Inquiring Minds

It was December when Harry decided to sign only his own name on the Defense project he'd worked so hard on. He'd pushed Lavender to help, but she hadn't. She didn't need the grade, then, either.

Hermione approved.

Ron shrugged, but said Lavender would hate him for it. Forever.

Neville said Lavender had to learn about the whole world, not just what was in Teen Witch Weekly. If a bad mark got her parents angry with her...it was worth it all. He also said Lavender would hate him for it. Forever.

Harry knew they were all correct. He did it anyway.

The other groups Harry knew in Gryffindor had worked hard. Hermione and Seamus had proposed a test for curses transmitted by the smell of a long-lasting potion. The Defense Professor spent a lot of time in that class room.

Ron and Parvati had cracked a few books, but Ron had drawn on things he said he'd learned from his oldest brother, who was a cursebreaker. He and Parvati proposed curse-objects, like the kind found in some Egyptian tombs.

Neville and Dean had worked harder than any of them, but Dean had eventually landed on the idea of a rune that was hidden behind a line of false mortar. So that a large stone would appear to be far smaller while obscuring whatever rune powered the curse.

Harry couldn't see how someone would change a Hogwarts stone without someone noticing.

Harry's idea that he would have to claim as his own was also about runes, which he hoped to further study in Ancient Runes the following year. He believed the curse was a rune that had been hidden somewhere in the castle in one of the abandoned rooms or corridors. It wouldn't be close to the Defnse classroom at all.

He had come by his thought from a re-reading of the ninth edition of Hogwarts: A History. The castle was much vaster than any of them had known. Harry had found a few of the areas where whole portions of the castle had actually been bricked off. It had not always been so and the variety of classes had not always been so limited. They were all training as generalists now, a little potion work, a little spell work, a little theory.

Harry went to class on the day the assignment was due. Lavender sidled up to him. "I was thinking, Harry..."

"Good."

"What I was saying was that I think I would owe you if you let me write my name on the assignment..."

"I thought you'd worked out your own answer. I asked and asked if you'd like to help."

Lavender went for tears. Harry had never seen her cry. It was a horrible sight. He did not run away from her. He wanted to have this conversation out now, before class started, even if everyone from Slytherin was staring at Harry and Lavender as if they were particularly disgusting, failed potions attempts.

When Lavender stopped, Harry said. "I did what you asked. I left you alone and I did the assignment myself. I'd suggest putting your name on some kind of parchment and writing down something. You must have a guess."

Harry walked in the door. He felt like hell. He felt like giving in and putting Lavender's name on his assignment. But he didn't. He had done this work and Lavender hadn't. He would not lie.

Madam Spurl hobbled into the room. She was using a cane as she sometimes did. She looked so frail, but none of her students actually believed it. Her body might not be a strong one, but a witch could rely on other tools, other powers.

"Pass them forward."

Harry did. He noted that Lavender handed in nothing. He did feel pity for her, a little. What had she been thinking?

Madam Spurl leafed through them, nodding or scowling as she figured out their premises. "Let's have Malfoy and Davis up front. Tell us your hypothesis."

Malfoy made Tracy Davis speak. "We would like Madam Spurl to test the door, specifically, the doorknob, for a curse."

"What kind of curse? There is no one spell for all curses," Madam Spurl said.

"I don't know," Davis said.

"Mr. Malfoy?"

"An insanity hex tied to a person over the age of twenty?"

Madam Spurl looked solemn. "So you have studied your family's history. A Malfoy in the main line in France did use such a curse to wither away several of the minor branches of the family. I even keep one of the doorknobs in my private collection. Glad to see you're a fan of your family history. Be seated, both of you."

Malfoy scowled but returned to his desk. Davis looked relieved.

Harry wondered if Madam Spurl had ever been in a Potter house unraveling some curse. How had he never thought to ask? He would. He scrawled himself a note.

.....

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