Hagrid's troubles were finally, if somewhat precariously, resolved. Early Monday morning, when Hagrid returned to the staff table—properly dressed and seated in his usual spot—the entire Gryffindor table erupted in thunderous applause. Hagrid waved his enormous hands so enthusiastically that he nearly sent an entire table crashing to the floor. From the far end of the Great Hall, Malfoy made some disgruntled noises, but they were completely swallowed by the roar of approval.
Orli was clapping just as vigorously as everyone else, but she couldn't shake a persistent sense of unease. That woman—or as Harry so eloquently put it, that bloody cow—Orli had the nagging feeling she wasn't finished stirring up trouble.
But soon enough, she had no mental space left to worry about Rita Skeeter.
A few days later, Harry dragged them all into their makeshift Potions hideout early one morning, carefully sealing the door behind them and refusing to let any of them go to breakfast.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Ron asked through an enormous yawn.
"I... I've got about a hundred things to tell you," Harry said, looking deeply troubled.
"Take your time," Orli said, settling into a chair that was still mostly intact. She summoned Dobby to bring them some food, but she noticed something subtly different about Harry today—something difficult to articulate, but she could sense he was being slightly evasive with her.
"Right, so last night I finally went to the prefects' bathroom..." Harry began, having apparently gathered his thoughts.
"You only went last night?! You really are the king of procrastination..." Hermione said incredulously.
"Oh, Hermione, let Harry finish!" Ron protested.
"Alright..." Harry continued. "I wore the Invisibility Cloak, took the golden egg and the Marauder's Map. Everything started off fine. Anyway, let me tell you about the second task first: you have to submerge the golden egg underwater to hear what it's actually saying. The second task definitely involves the Black Lake—there are merpeople living down there. Moaning Myrtle told me..."
"Moaning Myrtle saw you taking a bath?!" Ron yelped.
"Shut it!" Hermione snapped sharply. "Go on—merpeople. Any other clues?"
"There are voices singing inside the egg," Harry explained. "The gist of it is that someone will steal away my most treasured possession, and I'll have an hour to retrieve it."
He paused, then added grimly, "'Past an hour, the prospect's black, too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'"
"So what's the second task actually testing? Finding something? Maybe you'll have to battle some kind of water monster?" Ron asked eagerly.
"I think the bigger question is how I'm supposed to locate the merpeople—" Harry sighed heavily. "That means I'll need to stay underwater for a full hour. How the hell am I supposed to breathe?"
Orli wasn't particularly concerned about this obstacle. She'd already finished her breakfast while listening. Even if Harry couldn't work out a solution, she could always exchange some Gillyweed for him through the system—though she'd never let these troublemakers anywhere near Snape's private stores.
"So that's our main challenge then—I'm heading straight to the library!" Hermione declared, already moving toward the door when Harry quickly grabbed her sleeve.
"No, no, I'm not finished yet. That's just a small part of it," Harry said, looking increasingly grim.
"A small part? How can the second task be this complicated?" Hermione asked in bewilderment.
"What? Oh, no—it's not about the second task anymore. What happened after that..." Harry hesitated, his gaze fixed intently on Orli as if engaged in some internal struggle. Several seconds passed before he finally spoke.
"On my way back to the dormitory, I was checking the Marauder's Map when I spotted someone unusual in Snape's office," he said, drawing a sharp breath. "The name read 'Clifford Avery.'"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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