"You should really taste muggle cheese," said Ben as he packed up. "As cool as 'dragon milk cheese' sounds, it's actually freaking gross. I feel sorry for-"
"Save it, mudblood," Merula came over. "I thought I was bringing you guys to see Cedric."
"Yeah, I know," said Dani.
As they went upstairs, Ben asked, "Have you guys seen Sickleworth lately?"
"No, why?"
"He's been gone for nearly a week now. I thought he'd turn up, but still, his former owner is an evil cultist, and..."
A group of students of all houses and years were crowded around a corner of the courtyard. "I can't believe a first-year can get this famous," said Dani in amazement.
Ben, Dani and Merula joined the group. Penny, who was in the swarm, filled them in. "He's quite possibly the huffliest Hufflepuff I've ever met!"
"And you should see him on a broom," added Diego.
Young Cedric entertained a couple more of his adoring fans before spotting Dani and waving her to the front. "Nice to meet you, Dani. It's crazy to have a literal Hogwarts hero standing in front of me."
"I'm just doing my part to keep my schoolmates safe. How are you liking life at Hogwarts so far?"
"I love it. The lessons are..."
************************************
Later, as most of the students headed off to dinner, Dani overheard Ben talking to Beatrice.
"So you did see a niffler around?"
"Yeah. He was at the Care of Magical Creatures place, raiding the food sacks."
"Care of Magical Creatures? I thought you couldn't take that until next year."
"Oh, um, I was throwing puffskeins with Ismelda there."
Ben gave the younger girl a weird look. "What?! Ismelda said they liked it!" the second-year Hufflepuff protested.
"I'd highly doubt-" Ben stopped next to the great hall. "Wait! SICKLEWORTH!"
The niffler saw Ben and scurried frantically along the corridor. Dani, who had been listening from behind the entire time, and Beatrice quickly caught up.
"Is that a white quill in his beak?" asked Ben.
"I bet R has a message. I bumped into Alex on Knockturn Alley last Saturday and he said that the Mahoutokoro student is coming to Hogwarts."
"WHAT?!" said Ben.
The chase lead them past the greenhouses as Sickleworth slipped into Alex's room through a crack in the door. Beatrice sped up and pushed open the door just behind the niffler, and gasped. "Wait, aren't you... Alex Jackson?!"
YOU ARE READING
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Year 6
AdventureWARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS DEATH, STRONG LANGUAGE, AND MENTIONS OF TORTURE AND VIOLENCE. WHO WOULD WIN: dark wizard cabal vs. a group of 16-year-olds! Our heroes return for their sixth year, a divided front and pressed for time as corrupted hands i...
