Chapter 177 – Magical Development
For the first time in months, Harry felt as though he were back living with the Dursleys.
Not even Rita Skeeter's cruelest articles had ever left him with that sinking, hollow feeling in his stomach.
How could I be so stupid? he thought, tossing and turning in bed. How could I forget the Invisibility Cloak?
It wasn't just any cloak—it was one of the Deathly Hallows, a relic left by his father. And now it was sitting up there in the Astronomy Tower. If someone took it… what would I do?
Ron, meanwhile, lay awake thinking about whether news of their misadventure would reach his parents. Percy would be insufferable.
Draco was the most composed of the three, though even he felt the sting of losing Norberta. He'd grown as attached to the baby dragon as Hagrid had—perhaps more so—but Draco knew how to hide his feelings. He'd spent years hiding sympathy behind a mask of superiority.
The three boys had been silent when Filch escorted them back to their dormitories that night.
Even Harry, who normally had something clever to say, kept his head down, thinking about the lost cloak and the humiliation of losing forty House points.
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On the way back, Harry noticed something else: Draco, being a Slytherin, only lost twenty points for his House. Meanwhile, Ravenclaw was forty points poorer because of Harry and Ron.
And Draco didn't have to endure Filch's muttered lectures on the long climb back to Ravenclaw Tower. His common room was in the dungeons; he'd slipped away early with a smirk.
When Harry and Ron finally returned to the Ravenclaw dormitory, everyone was asleep. Even their entrance didn't stir a single classmate.
Harry barely slept at all.
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What will everyone say when they find out?
Will the Quidditch team still want me as future captain?
Then again, Harry thought with a bitter smile, maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Maybe it would take the pressure off.
Ron, by contrast, fell asleep the instant his head hit the pillow. Watching Ron snore softly in the moonlight made Harry a little envious. How does someone like Ron even end up in Ravenclaw? Draco would have a field day with that thought.
Harry finally drifted off with a weary chuckle.
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The Morning After
By breakfast, Ravenclaws were gathered in front of the giant hourglass displaying House points, frowning in disbelief.
Forty points—gone overnight.
Word spread quickly: Harry Potter, their Quidditch hero, had cost Ravenclaw forty points.
But instead of fury, curiosity took hold. Whispers spread through the hallways.
"Who were the other two?"
"Was it Draco Malfoy? Ron Weasley? Neville Longbottom?"
The focus wasn't even on Harry's points anymore. Rumors blossomed like wildfire.
Rita Skeeter's old article about Harry resurfaced. His fame, once cooled, was suddenly ablaze again. And so was Ron's.
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Ron, who'd faded into obscurity after his early "Doraemon" gold‑card rumors fizzled out, was suddenly at the center of attention. He hadn't forgotten how it felt to be admired—and he wasn't about to let this moment pass.
Under Harry's astonished gaze, Ron began spinning tales for every curious listener.
In Ron's favorite version, he claimed he'd discovered that the Ravenclaw Tower's phoenix, thought extinct for years, had been living in seclusion in the Astronomy Tower—kept alive only by the help of an invisible beast.
But poachers were hunting them—poachers disguised as senior Slytherins. The Astronomy Tower had been locked at night to keep them at bay.
Ron spun it all with a straight face. He claimed he'd uncovered the conspiracy, then recruited his "think tank" Draco and his "muscle" Harry to stop it. Together, they'd thwarted the poachers, though the true mastermind escaped—only to be reported and caught later by Professor McGonagall.
Each retelling made Ron's role larger, braver, and more dramatic.
At Harry's insistence, Ron always added that the phoenix and invisible beast had left the Astronomy Tower forever—just to keep anyone from stumbling upon the forgotten Invisibility Cloak.
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Even Professor McGonagall eventually heard the story. During Transfiguration class, she set down her chalk and fixed the students with a withering glare.
"Honestly. Do you believe that nonsense?"
"But Professor," someone piped up from Hufflepuff, "why else would they be up there?"
"Because," McGonagall said sharply, "the Headmaster told me he saw a student wandering near the Astronomy Tower. He asked me to investigate. That is all."
"So… it wasn't a phoenix?" another voice asked timidly.
"Or an invisible beast?"
"Nonsense!" McGonagall snapped, and promptly deducted ten points from Hufflepuff to silence them. The matter was dropped—at least in class.
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Outside class, though, Ron's legend grew.
Students whispered that his swollen hand was proof of his battle with magical beasts. They said Hagrid's closed hut and gloomy face were because he'd lost a beloved phoenix and invisible beast.
Ravenclaw students, Hufflepuffs, even Gryffindors repeated the tale, polishing it each time. Filch began lying in wait by the Astronomy Tower, eager to catch would‑be heroes sneaking in at night.
For Harry, that was a disaster. He couldn't sneak up to retrieve the Invisibility Cloak without drawing suspicion. For now, all he could do was focus on Quidditch practice, stealing glances at the Astronomy Tower whenever no one was looking.
Ironically, those glances only fueled the rumors.
Look, he's checking on the phoenix! students whispered.
Rita Skeeter, never one to miss a scandal, ran with Ron's story in her next article. She even twisted it into an accusation against Hogwarts: Why is the school producing poachers of magical creatures?
She ignored Ron's claim that the mastermind was a Slytherin, instead listing several promising Muggle‑born students as suspects.
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Alexander Smith watched events unfold from the shadows of the library, stunned.
He'd expected some fallout from Dumbledore's machinations. But this? Phoenixes, invisible beasts, and Ron's wild imagination reshaping the entire school's gossip?
Even Alexander had to admit—it was almost magical in itself.
(End of Chapter 177)
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