Chapter 118: 5-2

I looked up at the ceiling with an "Ah," as a pale-faced Harry dropped his failed cauldron. In front of us stood a pale, bat-like man dressed in black, wearing an incredibly malicious expression. He was thoroughly enjoying Harry's sheer terror.

That's right—it had started right after Christmas. The hellish Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape.

"R-Remedial Potions? Me? Starting today?"

"Indeed. Is the genius Mr. Potter unaware of his own grades? I have quite lost my patience with wasting my time on your art."

Nasty snickers rose from the Slytherin table. Draco had a conflicted expression but somehow managed to feign indifference.

"But I—"

"It has been decided."

Brushing off Harry's protest, his black robes billowed. And on his way back to the platform, Professor Snape threw a momentary glance at me. Right, unlike Draco, I had been found out.—That Maria Potter could use Occlumency.

From his perspective, it must be highly unacceptable. With a practitioner right in the family, why did the task have to fall to him? In other words—I was still being heavily guarded against by Dumbledore.

"This is the worst..."

As we walked down the corridor, I patted the shoulders of a thoroughly depressed Harry to comfort him.

"It's absolutely just harassment. I mean, there have to be loads of people with worse grades than me. Like—Neville. (Hermione reprimanded him, 'You shouldn't say things like that.') You just don't get it! Imagine it. Just me and him, alone in that dungeon—alone? It gives me the creeps..."

He looked so pitiful that even Ron awkwardly tried to comfort him, offering, "I'll share my Chocolate Frogs with you when it's over." Just this once, I felt like taking Ron's side over Hermione's. I knew exactly how much Harry dreaded Snape, as if I were in his shoes.

However, the truth was that it wasn't Remedial Potions at all. It was a much harsher trial. Would this Harry be able to endure it? …………I had a feeling he'd come back in an absolute state.

—I was right on the mark. After finishing his first private Occlumency lesson, Harry was a wreck. A raging storm. It was as if the lightning bolt on his forehead was crackling right into his eyes.

"Him—him! Even though I'm—trying—my best!"

He was slamming his pillow onto his bed so hard his glasses went askew. Ron had thrown his hands up, acting as if it were entirely out of his control, and retreated to the corner of the room. Thank goodness none of the other roommates were here besides Ron.

"Harry, Harry, calm down. I'm right here to listen to you."

Using my body, I hugged him tightly, trapping his arms, and Harry's tantrum finally subsided. Though his eyes still gleamed with a restless, fierce light. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ron and Hermione breathing a sigh of relief. They looked as if they had just successfully neutralized a wild beast.

Still holding Harry, I settled him onto the bed and shot a glance at the other two. As expected, it was Hermione who nodded back.

"Listen, Harry. Calm down and hear me out. Dumbledore's decision that you should learn 'Occlumency' is—frankly, completely logical."

"Are you taking Snape's side too?"

"It's not about being an enemy or an ally. As Professor Snape said, Vol—Voldemort is bound to be much, much stronger at looking into your memories than you are at blocking him. This is all a means to protect yourself."

"Even so—I shouldn't have to rely on someone like him."

I gave a wry smile at the sulking Harry. Harry knew it in his head, too. ……The truth is, he understood it perfectly well.

"Let's focus on another point. You—no, the snake Voldemort possessed was obsessively targeting a certain door. And Mr. Weasley ended up preventing that—yes, yes, that's it. It all connects. My hypothesis was right after all."

"Hey there, the brains of our operation. Mind not solving it all by yourself and sharing what's in that head of yours with us?"

"I was just about to."

Hermione responded, looking slightly annoyed at Ron's teasing.

"Ron, your father works for the Ministry, doesn't he? And the snake was wandering around inside a building... it inevitably stands to reason where that might be."
"Next is the snake's objective. The snake was Voldemort. And a member of the Order of the Phoenix blocked Voldemort's path. Which means, there was something beyond there that they couldn't let him reach—this makes it clear. The weapon Voldemort seeks is in the 'Ministry of Magic.'"

A collective gasp of admiration filled the boys' dormitory. That's Hermione for you. I knew she'd arrive at this conclusion. ……If only we could have delayed it just a little longer.

"What do you think, Maria?"

"Huh?"

Hermione's brown eyes looked at me with an intellectual gleam.

"Am I right? —Do you know, Maria?"

It wasn't just Hermione. Ron, Harry—they were all looking at me.

"……Well. I don't know. I have no idea."

I lied. With an empty smile. I lied. I couldn't let you be drawn to the Department of Mysteries. —I could not let Sirius get close to that veil.

This time, I won't make a mistake.

The situation escalated rapidly the next day with the Daily Prophet. Death Eaters had broken out of Azkaban. Harry, who had seen it in a dream, plunged into yet another bout of emotional instability. What's more—ah, Broderick Bode! The poor 'Unspeakable' murdered and silenced by Devil's Snare—I had completely forgotten about his death. If I had gone with Harry and the others to St Mungo's on Christmas, I might have been able to do something.

"We saw this man. After we met Neville and his mum. Why couldn't we realize it? This is—murder."

Leaving Ron with trembling lips, Hermione folded the newspaper and stood up. "There's something I need to do."

She shot me a brief glance with wide, determined eyes before walking out of the Great Hall. Left behind, Harry and Ron looked at each other and gave exaggerated shrugs.

"Here we go, the usual." "The 'tell you after it's done' routine, right."

What was she trying to do? I laughed along with them while desperately trying to pull out old, fading memories.

The bad luck continued. For starters, Hagrid's probation. Every time he saw Umbridge, Hagrid lost his spirit and cowered. The locket was still nowhere to be found, and Harry's Occlumency training showed absolutely no improvement. By extension, Harry's physical and mental state were at their absolute worst.

Academics were adding insult to injury. The more Harry lashed out, the more strained the relationship between the four of us became. The 'me' from back then used to pity myself as the most unfortunate person in the world, but putting myself in Ron and Hermione's shoes now, he was impossibly difficult to deal with. What a hassle you are, Harry Potter! It was agonizing, like being forced to look at my own flaws. If I could meet my Ron and Hermione right here, right now, I felt like I would apologize from the bottom of my heart.

And so, Hogwarts entered February in the worst possible shape. The world outside was dyed in Valentine's colors, but this time around, there was no special relationship between Harry and Cho. Which meant—

"A reply came. Harry, Maria—there's someone I want you to meet."

We could launch our counterattack without holding back.

"So, Miss Perfect, what kind of article did you call me here to write?"

Hermione, me, Harry, Luna, and Rita Skeeter. This unusual group of people were sitting together at the Three Broomsticks with solemn expressions.

"Right now, right here, we are going to reveal the truth about that night the public has been dying to know. —Harry and Maria are."

Harry and I turned back to look at Hermione with identical expressions. Hermione was casually sipping her Butterbeer with a straight face.

Harry I could understand—but me too?

"With just Harry, they'll write it off as Dumbledore's brainwashing or something. Just like always. But, Maria, if we have your testimony too, I think it'll add at least a little more credibility. To achieve that, I'll have you conduct the interviews separately, one after the other. As you can see, these two had no idea they were going to be interviewed until just now, so they've had no time to get their stories straight. You can examine the incident from two different perspectives. I don't think it's a bad deal for you either?"

Skeeter narrowed her eyes shrewdly with an "Hmm?" and sucked on her jeweled quill.

"And who exactly is going to take an article like that? The Ministry won't stay quiet."

"We'll take it. My dad is the editor of The Quibbler."

At Luna's airy, floating voice, Skeeter spat out her Butterbeer with a pfft. She guffawed and mercilessly bashed The Quibbler for being absolute rubbish. Unable to stand by as Luna's protuberant eyes turned cold, I stepped on Skeeter's foot as hard as I could under the table.

"Quiet. I know everyone has things they want to say. This is a gamble for me, too. But—it is highly worth trying."

Faced with Hermione's commanding presence, the eyes of the other four confirmed the girl's determination. Before we knew it, a strange sense of solidarity had formed among this group of people who otherwise had no connection to each other. (Though in Skeeter's case, it was because Hermione had blackmailed her.)

A few days later, the exposé article by the Potter siblings was successfully published and sold like hotcakes. People were originally sympathetic towards Harry, anyway. That sympathy easily shifted toward Dumbledore as well. After all, Dumbledore's popularity was clearly proven by his highly sought-after position as Headmaster.

Outwardly, the situation had improved, but Harry's training to close his mind was only getting worse. Afraid to sleep, he already had one foot in the door of insomnia. His complexion was terrible, and he constantly complained of headaches. And—he became suspicious. He wouldn't share the information from his dreams with me. Just like four years ago, when it was just the three of them chasing after the Philosopher's Stone. All of this was because—

"Maria, are you sure this was okay? True, I did tell you to speak the truth. But..."

"If I covered for them just because we're friends, it wouldn't be the truth anymore. And the 'credibility' you value so much would completely crumble."

The exposé article based on the Potter siblings' real experiences also included the names of the Death Eaters who had rushed to Voldemort's side that night. Avery, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, and—Malfoy. The name of Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's father, was brought up by the very Potter siblings his son was friendly with. No, surprisingly, Harry kept Lucius's presence a secret. The one who accused Lucius was—me. Maria Potter clearly acknowledged Lucius Malfoy as an enemy.

The effect was immense. Draco, viewed as a fence-sitter, was increasingly kept at a distance by the Slytherin students. A boy who had a Death Eater for a parent, yet confessed his feelings to the girl from the fated Potter family. The man of the hour, maintaining his silence. Draco had now become the most enigmatic person at Hogwarts.

—Therefore.

Harry wouldn't share information with me. Because I had a connection to Draco Malfoy.

"Even if a father is a criminal, for example, it doesn't necessarily mean the child will commit a crime too. We don't believe Malfoy—Draco, I mean—is on the side of the Dark Arts. Harry shouldn't have thought so either. But lately, Harry has been..."

"……Yes."

He didn't clearly show hostility toward Draco. But he became distant. He stopped bringing him up in conversation. And while he still returned the same familial affection to me as always, he no longer let me get involved in the matter of his dreams. —I never imagined things would get this complicated.

Something was wrong with Harry.

It was a miscalculation. Draco and I had a mutual understanding regarding his situation. It was just one part of our strategy. However, clashing with Harry was not in the calculation. I couldn't verify how close the three of them were getting to the truth. I had hoped Hermione might leak some information, but she's the type to stay quiet if Harry tells her to. (Though she would certainly reprimand Harry while doing so.) That was exactly why 'I' had trusted her, too—it was a real headache.

Was 'I' ever this aggressive—?

Before I had time to process everything, problems cascaded in one after another. One was Umbridge's authority to dismiss teachers. Just like 'last time,' Trelawney was the victim. The Divination teacher changed from the fraudulent Trelawney to a half-breed Umbridge loathed—Firenze the Centaur. Umbridge couldn't seem to stomach this.

Firenze's classes were incredibly open and unique. After all, he turned the classroom into a forest. We observed the stars, burned sage, and looked for omens that hinted at the future.

At the end of the first class, having kept Harry and Ron behind, Firenze turned an observant eye on me and hummed. Now that I think about it, on that day four years ago, he had described me as 'cursed.' And now. Once again.

"The closer stars are to one another, the more they destroy themselves with each other's heat. They never melt together. As for yours—it is likely too late. Which one will burn the other more—the future you must foresee might be ruin."

"…………"

The centaur's warning was thoroughly ominous and unkind. Saying it's too late—when those are the words I want to hear the least right now.

As April arrived, the existence of the D.A. was finally tipped off to Umbridge. In other words, the day Dumbledore would flee Hogwarts had come. It was the beginning of a nightmare, both for Hogwarts and the good people of the Ministry of Magic.

I myself felt incredibly depressed to face this day once again. If I had to point out a single saving grace, it would be that we had managed to settle the matter of the 'Secret-Keeper' for the Fidelius Charm that Draco had requested before this situation unfolded. —That was last month.

Waving the Elder Wand, Dumbledore gave a cheerful laugh.

"With this, Mr. Malfoy's hidden villa will only be revealed to those who know of it. Only Miss Potter can make it known to others."

His eyes, which he steadfastly refused to meet Harry's with, looked at me, sparkling brightly.

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore."

"Thank you."

When Draco and I spoke in unison, Dumbledore nodded with the face of a good-natured grandfather, saying, "Good, good."

"It seems you two are fighting a rather formidable enemy. —Not being alone will be your greatest strength."

"Professor..."

They were kind eyes. And—searching eyes.

"Professor Dumbledore. How should I repay you?"

It was Draco who took the step forward. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows with an "Oh?" and continued, looking somewhat mischievous. It was the face of someone whose favorite food was just served for dinner. Although, aside from Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Dumbledore seemed to like almost everything.

"I have already received a price worthy of your courage."

It was an unexpected remark. I exchanged a blank look with Draco. Seeing that we clearly didn't understand, Dumbledore stroked his beard with satisfaction.

—That was last month. Even though it was only a month ago. I felt dizzy at the rapidly changing situation. I couldn't keep up. I was being dragged around. I, of all people, shouldn't be like this. I closed my eyes as if my entire vision was going dark—and bit my lip to shake off the grinning toad right in front of me.

"Now, Miss Potter. Please, drink up. Do you take sugar?"

"……No."

Behind Umbridge, whose eyes gleamed with sadistic delight, the word 'Headmistress' was displayed in gold lettering inside an exaggerated picture frame.

This was the Defense Against the Dark Arts office. Sure enough, it seemed she had been locked out of the actual Headmaster's office. Serves her right—I thought, though I didn't have the luxury to dwell on it as I stared into the tea inside my teacup. The reflection of Maria on the surface of the liquid was terrifyingly expressionless from tension.

Umbridge had slipped Veritaserum into this—or at least, she intended to. But in reality, Professor Snape had swapped it for a harmless potion—that was how it was supposed to be.

……Was that really true? Really────

I swallowed hard from the tension. —I was holding onto far too much information.

"Well—go on?"

I braced myself and pretended—to drink. My heartbeat was so loud I felt like I wouldn't even be able to hear my own voice.

"I just had a chat with your brother earlier, you see. He stubbornly insisted he didn't know—now then, Maria. Won't you tell me? Where is Dumbledore?"

"I don't know."

I answered calmly. It was the truth. Right now, I really had no idea where that man was.

"I see... very well. Come now, drink some more. —Oh! It hasn't gone down at all! Drink it properly. ……Yes, that's right, good girl. Now then, let's move on to the next question. Has Dumbledore's Army truly never held any rebellious meetings before? They have, haven't they? Isn't that right?"

"—No."

I lied. —I lied. The tea I had reluctantly sipped vanished into my stomach in an instant, and my throat was parched. But still—I was able to lie. Oh, thank you, Professor Snape...!

"……Very well. That wasn't the main point anyway. You see, Maria—I called you here because I want to save you."

"Hah,"

I inadvertently let out a defenseless gasp of bewilderment. Umbridge stretched her toad-like mouth wide into a grin. It was a smile that sent chills down my spine.

"I was wondering—if you were going through a difficult time."

"—Huh?"

Increasingly unable to read her intentions, I stared back at Umbridge blankly. Was I having a difficult time? Oh, of course. Sitting here in front of you is the most painful thing in the world!

"I told you before, didn't I? I also had an underachieving younger brother—isn't it painful for you, being with Harry?"

"────"

A shiver.

"You are always getting dragged into messes because of your brother. And despite that, the boy himself is an attention-seeking, self-satisfied liar! He doesn't care about you at all, does he? If he truly loved you, he would act in a way that wouldn't bring you such disadvantages. Yet, look at the current situation. How many times have you taken the fall for him so far?"

"…………"

"It's so pitiful. Just because you happen to be Harry's sibling. Poor, poor Maria. —Don't you hate him? Your younger brother?"

My head swam. My heart became agitated. I—I────

"—I don't hate him."

The answer had long since spilled out.

"There's no way I could hate Harry. He's the sibling I always wanted. I love him more than anyone. I love Harry."

Because I am Maria. Maria is absolutely always on Harry's side. —That's how it has to be. As long as I am Maria.

"I won't fall for that trick. I will not betray Harry. —Absolutely never."

I glared up at the woman with the nasty eyes, even more fiercely than before. I'll never let someone like you destroy our bond—!

"……Maria, I thought you were much smarter than this."

Spitting the words out in a cold voice, Umbridge stood up with her wand, and────BANG!

An unbelievable explosion echoed from outside. Both Umbridge and I instinctively looked at the window.

"What is the meaning of this!? What is—that—?"

Multicolored sparks were dancing just beyond the window. —Fireworks. The Weasleys' prized fireworks!

"What—what is—y-you, go to lunch! Oh, for heaven's sake!"

Wobbling her round body heavily, Umbridge scurried off. I laughed. I laughed out loud. Beyond the window, the fireworks were lighting up the sky. Illuminating the overcast heavens.

I am────still going to be alright.