Chapter-27: They are up to something

It was a fine beautiful morning. Ronan was having breakfast with his friends, and they were chatting about the exam pressure and how their parents would react to their results.

"My mother doesn't care about my results that much," Blaise declared, "But I do. I will make sure that I score enough to make to not let down Zabini's name."

Hearing this Ronan commented, "Explain what 'let down' means, because you the weakest of us all," Everyone chuckled, but Blaise refuted back, "I might be now.. But I will soon overtake you all,"

"Yeah, like you can overtake Ronan," Pancy remarked, "I can!" Blaise refuted, but no one paid attention to him.

"My father had not given me any pressure about the result," Draco declared. He and his two goons have started along with them since Ronan talked with him, "It is my mother who has been pestering me. I received three owls from her just this week."

"I received four from my mother," Daphne declared.

From where Ronan stood, he knew that it was a good thing that their parents had started pestering these kids because they were all terrible. Daphne and Pancy have some brains but both of them dont bother to use them. Blaise is kind of a joker, who likes to spend his time having fun, and spending his mother's money.

Draco was just a prick and always kept looking for a way to mess with Neville and his gang. From what he had gathered, Draco doesn't like the attention that Neville and Harry get.

Harry was a great seeker and had been in every conversation about quidditch in the castle. Neville on the other hand was a boy who lived. Pancy, the gossip girl, had told him ministry pays special attention to the boy. Ministry had provided special security for the boy since he was a kid, and since then he had been attacked around seven times. And Malfoy doesn't like the attention that Longbottom gets, despite being a very abysmal wizard…

"Ronan," Pancy said, "Do you reckon that you would be able to defeat that muggle-born girl?" She asked.

"Hermione," Pancy nodded, "Sure, I think."

"You better do," Blaise commented, "We dont want a girl like that to be best in our year. We would rather have you,"

"Okay.." Ronan said.

"I hate that girl, and her friends," Draco declared, there was no surprise there, "Especially Potter and Longbottom. I hate Weasley as well, but those two always get on my nerves. And that Potter boy, I dont know Dumbledore was thinking of allowing that boy to be a seeker and have a broom,"

"You complained about this to your father, right? Did a reply come from him," Daphne asked.

"Yes," Draco said begrudgingly. "He said that Dumbledore doesn't let any Governors of the school interfere in such matters. I am saying this now, Dumbledore does not deserve the title of the strongest wizard. If you ask my father, according to him he is just an old git. That is all."

It was then Ronan eyes widened with surprise, he turned towards Draco, "Malfoy." He said, "What did you just say?"

"Dumbledore is old git," Malfoy said, confused.

"No, before that?"

"Dumbledore does not deserve the title of the Strongest Wizard," Ronan abruptly got up, pushed his bench behind, and then declared, "Draco, you are a genius."

And with that Ronan ran out of the hall, leaving behind his stunned friends. "You know I think that he had lost his marbles in those books that he keeps reading," Blaise said.

"Seems like it," Pancy said.

***

During the charms lecture that day, Ronan's mind was not on the class but was on the possibility that maybe Dumbledore might be the owner of the Elder Wand. It made sense, he was the strongest wizard of their time. But as he does not remember the plot of the movies that well, there is a chance that his hunch might be wrong. And there was no way to prove his theory, after all, he couldnt just go to the old man and ask, Dumbledore, are you the owner of the world's strongest wand?

To confirm his suspicion, he needed more information. That is why he went to the Library and issued himself a book called Wand Theory, which is a book about wands. He figured that he could pretend that got interested in how wands are made and how they function. And then he could go from Professor to Professor asking about their wands. He could ask the old man about the wand as well, and he might be able to discern whether the wand that the old man had is really the Elder Wand.

And if the old coot is really the owner of the Elder Wand, he wanted to steal it.

On the back of his mind, he also wanted to uncover the mystery behind his own wand. He still remembers the day when he got his first wand in Ollivander's, according to that old coot that ran the shop, he was not compatible with any other cores that his shop offered. Which was weird, now that he was thinking about it. And while he was at it, he figured that he would also learn about Zowu, the beast whose core is used in his wand…

A week after the incident, during the school break, every Slytherin was sitting at a table talking to each other. The only person that was missing was Malfoy, and his two goons looked anxious because of this.

"He never goes away like this," Goyle said, Crabbe simply nodded. Ronan sighed looking at their antics, "Look he might be in the restroom you know. Dont worry about him."

"We are not worrying," Goyle said, "It is just that he never does anything without us. And he ditched us here,"

Ronan then looked at the buffons before him, thinking about what would have prompted Malfoy to befriend these guys. "Alright.." He said, still thinking, "I will just go back to my book?"

He took out a 24-inch-long double leather-bound book from his school bag, which made some Slytherins turn their head. "What are you reading?" Pancy asked.

"Wand theory," he replied.

"Thinking about making wands?" Daphne asked as she peeked inside his book, He ignored her and went back to the book.

Only when the break was about to be over, did Draco come running in the Great Hall. Everyone had left except for Ronan, who was on a very interesting chapter, and Crabbe and Goyle. He came and sat down beside Ronan, from his heavy breaths and perspiration on his forehead it seemed that he had come here after a very long run.

"What happened to you?" Ronan asked, "Yeah, where were you?" Crabbe asked.

"I saw something," Draco said, while breathing heavily, "That mutt gatekeeper of ours.. He has a creature locked in his cabin. I seen it,"

"What are you talking about?" Ronan asked,

"I saw it. I didnt know what it was, but I saw a big egg. And fire."

Goyle asked, "What was it?" Annoyed, Draco snapped, "I dont know. I was not able to have a better look,"

"Hmm," Ronan mumbled. "Fire and big egg… Do you reckon that it was Chimera?" Ronan lied, he knew exactly what creature was in Hagrid's hut, as he still remembers the day the big Oaf came to the Library.

"What is a chimera?" Draco asked,

"It is a creature that has the tail of a scorpion, the body of a lion, and a wings." Ronan spoke.

"Maybe," Draco said, "Whatever it was, that big oaf is trying to hide it. I heard Weasley this morning telling Potter about the thing,"

"Chimera are very dangerous creatures. Not to mention, it is illegal to breed them in England. That big Oaf could get in a lot of trouble for this." Ronan said.

A sly smile appeared on the faces of the trio, and Draco exclaimed, "GREAT! We can use this to throw that oaf off the school,"

Ronan then shook his head, "It won't be that easy. The thing is, that Big Oaf is a very trusted man of Dumbledore. We would need concrete proof that he has this creature, before submitting our doubts."

"Concrete proof?" Draco asked, "But I saw it with my own two eyes."

"It doesn't matter what you saw. If the old coot found to go the wind that you have complained about the creature, he would send it away in a puff." Draco nodded, the little boy was falling for his ploy, "Did someone see you spying on them?"

Draco nodded, "Then it means that you won't be able to get near the hut now, that oaf will make sure of it."

"Then what should I do?" Draco asked.

Ronan smiled, "Nothing. Nothing at all." All three of them looked at him confusingly, "The thing is, Chimera has a very poisonous sting on their back. Even if they are babies, their poison might be not as potent as an adult one, but it will cause some trouble for sure. You just need to make sure to see the signs. I am sure that those 4 fools would sustain some sort of injury. And when that happens, all you need to swoop in. Seeing that a student is injured because of an illegal creature, the governor would act. Hagrid could even be sent to Azkaban."

"Sweet!" Draco and his goons exclaimed at the same time. They all then exited the hall with smiles on their faces…

By night, Ronan had discreetly sent Hermione the message regarding Draco, telling her that she needed to do about the situation as soon as she could. He did this to get in the good graces of those guys, as they are the main protagonists of the story.

His decision to play for both sides of the magical world might prove to be very dangerous in the future, he knew it. But the thing was, he had no choice. He knew that Voldemort would rise again in the future and then would be killed by either Longbottom or Potter. So in the end the good guys would win, but his destiny played a sick prank on him by putting him in Slytherin. He was surrounded by people who would try to kill him if he showed in public that he was on the good side.

And with no backup, nor anyone to rely on, he could trust his instincts. And his gut was telling him to play for both sides for now. It was not hurting him in any way, for now. This way he would ally himself with the winning side, when the time comes, and before that, he would be able to survive as well. Ronan knew that a day would come when his decision would come and bite him in the ass, but that was something that future Ronan would have to worry about. For now, as he had completed his second-year course, he started formulating a plan to move on his third year course.