Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 77

Throughout the next days, Jenna kept a close eye on Harry. Recently, he had yet another dream about Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew by his side. After speaking with Dumbledore and telling him exactly what he had seen in his dream, Dumbledore said that he reckoned all this was because Lord Voldemort was growing stronger.

     From then on, Jenna barely left Harry's side. Even at nights she slept in the common room instead of the girls' dormitory, just incase something happened. Her priority was to keep Harry safe, but with all the dangerous things that were going on, she had no idea how she was supposed to do that.

      Sirius was now sending daily owls to Harry at this point, trying to both comfort him and to warn him. He thought that Harry just needed to concentrate more on the tournament, and leave the rest to Dumbledore at the moment.

      As for Jenna; she kept on suggesting defensive spells and different hexes to Hermione, so she could tell Harry to practice useful ones for the upcoming task.

      It was the night before Harry's final task, way past the students' curfew. Jenna left the castle in Filch's form, carrying a basket full of food which she had gotten from Mickey in the kitchen.

She soon made her way through Hogsmeade and up toward the cave in which Sirius was staying. Although she remained in Filch's form, just to have a little laugh for old time's sake.

"Well, hello there, Mr. Black," said Jenna in Filch's voice and in a flirty manner, making Sirius jump up to his feet in horror.

But then he glared at her direction with his hand over his fast-beating heart. "It's not funny, Jenna."

She laughed, transforming back to herself. "On the contrary, I find it hilarious."

  "That's the third time you're doing it in the past month," he said, taking the basket from her, "it's gotten old."

"And yet, you get scared each time." She smirked. "Besides, it's not old. It's classic."

Sirius finally let a grin form on his face as he opened up the food basket and took the chicken wings out of it. "I got a letter from Dumbledore today, by the way."

"Really?" Jenna mused, going forward to pat Buckbeak after bowing to him. "What did he say?"

"Told me that I could come down to the castle tomorrow," he said, taking a bite from the chicken wing and throwing the bones for Buckbeak to eat. "Although he said I'd better wait outside of Hagrid's hut and not go too near the crowd, just to be safe. I'll wait for the task to end, and then I can go visit Harry afterward in Dumbledore's office."

"I'll come and stay with you, then," Jenna suggested. "The task takes place in a maze, so we won't be able to see the contestants while they're in there, anyway. I'll watch Harry get in safely, and then I'll come and meet up with you."

Jenna then went and leaned against the cave's wall as she let out a long miserable sigh, staring down at her feet. Sirius knew that she was certainly worried for Harry's task tomorrow, although he got the feeling that there was something else bothering her at the moment.

"What's the matter, Jenny?" he asked softly, not taking his eyes away from her and watching her closely.

"It's just that... the champions' parents and families are supposed to come to Hogwarts tomorrow... you know... to support their kids," she said, sitting down beside him after swishing her wand to clean the cave's ground magically. "And I... I just wished I could be there for Harry. I wish I could tell him who I am, even though I'm a little scared of his reaction. But Dumbledore keeps telling me that the time's not right."

"Why, though?"

"I don't know... I mean, people still think that I'm dead, and he wants to keep it that way for as long as possible," she explained. "He thinks this can be used to our advantage in the future."

"How many people know about you, anyway?" Sirius questioned.

"Other than you and Dumbledore, there's Remus, Snape, and McGonagall," she said. "Oh — and Hermione, of course. But that's not the point." She shook her head. "I just want to be there for Harry. To keep him safe, somehow. But it seems to be out of my hand..."

"Well... hopefully after tomorrow when the tournament's over, we can finally breathe freely," said Sirius, sighing. "That's one thing for sure."

***

Jenna returned back to the Gryffindor common room soon in her cat form and stayed there for the night, though she couldn't close her eyes and fall asleep for even a second.

     But as morning returned, Jenna's anxiety increased. People were excitedly making their way out of their dorms, ready to cheer their champion on for the last task. Although Jenna realized that for some reason, the only person who seemed to be as miserable as her was the new student, Lexi Hooper.

      Jenna had this crazy thought to maybe transform herself into Petunia Dursley to come and support Harry, so he wouldn't feel lonely for the task, specially because all the other champions' families were there.

      Although she felt her heart warm up when she learnt that Mrs. Weasley and Bill had come to Hogwarts to support Harry. It was at that moment when Jenna felt a great feeling of gratitude toward the Weasleys.

      As the task neared, everyone left the Great Hall and made their way toward the maze. Jenna knew that Sirius was probably here and was awaiting her outside Hagrid's hut as promised, but she had to see Harry and wait until the last second before leaving.

      So turning herself into a young and unrecognizable Hogwarts student, she followed the rest toward the field. The stands had begun to fill. The air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats.

     Jenna's eyes roamed the field, trying to see if there was anything off. But with Hagrid, Moody, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Dumbledore present, she doubted if anything would happen right here in the middle of the crowd.

     Jenna sat down in the middle of the crowd, her hands turning into fists and her knuckles going white from stress. She watched Harry warily, her heart beating rapidly against her chest.

      "Ladies and gentlemen," Bagman started, the crowd falling silent at his voice, "the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each — Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!"

      The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky.

      "In second place, with eighty points — Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place — Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"

       Harry could just make out Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione applauding Fleur politely, halfway up the stands. He waved up at them, and they waved back, beaming at him.

     Jenna smiled at Harry's direction to herself. Sometimes she forgot how similar to James he looked, because for her they seemed to be the same person.

     "So... on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three — two — one —"

     He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze. Jenna was at the edge of her seat, watching until Harry disappeared from sight.