Harry Riddle || Harry potter

Chapter 21: The Bad Karma Of Harry Riddle

"Dittany, Dittany," Harry muttered, flipping through One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. His finger suddenly slipped from the page and he lost his place.

"Screw it," he hissed. "Does anyone know what a bloody Dittany is?"

Draco shook his head absentmindedly, engrossed in his own book. Neville and Hermione started explaining at the same time.

"It can refer to two plants with similar magical properties-"

"A Dittany is a plant that has both medicinal and magical uses-"

Harry waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I'll just look it up again," he huffed, flipping through the book.

"Did Madam Pomfrey heal that burn, Neville?" Hermione asked, concerned. "It looked pretty bad when Professor Snape made everyone evacuate the classroom."

Neville nodded miserably, rubbing his arm.

Harry looked up from his book. "Don't feel bad about it, Neville. Professor Snape made the Slytherins and the Gryffindors evacuate, too."

"Did you blow your cauldron up, too?" Neville asked hopefully.

"No. My potion turned out perfectly. Professor Snape gave me fifty points for it, in fact. But the person sitting behind me blew up their cauldron. And Pansy's. And Blaise's. I almost got burnt when that idiot Gryffindor, Finnigan, blew his cauldron up and sent all the potion flying across the room. I had to duck."

"And I got burnt because of it," Draco huffed. "I thought my face would be scarred for life!"

"Even if it was, Uncle Lucius would just take you to some expensive healer who would make it look like nothing happened."

"I can never make any potions right," Neville moaned. "I'm surprised Professor Snape doesn't insult me all the time."

Harry wasn't surprised. He'd asked Severus earlier in the year to be nice to Neville. The poor boy was horrible at potions, but he was a nice person. He didn't deserve to be yelled at.

"But this potion today was really difficult, Neville," Hermione said soothingly.

"All you had to do was add your own hair at the end," said Draco. "I don't see what was so bloody difficult about that."

"It was difficult!" Hermione protested. "You had to add your own hair, then stir it counterclockwise six times, then add the unicorn hairs, then stir it clockwise three times and counterclockwise two times, then-"

"Hey," Harry said, interrupting Hermione's rant, "What is he doing in the library?"

Harry's three friends furtively glanced in the direction the boy was looking.

"Hagrid?" Hermione mouthed.

"He's hiding something behind his back," Harry whispered. He hesitated. "Do you think I should talk to him?"

"What?" Hermione demanded, furrowing her brow. "He hates you."

"Why would he be in the library? It might have something to do with Nicolas Flamel." Before they could protest anymore, he stood up and casually strode over to stand by Hagrid, acting as if he was perusing the shelves for books. He took a rather large step sideways, lightly bumping into the huge man.

Harry looked up, plastering a stunned look on his face. "Oh! Professor Hagrid! I'm sorry! I didn't notice you there! I must be too engrossed with studying for my own good! Exams aren't that far away, you know! What are you doing here, if I may ask?"

"Just lookin'," Hagrid replied in a shifty voice that caught Harry's interest at once.

"Really? What are you looking for?"