Orli had to summon every ounce of concentration just to keep her focus on the cauldron and potion before her. Her technique seemed sound enough, except her knife work wavered slightly while dicing the roots...
"Focus."
Severus Snape had materialized beside her without a whisper of sound.
"You'd do well to keep the valerian root at a quarter-inch. Steady your hand and cut on the diagonal. Don't make me repeat myself."
His voice was perfectly calm, natural, utterly normal. But Orli could see every student in the front rows had their ears pricked—none dared turn around. Meanwhile, she was certain every eye in the back of the classroom was trained on the two of them.
"Yes, Professor."
Orli replied in an equally measured tone. She forced herself to banish all thoughts of Rita Skeeter's article, to push away even the slightest consideration of Snape himself.
At last, the bell rang. Orli had never found Potions so utterly torturous. She felt as though she'd been trapped in that classroom for an entire century. She deliberately packed her things with excruciating slowness, lingering until the very end, hoping for a chance to speak with Snape. But others clearly harbored the same intention—many students were dawdling as well, all eager to observe their every interaction. Orli caught Snape giving her the barest shake of his head.
She understood perfectly—now wasn't the time.
Very well then. Orli clenched her fists inside her robe sleeves. If that's how things stood, she'd deal with Rita Skeeter first.
She absolutely would not allow this to become a stain on his reputation.
"Harry, I need your help. About Rita Skeeter's article..."
Orli spoke up as they made their way toward the Great Hall for dinner.
"Of course—I'll explain everything to everyone! The whole thing's complete rubbish!"
Harry agreed immediately.
"No... that won't work. They won't believe you," Hermione said with a shrug. "They'll just think you're desperately trying to save face."
"Maybe I've got a brilliant idea..." Ron ventured tentatively. "What if Orli and Harry actually got together? Wouldn't that solve everything? Think about it—if you two were inseparable, always together, the article would fall apart, wouldn't it? All that rubbish about Snape would crumble too!"
"Absolutely not!" "That's a dreadful idea!" "Never happening!"
All three shouted in unison, making Ron jump.
"Right, right, just a suggestion..." Ron raised both hands in surrender. "If you lot have something better..."
"I actually do have an idea."
Orli said quickly, pulling them into a secluded corner of the corridor.
"Harry, you need to meet me alone a few times—same time each day. Say, after dinner, we'll go down to the Black Lake for an hour. Have some whispered conversations..."
"Isn't that exactly what I suggested?!" Ron exclaimed. "You want Harry to help you put on some act, pretend you're dating?"
"Not like that." Orli shook her head. "Harry, I need you to help me draw Rita Skeeter out."
"But she can't get into the school anymore, can she?" Harry looked puzzled.
"She must be an unregistered Animagus. And a very small one at that," Orli explained. "It's the only way she could gather so much inside information."
"You're absolutely right, Orli! What d'you reckon she is? A snail? A frog? A crow?" Hermione asked, clearly fascinated.
"Or... a beetle." Orli pressed her lips together.
"Harry, meet me by the Black Lake after dinner."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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