CONFUNDUS; harry potter [UNDER EDITION]

CHAPTER TEN

Lucca doesn't know if he is starting to be paranoid or if he is turning mad. But he recalls leaving the Rubik's Cube done the previous night. It's the same cube he has been doing since Christmas, a present from his Abuelita Nora.

How is it possible he goes to sleep, the Rubik Cube is back to the first stage?

"How do you even do that?" Hannah mutters, watching Lucca solve it for the tenth time. "I never understood those toys."

"You have to memorise the algorithm," he replies, finishing it in no time. "It comes in different ways, it depends on the cube. Then you solve it."

"Like maths?" Hannah asks, a bit disgusted. "I'm terrible at maths."

"Basically, everything is maths in life. Come one, try it."

"No... I'm not that smart."

"It's not about being smart, it's practice," Lucca says. "If it was about being smart, I wouldn't be playing with it. It's like any other puzzle. Here, however, the trick is memorising the way to solve it."

Hannah shots her brows up and Lucca offers her the cube. She hesitates but takes it and starts doing how Lucca indicates. His eyes focus only on how the pieces move, trying to catch something from there, concentrating on it. One thing that Lucca is confident about these days is his observational skills. With the curse slowly fading away, he can find the oddities in things and spot details faster than before.

Hannah scowls at the Rubik's cube, glaring from time to time to Lucca but he waves her off, encouraging her to keep it going.

When she is reaching the last steps, Harry appears next to Lucca.

"Lucca."

"Harry, hi!"

A wave of nausea invades him, nervously seeing how Hannah stops smiling and offers a curt nod towards Harry.

Harry seems to ignore her on purpose, looking directly at Lucca.

"I need your help," he says.

Lucca shifts uncomfortably in his seat, trying to look casual and not like he is about to burst in giggles.

"Is it urgent?" Lucca says and Harry nods, staring directly at him. He is about to say yes but he remembers Hannah is sitting right there. "Hannah, can we meet later — ?"

Hannah slams the cube down and jumps on her feet, seizing her school bag.

"Goodbye, Sallow," she says, furiously striding out of the Study Hall.

"Anyway," Harry sits next to him. "When you left, Moody told me his suspicions on Snape."

"About?"

"He reckons Snape put my name in the Goblet of Fire," Lucca opens his eyes wide, jaw drops. "Yeah."

"Why would he —?"

"You said you didn't believe I put my name there, that someone else did... Moody thinks the same," Harry continues talking. "Someone is trying to kill me."

"And he thinks it's Snape?"

"Yeah."

"That doesn't make sense at all," Lucca blunts, turning to Harry. "If Snape wants to hurt you in any way, he wouldn't just put your name there and expect you to die."

"He can always attack me during the tasks."

"Oh, yeah, let's see Snape in his best swimsuit trying to curse you," Lucca says.

When Harry doesn't laugh Lucca presses his lips in a thin line, containing himself. "Okay, listen, Snape can't touch you. Not during the tasks. Not when everyone is watching you."