actually managing anything.

We thought it would be a good idea to make magical bugs for listening into things so we set to work. They weren't even nearly finished by 10 to 3 and we packed away glumly.

" Cheer up," Raven said. " Can I go see Hagrid with you?"

Hagrid's hut was on the edge of the forbidden forest and when we knocked, he had to restrain fang (his dog) from running free.

Hagrids rock cakes lived up to their name and I pocketed loads while pretending to enjoy them. The boy's faces were priceless. When Hagrid stood next to Raven, I felt like laughing. While we almost came to his waist, Raven was leaning against his knee.

Harry noticed a peice of paper under the tea cosy and started to read. His face turned shocked.

"Hagrid! That Gringotts break in happened on my  birthday. It might have been happening while we were there!" I read the article:

GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST

Investigations continue into the break-in at  Gringotts on 31st July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day. "But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.

I shrugged. Probably overreacting. 

That night, my thoughts went back to Quirrell and I spent hours pondering it in my favourite seat by a common room window. I didn't notice the shadowy figure gliding across the Hogwarts grounds towards the forbidden forest.