Charms. | h. potter

016

The next morning, Cameron meets Hermione and Harry on their way out of the Great Hall. She doesn't feel like eating, so she just joins them. Harry spills about their talk with Sirius and about the dragons. Even though she is alarmed by the news about Karkaroff, she thinks it's more important to deal with the dragons and, despite feeling like Sirius was being too harsh on the Death Eater (ex-Death Eater? Cameron is sure You-Know-Who wouldn't want a snitch back in his ring), Cameron agrees.

"Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening and then we can worry about Karkaroff," Hermione suggests. The three of them walk three times around the lake, trying to think of a simple spell that could potentially subdue a dragon. After the third time, they decide to go to the library instead. Harry pulls down every book on dragons that he can find and they get to work on dividing and conquering.

"Talon-clipping by charms... treating scale-rot... this is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy," Harry groans.

"'Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate...' but Sirius said that a simple one would do it," Hermione whispers.

"Let's try some simple spellbooks then," Cameron suggests. Harry tosses aside 'Men Who Love Dragons Too Much' and returns to the table with a pile of spellbooks that they flick through. Hermione won't stop whispering about each spell.

"Well, there are Switching Spells... but what's the point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine gums or something that would make it less dangerous... the trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide...

I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall... unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself? Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing OWL practice papers..."

"Hermione," Cameron sighs, exasperated. "Please, shut up. I'm really trying to concentrate."

When she falls silent, Cameron's head becomes filled with worries. They looks down at the index of Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed and she feels queasy again. Instant scalping... pepper breath... horn tongue...

"Oh no, he's back again. Why can he read on his stupid ship?" Hermione complains as Viktor Krum skulks around the corner.

"Hermione, don't be rude," Cameron scolds.

"Come on, we'll go back to the Common Room, his fan club will be here in a moment, twittering away..."

"You guys go," she says, standing up and aiming to make her way towards Viktor. "I'll meet you later?"

"Cam," Harry says in a low voice, "you heard what Sirius said—"

"About Karkaroff and the Durmstrang champion and the Dark Arts, yes. But remember that Viktor is my cousins' best friend. And my dad's star pupil. And that his family knows my entire family. Cousins and all. Sirius is making assumptions about people he knows nothing about. Sure, Durmstrang has a dark side, but so does Hogwarts, remember? You-Know-Who came here, so did Snape, so did Wormtail, so did the Lestranges, so did the Malfoys," Cameron replies, her brow creased. "I know these people. Don't trust everything you hear just because Karkaroff was in Azkaban for being a Death Eater and got out because he snitched. That's old news."