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The next afternoon, when Charlie found Harry and returned the Invisibility Cloak, Harry was beaming.
"Hagrid agreed!" he said excitedly. "Charlie, you're amazing. How on earth did you pull that off?"
"Not the most honorable method," Charlie said, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"You and the others can handle the rest with Hagrid. I've got other things to take care of."
"Got it. Don't worry—the hardest part's already done." Harry patted his chest with a grin.
Charlie nodded and turned to leave.
Watching his unenthusiastic back, Ron scratched his head, confused. "Why isn't he happy? He convinced Hagrid. That's a good thing, right?"
"Drop it," Hermione sighed. "Charlie probably had to say some pretty harsh things. Anyone would be in a bad mood after talking to a friend like that."
Charlie, unaware of their conversation, headed straight back to the dorm. His desk was covered in scattered sheets of parchment. The usual stack of books had been pushed to the corner.
The dorm desk was still too small compared to the one in the club. Working here felt cramped.
—
To the left of the desk sat an open suitcase, with a measuring tape and cut pieces of parchment scattered inside.
After sketching at the desk for a while, he got up and walked over to the suitcase.
"Gravity anchor at the base, spatial reinforcement on the sides, air circulation…"
A moment later he sat cross-legged on the floor, parchment in hand, and started redesigning from scratch.
That night, when Anthony and Hector returned, they found Charlie still sitting on the floor.
Parchment was scattered around him. He had a quill tucked behind one ear and was resting his head on his hand, brow furrowed in concentration.
"Whoa. You're giving off serious old scholar vibes right now."
"Don't laugh. I'm barely keeping up as it is." Charlie rubbed the corner of his eye.
"What was for dinner tonight?"
Anthony held up the lunchbox he'd brought. "Grabbed you some meat and vegetables. If it tastes bad, just eat one of your Spring Thunder candies. That'll give you an appetite even for terrible food."
Charlie took the box. Steam was still rising from the food. He picked up a spoon and dug in immediately.
Between bites he asked, "By the way, did you find out who was following me?"
"Found him. Ned Fowler. Sixth-year Slytherin.
Average grades. Half-blood—half Muggle, half wizard. Because of that, he doesn't have many friends inside Slytherin."
Hector added, "My guess? That's probably why he was so willing to do Malfoy's dirty work."
"Anything else?"
"Of course." Anthony nodded. "All easy stuff to dig up…"
A little while later the lunchbox was empty and Charlie had learned quite a bit about Ned Fowler.
"Good," Charlie said, nodding. "I knew you'd be good at this kind of thing."
"Piece of cake. Just asked around a bit." Anthony grinned.
After dinner Charlie set the empty box aside and went straight back to work.
Time passed quickly. On Ron's end, he'd successfully contacted his older brother Charlie, who worked at the dragon sanctuary in Romania.
Friday evening. Outside the Great Hall, in the corridor.
"Is the time set?" Charlie asked.
"Tomorrow night," Harry nodded. "Midnight. Ron's brother and his friends will be waiting at the highest tower."
"We just need to get Norbert up there."
"Alright." Charlie nodded. He chatted with Harry for another minute or two, then turned and walked away.
A short while later he reached an empty stretch of corridor.
Floating candles drifted overhead, making the shadows sway.
Outside, wind rustled through the grass and sent fallen leaves tumbling across the grounds.
Charlie stopped. "Alright, Ned. You can come out now."
As he spoke, he turned his head.
Fiona was standing right in front of him, hovering in midair.
Her wings weren't moving, but suddenly she drifted backward a short distance.
Charlie smiled faintly. "No need to be scared, Ned. I'm just a first-year."
Fiona drifted back a little farther.
"Ned, if you take one more step back, our chance to talk like civilized people is over."
Fiona stopped moving.
"That's better," Charlie said with a nod. "So you still won't drop the Disillusionment Charm and talk to me properly?"
A moment later the air shimmered. A brown-haired, square-faced sixth-year with freckles appeared a few feet away. He was wearing Slytherin robes.
Once he showed himself, Fiona flew up from Charlie's shoulder and landed on it again.
"How did you know it was me?"
"Interesting question." Charlie's tone was calm. "I gave you something to drink. It lets me keep track of you at all times."
"What?!" Ned's face went pale with fear. He took half a step back, half-crouched, wand gripped tightly in front of him.
"Relax. As long as you stop following me, we can pretend none of this ever happened."
"The game's over."
Watching how calm Charlie looked, Ned's terrified expression suddenly twisted into a shaky grin. "Ha. You're bluffing, aren't you?"
But the fear in his eyes was obvious to anyone.
Charlie just kept smiling and didn't answer.
"It has to be fake, right?!"
"You can test it right now. Cast the Disillusionment Charm again."
Fiona flew up and landed on top of Ned's head.
"I—"
Ned clearly didn't believe him. He cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself again.
No matter where he moved or how he tried to hide, Charlie's gaze stayed locked on him.
After a few seconds Ned canceled the spell, staring at Charlie in growing panic.
"Malfoy didn't come after me himself. Neither did Gemma Farley. What's wrong, Ned? They gave you a little push and you just ran straight at me?
If I were you, I wouldn't waste my time getting involved in this mess."
With that, Charlie turned and started walking away.
Behind him, Ned raised his wand. "Wait—damn it, you—"
Charlie didn't even look back. He just waved a hand over his shoulder. "I've already said everything I needed to say. Stop following me and nothing else will happen."
Ned's hand trembled around his wand. He wanted nothing more than to hex this arrogant first-year who had his back turned like he didn't have a care in the world.
But he didn't dare.
The other boy was too calm. He clearly still had something up his sleeve.
If Ned attacked now, things would only get worse.
And if what Charlie said was true… what would be the next thing Ned put in his mouth?
Poison?
He swallowed hard, lowered his wand, and turned to head downstairs.
What he didn't know was that Fiona stayed right behind him until he walked into the Slytherin common room.
Once inside, Ned quickly found Malfoy sitting on a sofa in the corner.
Malfoy looked up with a bright smile when he saw him. "My dear friend. Back so soon? Got good news for me again?"
"Piss off," Ned snapped. "I'm done. Don't ask me again."
"What happened?" Malfoy's easy expression vanished. He frowned. "You'd better explain yourself."
Ned looked at him. "I'll only tell you this once. Tomorrow at midnight they're going to the highest tower. I don't know what for.
If you want to know, go find out yourself. I'm not getting involved anymore. I can't afford to mess with him."
Without another word, Ned turned and walked away.
Malfoy stared after him, face darkening. "You're a sixth-year and you can't handle him? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
He thought it over from every angle but couldn't come up with an answer.
"Fine," he muttered, nodding to himself. "Tomorrow night I'll go see for myself exactly what you're up to."