The Snake and the Emerald Apple

The-Boy-Who-Lived: Budding Necromancer, But In Time For Curfew

Harry wobbled his legs nervously. His feet made a light tapping sound on the stone floor in the Great Hall. He'd moved his food across his plate several times but only took a few bites. He knew not to act flashy, but he felt like he had a large neon sign hanging over his head that read, "Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived; Dark Or Just Experimenting? "

He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, however, they darted back to the High Table and searched for Moody, Dumbledore- and funnily enough, Snape. Harry had been very skittish ever since they 'unlocked' the manuscript and was almost paranoid at the curiosity of men like Dumbledore and Snape. He was sure Snape was watching him closely.

Green eyes looked again at the stern figure of the resident Potions professor. After a few moments, seeing the man's obsidian eyes on him, Harry felt strengthened in his suspicious demeanor; the man was definitely on his trail! With trembling hands he took a sip of his pumpkin juice, only to choke on the sweet stuff. He sat up in shock when he no longer saw Moody sitting at the teacher's table and looked frantically around.

"Potter, remember that tonight you would be sorting all the second years' essays; you also promised that you would make a pre-selection between Trolls, Acceptable and Outstanding," Moody suddenly growled behind him.

Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the professor's sudden appearance and looked back in shock.

"Y-Yes, sir," he managed to sputter, clearing his throat, hoping that the bad feeling that the Pumpkin Juice had caused would go away.

Moody nodded and walked out of the Great Hall with heavy steps.

Harry relaxed again and carefully took a sip of his pumpkin juice, which this time didn't go down the wrong way. He noticed that Hermione was looking at him very conspicuously, as unobtrusively as possible. The behavior was not new to his friend, especially after they had expressed such spectacular discontent at each other. Harry absently slid the mashed potatoes from dinner across his plate, then made a quick decision.

"Professor Moody approached me after class last week," Harry began quietly, his gaze still at his plate, knowing Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny were listening in silence. "He had heard- from Professor Dumbledore I think- that I am interested in following my fathers' footsteps to become Auror. He wants to involve me more in Defense and wants to give me some pointers; I grabbed this opportunity with both hands."

He took a bite of his cooled food and grimaced; it tasted like sawdust, the nerves still kept his taste buds from working properly. He washed the food down with the last bit of pumpkin juice left in his glass and looked around the group.

"I will not return to the common room until late tonight, I expect it will take me a lot of time to sort the essays."

Neville smiled softly and nodded encouragingly. "Keep an eye on curfew, I've heard from Fred and George that Professor Snape is having rounds tonight."

Ron snorted loudly and burst out laughing, causing most of Gryffindor's students to look his way. Harry looked confused at his friend but did not have to wait long for the explanation of his loud laughter.

"Professor Trelawney is also on rounds tonight and has been sputtering about a tall, dark man she will meet tonight. Let's hope she's talking about Snape, that git definitely needs a break; meeting Trelawney will definitely be high on his bucket list," Ron said with an almost sadistic glow in his eyes. The red-haired boy imagined the disheveled witch clinging to the rigid figure of the sour Potionmaster and hoped he would be stuck with the witch for the rest of his rounds.

"I'll take precautions to make sure I don't run into him at the Gryffindor Tower, if he does meet Professor Trelawney then his temper is probably awful," Harry said with a chuckle and resolved to grab the Map-