Beyond The Veil「 The Veil Trilogy Part Ⅲ 」

[10] Late Night Kitchen Visit

We took the necklace to Professor Snape who was quite alarmed to see it as he said it was a very Dark curse that had been causing havoc for centuries. We left him to work on stopping the necklace's curse, and he said he would inform Dumbledore after he was done.

He also warned us strictly not to go anywhere near Katie Bell lest the curse affect us too. I would normally not have listened to him but he really looked serious about the intensity of the curse. So I had to postpone my thought of visiting Katie in the infirmary.

Who knows, perhaps she would be sent to St. Mungo's where there would be less chance of others getting affected and more skilled Healers present to look after her?

Getting dismissed from his gloomy office, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were heading back to the common room, and I had to go to Dumbledore.

I had to share with him the suspicion I had regarding his life being in danger but it looked like I wasn't the only one having suspicions about Katie's accident.

Harry looked perturbed too.

I went to the Headmaster's office but he wasn't there and I met Professor McGonagall instead.

"Miss Weasley, what brings you here?" She asked as she spotted me.

"I was looking for Headmaster Dumbledore...?"

"Yes, he's not here at the moment," she told me, "but he will be back soon. He has been informed about the accident at Hogsmeade."

"I don't think it was an accident," I voiced out my concern, knowing that in Dumbledore's absence, McGonagall was the best option to confide in about it. "I was with Katie before and she was alright. But then she got a package from Madam Rosmerta who wanted it delivered to Dumbledore. And the necklace in the package was cursed, Professor Snape is looking after it."

A very serious expression engulfed McGonagall's features and she nodded, thinking about it. "That is most strange indeed. I will go have a word with Rosmerta myself."

I guess that she will sort out the rest of the issue then. I am worried for Katie though. She was in a terrible state out there.

"Did anything strange happen with Miss Bell before she got the package?" Professor McGonagall asked as we were both heading back to the Great Hall together.

"No, I don't think so. We walked around the village and bought some stuff together. Then we went to Three Broomsticks and she went to bring our drinks. That's when she got the package and when she returned, she was just in a hurry to get to Professor Dumbledore... I found that strange."

She nodded, a thoughtful frown creasing her wise features, "and what else did you find strange about her behavior?"

I thought about it before replying, "she just felt really detached as if something had briefly possessed her. She canceled all our plans and just rushed out, clearly intent on delivering the package as soon as possible. Katie isn't like that normally..."

"She could have been under the influence of an Imperius curse," Professor McGonagall deduced, "I must see Rosmerta now. I appreciate you coming here to tell me everything. I will look into everything myself. This is a dire situation indeed."

She was about to leave but I stopped her, "Professor McGonagall... What about Katie?"

She nodded, a grave expression taking over her face, "I met Poppy and she doesn't know how to treat her. We have called Healers from St. Mungo's and they will take Katie to the hospital."

I nodded and she left after that. The gates of the Great Hall were right in front of me but after everything that had passed in such a short amount of time, my appetite seemed to have vanished.

Still, I pushed open the gates and stepped in, sensing the dull atmosphere that was quite contrary to the usual cheerfulness that hung about the hall during dinner time. The students were whispering to each other about Katie and the curse as word had spread through the school.

I made my way to my seat but as I stared down at the empty plate, I didn't feel like eating anything at all.

I really hope Katie gets better soon. She didn't deserve to get hurt that way.

That night I couldn't get much sleep either.

I was worried about my friend and my mind was wandering far too much for me to close my eyes and not see anything unpleasant. Plus not eating anything at dinner now made me feel too hungry to go to sleep.

So after a lot of twisting and turning in my bed futilely, I got up and decided to go down to the Hogwarts kitchens.

I remembered the way that led to the kitchens as well as the Hufflepuff Common Room. Every part of Hogwarts held double the memories for me. One related to my own time at the school and the others were memories from that time travel incident in my fourth year.

Reaching the entrance to the kitchen, I tapped on the pear at the painting which opened up to show the kitchens. I had just stepped in when Dobby appeared.

"Miss Kat, Dobby is so happy to see you!"

Dobby had started working at Hogwarts as a free elf and it felt good to see him doing so well. Winky, Mister Crouch's elf, also worked at Hogwarts now and Dobby took care of her as she was slowly recovering.

I followed Dobby inside and he whipped up quite an arrangement, fetching all the dishes that were my favorite. True, I wasn't that hungry to eat it all but I appreciated the sentiment.

"Thank you, Dobby."

"If there is anything Miss wants done, let Dobby know," he offered and just like that, a thought popped into my head.

"Dobby, you remember Draco, right?"

"Of course, Miss. How could Dobby forget Master Draco?"

I nodded, "well, there is one thing I want you to do. He's not really well these days, can you make sure he eats on time? I don't see him at mealtimes either and apparently, he's very busy with whatever he's doing."

Dobby was silent for a while but then spoke up, "Dobby can make sure Master Draco gets his food. Dobby can smuggle food into his dorm if he forgets to eat. And if Miss wants, Dobby can keep an eye on him."

Well, I hope that is not too extreme. But ever since the time Draco came to visit me, I just feel like he's up to something dangerous that will end up hurting him.

Normally, I wouldn't have cared since anything he does or ends up in wouldn't affect me personally. But for some reason, there is this strange feeling to help him out.

An obligation, as he said. The strange part is that I don't know why it feels like that.

"Alright, Dobby. You can keep an eye on him and tell me if he's getting involved in anything dangerous."

"Dobby will do as you say, Miss. Don't worry."

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