Chương 20: The Hidden Melody
On the last day of classes in the winter semester the student population was in a mild state of panic, as was completely normal. The last round of end of semester exams was today, and for the fourth year Gryffindors that meant Potions with Professor Snape. Harry had found over the years that his work had to be almost flawless in order to receive even a passing grade. The result, although Snape would never admit it, was that Harry had turned out to be quite a proficient potions brewer. Even so, he knew that Snape took special joy in criticizing his exams, so even though Harry felt confident he knew what he was doing going into the test he could never be sure what the result would be. Luck was on his side today as Vincent Crabbe had somehow managed to blow up his cauldron a quarter of the way through the test. Professor Snape was too distracted handling the aftermath to sabotage Harry's potion and as a result he had completed the potion as close to perfectly as he thought possible. It might even be good enough for an Exceeds Expectations grade from the greasy git of a professor.
With his exams done and feeling good about his day so far, Harry decided to take the golden egg down to a quiet spot by the lake and give it another try. He was convinced that his original idea of casting Incendio on the egg had been a good one and thought that maybe he just needed to get the egg hotter. The thought of casting the fire spell at full power inside the castle made him nervous, he had no intention of becoming The-Boy-Who-Burned-Down-Hogwarts after all, so he decided that doing it outside was a much better option. He had found rocky section next to a side of the lake facing the Forbidden Forest and thought it was a perfect place for his experiment. As long as he set the egg on the rocks and cast towards the lake there was little chance that even the grass would catch fire. And, on the off chance it did, there would be a large body of water nearby he could use to put the fire out.
Five minutes after reaching his chosen spot Harry was finally satisfied that he had everything set up how he wanted it and was ready to begin. As he got into place and prepared to start the spell the sound of someone calling his name forced him to look up and towards the castle where he could see Hermione walking towards him. He lowered his wand and waited, remembering that he had told her what he planned on doing earlier in the day.
"Hey, Hermione." he said when she finally made it to his spot on the lake. "Come to watch the fireworks?"
"Of course! And it will be nice to warm myself by the flaming egg on a cold day like this." she added with a laugh.
"Let's get this started then. Why don't you stand over there, it'll be safer that way." Hermione nodded and moved to the spot he had pointed at. Harry raised his wand and concentrated on focusing his magic. Slowly he could feel the power bubbling to the surface, looking for a way to escape. Knowing he was ready, Harry flicked his wand in a precise movement and shouted "INCENDIO!" The huge flame that leapt out of his wand was hot enough that Hermione felt the need to take a few more steps backwards. The golden egg was not even visible, hidden by a stream of fire that showed no signs of letting up. After thirty seconds Hermione began to wonder how long Harry could keep casting a spell of this strength. A minute in she was shaking her head in disbelief that her friend was capable of such a feat. By the time Harry ended the spell nearly three minutes after he started it Hermione was staring at him in awe.
"Harry Potter! Where did you learn that?!" Hermione finally managed to say, not nearly as loud as she had planned. Harry meanwhile was breathing heavily, waiting for the smoke around the egg to clear. When it finally did Harry saw that the egg was glowing red from the heat, but other than that there was absolutely no change.
"Damn it!" he yelled out in frustration. "I was so sure that would work." Harry was pacing in front of the egg, racking his mind trying to find something he might have missed.
"Harry, calm down. We'll figure this out, I know we will." Hermione reassured him, but Harry was still pacing. Hermione was about to say something else when Harry growled at the egg and kicked it into the lake where it promptly sank to the bottom with the water above beginning to heat and turn into steam as the egg cooled.
"Ok, I feel better now." Harry finally said as he walked over to where Hermione was still standing.
"Really?" Hermione asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Sure. At least now I know that the fire idea is a bust. I'll just have to try something else next time. There has to be something about the egg I am missing."
"Speaking of the egg, shouldn't you go get it before you forget where it is?"
"That shouldn't be a problem" Harry answered. He walked over to the shore of the lake and pointed his wand at the spot where the egg had dropped. "Accio golden egg!" he said forcefully, but nothing happened. Frowning, Harry tried the spell again and it still did not work. He was about to cast the spell a third time when he suddenly lowered his arm and started laughing.
"Harry, what's so funny?" Hermione asked, a look of confusion etched on her face.
"I was just thinking how stupid I would have felt if that had actually worked!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Of course the golden egg has anti-summoning charms on it!" Harry explained. "If it didn't I could have just walked up to the dragon, Accio'd the egg away, and left without ever having to face the dragon. And all of the trouble we went to figuring out how to get past the dragon would have seemed really silly." Hermione smiled, finally understanding what was so funny.
"So Hermione, I was thinking. I am sure I would forgive you of all past, present, and future sins if you would do me a small favor and get my egg out of the lake for me." Harry said, trying to look serious.
"Dive into the lake in the December? I don't think so, Harry. You kicked it, you go get it." Hermione answered, still smiling. Harry grumbled and then walked over to the edge of the lake, pausing to take his school robe and shoes off. He stopped and looked at the lake for a few moments, as if trying to convince himself to dive in, before looking back at Hermione.
"Just make sure to cast a drying charm and a warming charm on me as soon as I get out, ok?" Hermione nodded in agreement and Harry started to walk into the lake, shivering a little at the cold water. When he was in up to his waist he dove in and began swimming to where he had last seen the egg. The water in this part of the lake was very murky making it impossible for him to see very far, so Harry had to do most of his searching with his hands.
After about a minute under water Harry had to come up for air. When he did he realized that he should be able to find the golden egg if he moved about ten feet further from the shore. Taking one last breath, Harry dove back under the water and swam to where he expected the egg to be. Finally, his hand hit something cold and metal. Grabbing the egg by the latch on its top, Harry bent down to kick off the lake bed when suddenly the egg shifted in his hands. As the latch turned and the sides dropped open Harry was shocked to hear not the ungodly shrieking he was used to but a pleasant sounding voice singing.
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