Chapitre 115: Diplomacy!
Friday night, Sally-Anne had her rounds with Malfoy again. He met her with a silent glare when she arrived in the Dungeons.
"Good evening, Malfoy," she said neutrally.
He wrinkled his nose at her, glaring as they began their rounds.
"You did wonderfully on Sunday," she tried, but to no avail. If anything, her attempt to get through to him made it worse. She couldn't blame him; after all his hard work, he'd still lost. Sally-Anne couldn't help but feel bad for him.
Don't forget what happened last time you entrusted him with a secret, she told herself. You can't tell him.
"Please say something," Sally-Anne pleaded.
"'Oh, Malfoy, you're just as good as they are,'" Malfoy said in a poor imitation of her. "'I'm sure you'll do just fine.'"
"I'm sorry, but–"
"I had that, then your boyfriend swoops down out of nowhere to catch the Snitch. People said it was like he had eyes in the back of his head!"
A pang of guilt threatened to eat her from the inside out. Sally-Anne forced herself not to tell him that Harry had cheated; she knew what he'd do with the information. Malfoy would spread it far and wide, and make everyone believed Harry had been cheating in every game. Harry would be ruined.
Technically, he has been, at least since third year.
"Then I thought 'Maybe he does. Maybe Peta-Lorrum used one of her tricks on him.'" He folded his arms and glared at her. "Well? Did she?"
Crab apples.
"Malfoy–"
"I knew it!" He turned around, as if gloating to the empty corridor. "I knew it! He's not better than me! It's always been Peta-Lorrum!"
"In this one case, yes, but in every other one, no."
"So what?" He turned back to her, sneering. "Think anyone's going to care? Once word gets out, he'll–"
"If you breathe one word of this to anyone," Sally-Anne said, stepping closer to him, "I will tear down your entire world."
Malfoy smirked at her. "You can't.��
"Watch me." She smirked back. "You'd be surprised what people will believe when it comes from sweet, kind, trustworthy Sally-Anne Perks."
"You wouldn't."
"If it kept my friends safe, I would tell everyone that Rose really did kill herself."
They stayed there for a time, glaring at one another. Sally-Anne refused to release Malfoy until she knew he wasn't about to go blabbing to everyone he saw.
"You can't stop me, Perks," Malfoy said. "No matter what you do."
"Then I'll take this to Professor McGonagall," Sally-Anne said. "I will, so she'll know that something's going on, and it's not just some nasty rumor spread by a little boy with an attitude problem."
Malfoy wrinkled his nose at that, but nothing more.
"I know all the equipment Rose gave him, so I can make sure he doesn't use any of it during the next match," Sally-Anne said.
"How's that helping me?" Malfoy asked.
"It doesn't, but it hurts Harry and Gryffindor," Sally-Anne replied. "Think of it as a consolation prize. Our next match is either going to be against Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, and I know we don't stand a chance without Harry."
Sally-Anne took a moment and got inside his head. She'd grown to hate using her pendant, but it was too important to leave anything to chance.
She's got nothing. No, I've seen that look before. She's got something, I just don't know what it is yet. No way she's bluffing; I would've seen it by now. Go with her for now, until I find out what she's got.
"Alright, Perks," he said. "You get him suspended, and I won't tell anyone that he cheated."
"Done."
Sally-Anne backed away from Malfoy to give him room to breath.
Malfoy huffed and adjusted his collar. "I've got to hand it to you, Perks, you're a lot more cunning than I thought you were."
"Not really, just willing to do whatever's necessary to keep my friends safe."
An owl deposited an official looking letter in front of Harry during breakfast Sunday morning.
Attention, Mr. Potter:
I write to inform you that you have been suspended from the next Quidditch match for cheating. For your own good, keep this to yourself. Do not inform the rest of the team. This is not yet official, but it may become so if there are any further problems.
Please also turn over the following for your final match: glasses, gloves, bracelet. Any necessary objects will be replaced.
Sincerely,
Professor McGonagall
Harry scowled at the letter as he read it again. Why did everyone keep telling him he was cheating?
"Everything alright, Harry?"
Harry glanced at Sally-Anne. She smiled back at him, same as ever. The thought of telling her about it crossed his mind, but he decided against it. Hermione was right, in a way; Sally-Anne had a lot going on.
"Fine," Harry said. "Just… it's nothing."
"If you want to talk about it…"
"You'll be the first to know."
Harry smiled back at her. It couldn't have been her. There was no motive, no indication that she was worried about him finding out. Besides, she was one of his best friends, and she didn't know about the bracelet. Only Hermione and Alavel did, which almost certainly meant Hermione.
He still hadn't brought up how she'd been acting. Sure, he could've at the party, but he'd just wanted to celebrate their victory. Why did everyone keep taking Quidditch from him? It was the one escape he had.
After breakfast, he tracked down Alavel and explained to him what had happened.
"Had I known you'd use it to cheat," Alavel said later, "I never would've given it to you in the first place."
"I didn't cheat!"
"Using a foreign object unique to yourself to gain an advantage your opponent doesn't have is the very definition of cheating."
"But—"
"Blindsight isn't strictly within the rules either, but there's little you can do about it."
"Did you tell McGonagall about it?"
"Of course, not. While I agree with her punishment, I would've approached you first."
Harry scowled, trying to piece together the puzzle. Only he, Alavel, and Hermione knew about the bracelet, but as Hermione had said, they might not have realized he'd used the bracelet. If they'd know that Rose had made it, they could've assumed it did something.
"Before you get carried away, might I make a suggestion?" Alavel asked.
"Sure."
"You brought this on yourself by using the bracelet to win. I don't know if I'd call blindsight cheating, but the bracelet most certainly is. I believe it best that the matter was resolved quietly, and that you not worry about what happened any further. Better that this be handled now, than to have this ruin your career before it had a chance to flourish."
Harry clenched his fists and opened his mouth to protest, but Alavel cut him off.
"Better one match than all of them. Wouldn't you agree?"
"It still isn't fair," Harry grumbled. "Whoever did this to me is one of my friends!"
"If they hadn't gone easy on you, how do you think it would've turned out?"
"They didn't have to say anything! They could've kept their mouth shut!"
"And as I said already, someone else was bound to notice eventually. Someone less kind."
"You can't know that."
"I believe I can. Many people study the players, and they would notice miraculous catches if they kept happening."
Harry glanced at Alavel. He should've known better than to go to him for help.
"I will talk with the rest of your friends and convince the culprit to come clean. Perhaps then we can put this whole incident behind us."
Harry opened his mouth to shout, but closed it when he realized why Alavel was doing this. Alavel always looked out for him, and Harry knew the Nimblewright had his back. As the day went on, Harry relaxed. By dinner, he wasn't even angry anymore. Maybe someone was just looking out for him. As he gave it more thought, he realized that no one else had approached him. He'd have expected Malfoy of all people to try using it as blackmail. Even though Harry knew Malfoy wasn't all bad, he was still Malfoy. He of all people should've figured it out.
Harry frowned at his food. Maybe Malfoy already had figured it out. But McGonagall wouldn't have believed him; it was Malfoy. He was always spreading lies about other people, or at least about Harry. She had no reason to trust him. Besides, knowing what he did about Malfoy, the Slytherin wouldn't have gone to an authority figure, he'd have just spread it far and wide that the great Harry Potter was nothing but a cheater.
As that thought entered his mind, Harry realized he knew exactly who it was.
"Sally-Anne, can we talk?" he asked her on their way back from dinner.
"Of course." She nodded towards the empty corridor. "Room of Requirement?"
"Here's fine."
"Okay." She smiled at him. "What's troubling you?"
"Did you tell McGonagall I cheated during the match last week?"
The smile faded from Sally-Anne's face, and Harry knew he had her.
"Yes."
After months of listening to Umbridge call him a liar to his face, Sally-Anne's honesty gave him some comfort to the fact that his friend had gotten him suspended.
"What for? Why would you do that?"
Sally-Anne's voice remained calm as she spoke. "What you did was wrong, Harry. You cheated. I know being allowed to use everything else Rose gave you might have made that unclear, but you still did. Malfoy worked hard to win that match, and all you had to do to win was to use something you shouldn't have had in the first place. It wasn't fair to him."
Her response caught him off guard. He had expected that she'd gone to McGonagall to head off the rumors early, or to save him from further punishment. But it was just about Malfoy.
"So he's more important than me?"
"I didn't say that."
"I'm not allowed to play!"
"It��s just one match."
"For now, but… I didn't say that."
He studied her face, her body language, but everything was neutral. There was no way for him to know what was on her mind.
"You didn't have to, because I'm the one that suggested it."
"What?!"
"I recommended that we keep it quiet. She'll have a reason that you won't be able to play against Hufflepuff, so no one needs to know. A lot of people are jealous of your talent, and there shouldn't have been any reason for you to cheat. Since you did, it was only a matter of time before it was discovered, and all those jealous players would make it seem as if you've been cheating the whole time. We both know that's not true; you're a brilliant player, and you don't need that bracelet to win. Or anything else Rose gave you, for that matter. We worked out a way to keep it quiet, and I've already headed off any rumors I hear about it, which is all of them."
She stopped talking for a moment, and Harry took the time to size her up. She was serious about what she was saying, and Harry couldn't argue with her. Just as Alavel had said, if he'd kept it up, someone else was bound to notice, and he hadn't even thought about people claiming he'd been cheating the entire time.
"And, if they'd kicked you off the team, you wouldn't be allowed to be a TA, and I know you love that."
"You still let her suspend me."
"I didn't let her do anything. I negotiated a punishment that would let you play Quidditch and be allowed to stay a TA. If she'd suspended you further, it would've looked suspicious."
Harry kept opening his mouth to argue, driven by little other than anger. Conflicted between his understanding of her actions and his anger at not being able to play Quidditch, he found himself at a loss for words.
"No one's above the rules, Harry. They exist for a reason."
"Since when do you even know the rules to Quidditch?"
"I'm dating Viktor Krum, of course I know the rules to Quidditch!" she snapped. Sally-Anne paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was calm. "If you'd played fair, Malfoy would've won that match. How do you think he feels?"
"Who cares how Malfoy feels?"
"I do."
"Fine. Then maybe he can be your friend, because I'm done."
Harry turned and stormed off. He'd half expected Sally-Anne to call him back, but she didn't say anything. It was just Harry and the silent castle.
Sally-Anne watched Harry storm off, her face still neutral. She didn't let herself relax until after he'd rounded the corner.
"He didn't mean that," she told herself. "After being stubborn for a little while, he'll come round."
She ran through her schedule for the night to take her mind off the situation with Harry.
"Speaking of stubborn. I've got rounds with Ronald tonight. That should be… quiet."
As expected, Ron was in no talking mood. Sally-Anne could tell he was still down about missing one or two goals, which she figured would only get worse with time. It wasn't until they got back to the common room that Sally-Anne got more than a few words out of him.
"Ron, we've got to work on the summoning charm for Professor Flitwick. Would you mind giving me a little help?"
A few minutes later, Sally-Anne learned she needed much more than just a little help.
"Emphasis goes on the first syllable when you say it," Ron instructed. "AW-see-oh. And don't flourish your wand so much. It's just a quick movement."
Sally-Anne aimed her wand at the quill and tried again.
"Accio quill!"
The quill fluttered a few centimeters from the table, then returned to rest.
"Flick your wand more." He took hold of her wrist and hand, then moved her hand up and down. "See? No more than that."
Sally-Anne practiced moving her wand up and down. She started slow, then got faster and faster.
"Like this?"
"Just like that. Now give the quill another go."
"Accio quill!"
The quill flew off the table and into her outstretched hand.
"You did it!"
"I can't believe you could do that as a second-year," she said through small fits of laughter.
"Hardly. I didn't know it was gonna work on Hermione. I just…"
Sally-Anne felt a pang of guilt at bringing up Hermione, even if it was unintentional.
"Never mind her. You're a Quidditch star now. Plenty of girls love that."
Ron gave her a crooked smile, and she nearly rolled her eyes.
"Hold on," she said, pulling a letter from Viktor out of her pack. In an unintentional imitation of Viktor's voice, she read, "No way rookie player stops nearly every goal. You said at least 10 on first go. Tell freckle boy to buck it up and get over silly missed goals."
That cheered Ron up a little.
"Did… did he really say that?"
Sally-Anne folded the letter to hide a specific part of it, then showed him the part of it she'd been reading.
"Wow."
"Unless you think Viktor Krum's not worth listening to," Sally-Anne said.
Ron had nothing to say to that. He stared at the letter again, his face turning a faint shade of red.
Sally-Anne slowly withdrew it, not wanting to rudely rip it away from him, but not wanting him to have too much time to go through her personal life. After a moment of silence, Ron motioned to the quill in her hand.
"I've… I've just practiced this a lot," Ron said, changing the topic back to their charms work. "So… don't feel bad if you can't get it."
"I wasn't worried, but thank you." She smiled at him again, hoping it was helping. "Your people skills are improving."
"Not all of us practice."
Sally-Anne motioned to the quill in her hand. "But if I want to pass Charms, I've got to practice, so thank you."
Ron smiled, but shifted uncomfortably.
"In a fight, what do you do if there's nothing left to move?" Sally-Anne asked, bringing up a question she'd had for months.
"I've been thinking about that. I thought I could try animation next."
"What made you think of that?"
"That chess match from first-year. The one when we were the pieces."
Sally-Anne tightened her grip on the quill as her mind drifted back to that day. She hadn't known Ron that well back then, but she'd had faith that Hermione wouldn't have let them down.
"I remember. You tried sacrificing yourself to help us win."
"Erm… yeah, I suppose I did."
Sally-Anne realized she was glaring at him, and relaxed so as not to frighten him.
"You called yourself 'useless'."
"Erm… it got me thinking I could animate pieces of my own and use them in a fight."
Sally-Anne put the chess match aside and smiled at Ron again.
"That's a brilliant idea. Have you asked your mum about it? She's brilliant at animation. I'm sure she'd have some good suggestions."
Ron made a bitter face.
"I know you don't like talking to her, but she could be a lot of help.��
"I don't mind talking to her, just… she's always bugging me, then she yells at me and says 'Why can't you be more like Percy?' He doesn't even write anymore! What's so special about him?"
Sally-Anne listened, and when Ron finished venting, she prepared to protest. She knew enough about Mrs. Weasley to know she cared a great deal about all her children. Then she remembered how Harry had been about talking to Sirius, and switched tactics.
"Remember when you wrote to her in third year?"
"And she sent me a howler?"
"Exactly. Let me help you write to her, and I'll make sure she doesn't yell at you again. You'll probably have to start writing her regular letters, but she's your mum. She's just worried about you."
Ron groaned at the prospect of writing letters to his mum.
"Don't worry." She smiled at him. "I'll be right there to help you. Who knows? Maybe the next lecture you'll hear her give will end with 'Why can't you be more like Ronald?'"
While Ron ran up to his room to fetch his own quill and parchment, Sally-Anne pulled out the letter from Viktor again. She skipped ahead to the end, the main reason she'd kept it on her person for so long.
I look forward to seeing your beautiful face once more. It shines like million suns. That you chose me of all people to grace with it still amazes me.
Love,
Viktor
Her heart pounded at the word "love", and she felt her face grow hot. Considering earlier in the same letter he'd used the phrase "buck it up", she was certain he'd gotten Andrei and Vlad to help him with the final few sentences. They were much better at English (and words in general) than Viktor. That he cared so much about her to risk embarrassing himself like that spoke volumes.
She quickly folded the parchment and gently placed it in her pack. Straightening up so Ron wouldn't notice anything different, she pushed thoughts of Viktor towards the back of her mind. Not before one last thought surfaced for a moment.
I love you too, Viktor.
Harry paced up and down the corridor with several students in tow. He, Neville, and Hermione had decided it best to use the Room of Requirement, but not to tell anyone how to open it. Thus, when they arrived, either the door would already be on the wall, or they'd silently activate it. He opened the door, leading the last group into the Room of Requirement. It was a little amusing to hear them gasping in amazement, despite many of them having lived there for a year or more.
"Alright, let's begin," Hermione said. "One of the most important things about fighting a wizard is—"
"That we're not learning to fight," Harry cut in. "There are plenty of spells that can incapacitate an opponent long enough to get away or get help. That's what we're focusing on here."
"On what we're focusing," Hermione muttered.
Harry shot her a glare before continuing.
"Although it is important to remember that we've all got a weakness." Harry held up his wand. "Without a wand, most people can't use magic. Remember that entire sentence, especially the word 'most'." He caught Hermione smirking at him from the corner of his eye. "Also remember that some witches and wizards carry backups with them, in case they lose their first wand. But for most people, getting their wand away from them is enough." He motioned to Neville, who had taken a place on his other side. "The spell we're working on today is also helpful against opponents who simply fight with weapons, like Neville. As anyone who was here last year can recall, Neville fought using the Sword of Gryffindor. The Expelliarmus Charm can disarm any weapon from someone."
Neville and Harry turned to face one another. With his sword in hand, Neville held it at the ready, while Harry fired off a quick charm.
"Expelliarmus!"
As anticipated, nothing happened.
"Now unfortunately," Harry said, turning back to the disappointed crowd, "the Sword of Gryffindor is enchanted so it can't be disarmed. Frustrating, sure, but a good defence against this spell. My mate Ron has a strap attached to his wand, which makes it harder to draw, but also harder for someone to disarm." He motioned to Ginny, who sat at the front of the crowd. "Ginny's got her wand almost physically attached to her arm, which makes casting harder, but nearly impossible to remove without outright destroying it." He motioned to Hermione. "Hermione is the reason I said 'most' people can't use magic. She's worked hard to learn to cast wandlessly, but due to reasons anyone taking Arithmancy will eventually learn, it's a lot easier to just use your wand and be happy with that."
Harry turned towards Hermione, who had her own wand drawn.
"Like I showed you with Neville, the Expelliarmus charm is easy to use. It's just a quick flick of your wand, and your opponent's wand goes flying. There's not a lot to do against it, although if you're fast enough, you might be able to catch it. But don't feel bad if you can't; most people can't. In fact, if someone can, they've put a lot of practice into being that fast. It probably means your facing a seasoned duelist or Seeker."
Harry paused, considering adding Rose to that list, but decided against it. If he was going to be practicing against Hermione, it wasn't a good idea to bring up Rose.
He held his wand ready, bowed to Hermione, then fired off another quick charm. Sure enough, her own wand flew behind her. If she noticed, she didn't care. Several students gasped and giggled.
"See? Nothing to it. Now I want you all to form lines down the sides of the room and practice disarming one another." Before he'd finished the sentence, students were already forming pairs and grouping up with their friends. "Remember, It's not a competition to see who can disarm the other the most. You all need to get practice, so it's alright to take it easy on each other, or take turns if you need to."
Harry watched them for a moment, then turned to Neville.
"Neville, you can practice on Hermione."
"Ha," Neville replied. "The only reason I can get lumos right every time is because that was the only way I could read my watch in the forest."
Harry knew well that Neville was rubbish at magic, but part of him still wanted to see his friend succeed.
"You might need this more than anyone else, then," he said. "Why don't you—"
"I'll practice with you!" a voice that could only belong to Luna said.
Harry motioned for them to join the group of students shouting various forms of Expelliarmus at each other. Neville reluctantly fell in line, leaving Harry, Ginny, and Hermione up front.
"Ginny, why don't—"
"Expelliarmus!"
Harry's reflexes kicked in, and he grabbed his wand before it left his person. The few students that had seen it cheered, leaving their friends to wonder why.
"Good work."
Ginny beamed at him.
Harry went down the lines, adjusting peoples' work as he went. It wasn't the most difficult of charms, but it was still good to see everyone getting the hang of it. He'd gotten plenty of use out of it, and despite each of his friends having a means of getting around it, disarming a wizard was the best way to stop one.
"Colin," he whispered on his way past the fourth-year, catching his wand as it flew past. "Don't wave your arm around when you're casting." Harry brought his arm up and flicked his wrist. "See? Just your wrist, not your whole arm."
Colin nodded, took his wand, then turned back to his partner. The pair of them bowed again, then Colin brought up his arm, keeping it steady, and flicked his wrist.
This time, his opponent's wand went flying, and he squealed in excitement.
"I did it!" he exclaimed.
"Well done, that was perfect," Harry said.
"It's the easiest thing in the world," he heard Hermione say.
"It's hard to focus with everyone else yelling," one of the first-year Gryffindors said. Harry was pretty sure the boy's name was Tim.
"Don't worry. During a battle, people will be completely silent so you can concentrate. I'm sure if—"
"Hermione!" Harry shouted, having started towards them at "battle". "That's enough. Go up front, or—"
"Are you giving me orders?" she snapped.
"Since we agreed I'd be in charge, yes."
Hermione glared at him for a moment, and Harry recognized a defiance in her eyes that reminded him of Rose.
"Fine, Scarface." With that, Hermione pushed her way back up to the front of the class and sat next to Ginny.
"Tim, right?" Harry asked, turning back to the boy.
"Yeah."
Harry leaned over to put himself closer to the boy.
"Don't worry about the stuff Hermione just said. This is just practice. You can't expect to get it perfect on your first try, but you've got plenty of time. Just relax, and try to block out the noise."
Tim tried a few more times on his partner, but couldn't manage to move the wand.
"It's alright," Harry said after the fifth try. "Keep practicing. You've heard about my friend Neville, right? What he did last year?"
"I heard he fought a giant metal bug."
"It was way cooler than that, but the point is, he can't cast this spell. I mean, he sort of can, just not that well. It's alright if you can't get it at first, it just takes time."
It wasn't long before they called the meeting and everyone left. Many of them thanked Harry for his help, or at least saying bye. Hermione was one of the first ones out, leaving Harry on his own in the Room of Requirement. He sat down, only jumping when the door opened.
"I see quite a few happy students," Alavel said, closing the door behind him. "And one rather grouchy looking Lady Brain. I hope everything went alright."
"Yeah, it was fine. They're all really good at it. I think Tim… I don't know his last name, is having the most trouble with it, but I think he'll do alright."
"Nertlyn," Alavel said. "He's Jonathon and Brett's younger brother."
"That's right, Sally-Anne said Alex had three cousins," Harry said. His spirits sank a little. "As much as it annoys me what she did, I still wish we had her here. She's a lot better at this than I am."
"Working with people? Perhaps. But teaching? Only you could've made such a great connection with those students on your first day. I saw their faces as they left; Lady Brain may not think much of our methods, but I can see they're effective. You should write to Remus and let him know; he may even be more proud than Sirius."
Harry sat down on the desk the room had provided them. "I always liked the way he'd sit on his desk sometimes. Made him seem less like a teacher, more like just another student."
The pair sat in silence for a few minutes before deciding they'd been missing long enough. With little more said between them, they left the Room of Requirement. Harry found himself glad that they'd started their little club. If they hadn't, he'd never have realized how much he liked teaching defence.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone