Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
————————————
Aurora Areli
"DUMBLEDORE RECKONS YOU-KNOW-WHO'S GETTING stronger again as well?" Ron whispered.
Harry and I had just told Ron and Hermione about everything we had seen in the Pensieve, and almost everything Dumbledore had told us. Harry and I had even shared our discoveries with Sirius, having sent him an owl right after we left Dumbledore's office.
"Sure seems like it," I muttered, hugging a cushion to my chest.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and I stayed up late in the common room that night, after everyone else had gone to sleep, talking it all over.
Even though the evening was warm, I could have sworn I saw Ron shiver as he stared into the fire.
"And he trusts Snape?" Ron said. "He really trusts Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?"
"Yes," Harry said.
I looked over at Hermione, who had not spoken in ten minutes. She was sitting with her forehead in her hands, staring at her knees, and looking like she could really use a Pensieve herself.
"Rita Skeeter," she finally mumbled.
"How can you be worrying about her now?" Ron asked, in disbelief.
"I'm not worrying about her," Hermione said to her knees. "I'm just thinking . . . remember what she said to Rory in the Three Broomsticks? 'I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl.' This is what she meant, isn't it?"
I nodded. "You're right — she reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters."
"And Winky, too, remember?" Hermione continued. "'Mr Bagman is a bad wizard.' Mr Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home."
"Yeah, but Bagman didn't pass information on purpose, did he?" Ron said.
"That, we don't know," I said, as Hermione shrugged.
"And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?" Ron said, turning back to Harry and me.
"Yeah," Harry said, "but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage."
"We never thought of her, did we?" Ron said slowly. "Mind you, she's definitely got giant blood, and she doesn't want to admit it —"
"Of course she doesn't," Hermione said sharply, looking up. "Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita found out about his mother. Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth."
I glanced down at my watch, and was surprised to see the time.
"It's pretty late," I said, and Hermione hastily looked at her own watch.
