CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The next morning, Harry woke up still feeling tired and confused.

He wanted to tell Ron and Hermione straight away about what had happened the previous night, but there was no time. He couldn't tell them during breakfast, because the rest of the class was there; and the Potions exam would be held right after.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked, during breakfast. "You - you look terrible."

Harry looked at her and Ron; both of them were looking worriedly at him. Neville, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were sitting nearby, were also looking at him.

"I'm all right," said Harry, "I - I just couldn't sleep last night, that's all."

Harry had been hoping Professor Flynn would be overseeing the Potions exam, but when he entered the dungeon together with the rest of the class, he saw Snape there instead. Neville looked even more dismayed than Harry. His round face was rather pale, but there was also a determined expression on it. He was evidently going to try to do his best for Jeanne.

Each student was given a cage containing a large bullfrog; they were to prepare a potion that would make the bullfrog sing like a bird.

Snape seemed to be going all out to frighten Neville. He would stand next to Neville's table, his eyes glittering, watching his every move. Neville was trembling, but with an effort he somehow managed to concentrate on what he was doing.

Finally, time was up.

"Stop working!" snapped Snape. "I will now test each of your solutions. Longbottom, we will leave you to the last, in case you are planning to provide us with similar entertainment as you did last year."

Neville went red, and stared worriedly at his cauldron. Draco Malfoy gave a sly smile.

Snape went around, a scowl on his face, testing each student's solution. Harry was relieved when his bullfrog gave a small whistle.

At last, everyone had been tested except Neville. Snape, his face looking more menacing than ever, drew some of Neville's solution into a dropper, and squirted a few drops onto Neville's bullfrog. The rest of the class all gathered round to watch, holding their breath.

The bullfrog blinked and looked around. Neville watched anxiously.

The seconds ticked past. The bullfrog gulped, but didn't make a sound.

Snape's lips curled into a sneering smile. He squirted a few more drops onto the bullfrog.

Neville gazed at the bullfrog, his eyes bulging with emotion, as if pleading with it to sing. The bullfrog just sat there, solemnly blinking its eyes. Then it looked at Neville, and gave a loud croak.

"Well, Longbottom," said Snape at last, a triumphant gleam in his eyes, "your solution does not appear to work. It looks as though I will have to fail you again this year."

Neville sat staring in front of him, as if he couldn't believe what was happening to him. The other students drifted back to their places to clean up, the Gryffindors casting sympathetic glances at Neville, and the Slytherins muttering sly comments among themselves.

Snape gathered up his books and strode toward the door. He had almost reached it, when Neville suddenly squeaked, "STOP!"

Snape wheeled around, his eyes glittering menacingly.

"What did you say, Longbottom?"

Neville was standing up. Shaking like a leaf, he pointed at his bullfrog.

"S-sir, h-h-he made a s-sound!" he stuttered.

Snape advanced slowly back toward Neville, his eyes glinting dangerously. Harry and the others stood where they were, watching Neville in silence.

Neville gulped, and stared at the bullfrog. The bullfrog also gulped, and stared back at him.

And then, it opened its mouth and began to sing. Not one note, not two, but a long, haunting, lilting melody, as clear as any nightingale might sing on a moonlit night.

The class listened, spellbound. Snape was staring at the bullfrog in disbelief. Neville stood there, transfixed, his eyes wide in astonishment.

The bullfrog sang for at least five minutes. Then it stopped, blinked again, and gave a small belch.

Neville looked at it, then turned to look at Snape, his face anxious.

Snape returned his gaze, his face expressionless. Finally, he spoke.

"Well, it looks as if Miss Graham's efforts have paid off at last, Longbottom," he said in his cold voice. "She will be pleased. Perhaps there is hope for you, after all."

And then he turned, and strode out of the room, his robes billowing behind him.

The minute he disappeared, the room erupted into loud cheers. The Gryffindors all crowded around Neville, hugging and shouting and laughing in delight. As for Neville, he just sat there, his face red, a few tears of joy rolling down his cheeks.

"Won't Jeanne be glad," he said, wiping the tears away.

Ron and Hermione were speechless when Harry told them about what had happened the night before.

"It can't be true," said Ron. "You must have heard wrongly, Harry. It's impossible; Jeanne wouldn't do such a thing."

"I didn't hear wrongly!" Harry insisted. "It wasn't just one sentence; it was several sentences, all talking about killing. I tell you, Jeanne's changed…she's not in her right mind any more; she acted really strangely, with Lupin, last night."

Hermione seemed to be thinking.

"It doesn't make sense, Harry," she said, frowning slightly. "If Jeanne wanted to kill Professor Lupin, she wouldn't have had to wait until tonight to do it. She could have done it any time during the year."

"That's right," said Ron, "and say we do manage to stop her tonight - what then? She's sure to try again, anyway."

Harry could feel his heart sinking. He hadn't thought of all this.

"I don't know," he said. "I only know what I heard last night. She said everything would be over by tonight, and the way she was looking at that bottle, I'm quite sure she intends to poison him."

Hermione was still thinking.

"All right," she said at last, "we'll just worry about tonight first, then. Here's what we can do : she probably won't start moving till evening comes. We'll keep an eye on her whereabouts till around just before dinner or so, using the Marauder's Map. Then we'll try and get near her. Once no one's around, we can do the full body-bind on her. We'll release her after tonight, when Professor Lupin's been cured."

"Hermione, you're a genius!" said Harry, grinning.

So that was what they did. The Map showed that Jeanne was staying closeted in her room for most of the afternoon. At six-thirty, she was still inside.

"All right," said Harry, "Let's go do the body-bind on her now."

Unfortunately, they met Filch on the way to Jeanne's room. Filch had borne a grudge against Harry ever since Harry had seen the Kwikspell letter on his desk, and he had adopted the habit of taking the smallest excuse to scold him. He now lectured them for half an hour about how they hadn't cleaned the Potions classroom properly after the memorable incident with Trevor the Toad.

By the time Filch let them go, it was dinner time. They started hurrying to Jeanne's room, but Professor McGonagall, who was passing by, saw them.

"Potter! Weasley!" she said sharply, "Why aren't you in the Great Hall? It's time for dinner."

"We're - we're just going to see Miss Graham for a few minutes," Hermione said, trying to look innocent.

"Miss Graham is not in her room," said Professor McGonagall. "I just saw her near the Gryffindor common room."

Harry was dismayed. Jeanne must have left her room while Filch had been lecturing them.

"Come along to dinner," said Professor McGonagall, "you can see Miss Graham later."

Harry was in an agony throughout dinner; he couldn't eat anything. Hermione and Ron looked rather worriedly at him. They didn't seem too anxious themselves, and he had a feeling they still only half-believed his story. Professor Lupin wasn't at the staff table during dinner, and neither was Jeanne, or Snape, or Marcus Flynn. Harry began to worry that Lupin had already been murdered.

They got away from the dinner table as fast as they could, and checked the Map. To Harry's dismay, Jeanne was now in Snape's office, together with Snape and Flynn.

"That's not good," said Harry, a sinking feeling in his stomach. "She must be hanging around there, waiting to pour the poison into the potion when they're not looking."

"I know!" said Hermione, "We'll go to Snape's office, and say we saw Jeanne entering it, and that we want to see her for a minute. Once we get her out of his office, we'll do the body-bind on her."

So Harry tucked the Map into his robes, and they made their way down to the dungeons, where Snape's office was, and knocked nervously on the door. Professor Flynn opened it.

"Harry?" he said, giving them his childlike stare. "What do you want?"

"We'd like to see Jeanne for a moment," said Harry.

Flynn looked surprised.

"Jeanne?" he said, "But she isn't here!"

Harry was nonplussed; he hadn't been expecting this answer. Was Flynn hiding Jeanne? He looked at Hermione and Ron.

Hermione stepped into the breach.

"But - but -" she said, "- we saw her coming in here!"

"What's this all about?" Snape was now at the door as well.

"We - we saw Miss Graham entering this room, sir," said Hermione. "We'd like to have a word with her."

Snape frowned at them, his eyes glittering malevolently.

"Miss Graham is not in this room," he said, coldly.

"That's impossible!" said Harry, "We saw her go in!"

Flynn was now looking at them in a perplexed fashion; he looked like a small boy who was lost. Snape, however, gave them a twisted smile.

"Come and see for yourself!" he said, standing aside.

They entered the office. The atmosphere inside was as threatening as it had ever been: the flickering fire threw writhing shadows onto the walls, which were still lined with jars of slimy things. A smoking cauldron lay on the long table at one end of the room; Harry assumed it contained the potion for Lupin. There was no sign of Jeanne.

They looked at each other in astonishment. Flynn was still wearing his perplexed expression, watching them, but Snape's mouth had now twisted into a sneering smile.

"Did I not tell you?" he said, his eyes glittering creepily in the firelight, "Miss Graham is not present in this room."

Feeling rather foolish, Harry and the others mumbled an apology and left the room.

"I don't get it," said Ron, "the Map clearly showed she was there - unless, she left while we were coming here."

"I don't think so," said Hermione, "or Professor Flynn would have told us."

Harry took the Map out again. It showed that Jeanne was still in Snape's office!

"It's impossible," said Ron, glaring at the Map.

Harry decided he'd better tell them.

"I didn't tell you before," he said, "but I've been noticing the Map behaving rather weirdly at times. There were a few times I wanted to see Jeanne, so I used the Map to find out where she was, and she didn't show up on it at all."

They looked at each other.

"Now what?" said Ron.

"I don't know," said Harry, feeling rather desperate. It was almost half-past eight, and they were running out of time.

Hermione was thinking again.

"We can use the Invisibility Cloak, and hide in the Astronomy Tower," she said. "Then when Snape brings the potion in, we can knock the goblet over, and make it look like an accident. That should take care of the poison. Snape will probably come back here and get another gobletful."

"You're not thinking clearly, Hermione," said Harry. "What if Jeanne's already poisoned the entire cauldron?"

They looked at each other. Harry was beginning to feel panicky; it was getting later and later.

"Let's just go get the Cloak first," Ron said at last. "Then we can continue thinking."

They went up to the bedroom. Harry looked in his trunk, but the Invisibility Cloak wasn't there.

"I - I can't find it!" he said, in dismay. He began to take everything out of the trunk, till it was almost empty.

"Jeanne's taken it!" he said angrily. "Professor McGonagall saw her near the common room. She must have taken it while Filch was lecturing us."

"But that can't be," said Hermione. "She doesn't know the password."

"She doesn't need the password," said Harry, impatiently. "She probably transformed into a bird and flew in the bedroom window."

He began to throw everything back into the trunk. Something on the floor caught Ron's eye.

"What's this?" he said, picking it up.

Harry and Hermione came over to look.

"It's a cassette tape," said Harry, puzzled. "But - who would use that inside Hogwarts?"

"What does it do?" asked Ron, fascinated; but Hermione had seen something else.

"There's a note inside," she said, opening the cassette case.

Harry unfolded the note, and recognised Jeanne's writing.

"You must listen to this by tonight," he read.

"That proves it," said Ron, "Jeanne's taken your Cloak."

There wasn't any time left; Harry made up his mind.

"I'm going to the Astronomy Tower," he said. "I'll go alone. If all of us go, it'll be easier for someone to spot us. You people can take the tape and go look for a cassette player. Look in Jeanne's room, or Flitwick's office - Jeanne told me Flitwick knows how to charm electronic stuff so that they work inside Hogwarts."

Hermione looked frightened.

"But what are you going to do there, Harry?" she asked, anxiously. "You don't have the Cloak, and they'll see you."

"If I go now, I can find a place to hide," said Harry, determinedly. "I'll worry about what I'm going to do later."

He was about to leave, when something glittering in his trunk caught his eye; it was the bottle of stardust which the mirror in the cave had given him. He snatched it up and tucked it inside his robes, and then sprinted off toward the Astronomy Tower.

"If Jeanne really succeeds in poisoning Lupin, the dust might come in useful," he thought to himself as he ran.

There was no one in the room when he arrived. He looked around; the room was a small one. There was a large cage by the window, with chains and manacles inside. The window next to the cage was covered with a thick cloth. There was a table in the middle of the room.

Harry suddenly heard footsteps approaching. In a panic, he ran over to a cupboard at one end of the room, which was the only place he could hide. But before he reached it, Professor Flynn had entered the room.

"Harry!" he said, "What are you doing here?"

Harry looked at him, trying to think of an excuse. For some reason, Flynn looked different; the childlike expression on his face was gone. He walked up to Harry, looking almost as menacing as Snape.

He stared at Harry for a while. Harry was still racking his brain for an excuse, and trying not to look guilty.

At last, Flynn spoke.

"You've come to see tonight's show, haven't you?" he said softly. Something about his voice made Harry's hair stand on end. "You must have found out about my little plan…"

Harry backed away. "He's in it, together with Jeanne!" he thought in alarm. He reached into his robes for his wand, but Flynn was faster. Whipping out his wand, he strode forward, and tapped Harry on the head. Harry fell to the floor, finding himself unable to move.

"I don't want to disappoint you," said Flynn, in the same soft, cold voice. He waved his wand, and the cupboard doors flew open. Another wave, and Harry found himself sitting inside the cupboard. The cupboard doors closed on him, leaving him in darkness.

"Don't worry, Harry," said Flynn, "I'll give you a good view."

Harry heard him tap the cupboard with his wand, and suddenly, the cupboard disappeared, and he could see the entire room.

Flynn smiled at him, no longer childlike. "The cupboard's still there, Harry. You can see out, but everyone else who comes into this room is only going to see a cupboard with its doors shut. Enjoy the show, because I'm going to finish you off when it's over."

He stopped speaking then, because footsteps were approaching. The door opened, and Snape came in, holding a goblet. Harry looked at Flynn; the childlike expression was back on his face.

Snape walked over to the table, still holding the goblet. Flynn went over to talk to him.

A slight noise attracted Harry's attention. He looked to the left, in the direction from where it came. There was a large basket in the corner of the room, and a goblet, identical to the one Snape was holding, had suddenly appeared next to it. The basket conveniently blocked the goblet from the view of anyone standing in the middle of the room.

Harry stared at the goblet.

"It's Jeanne," he thought, his heart sinking. "She's wearing the Cloak. She must have been in Snape's office all along, wearing it. No wonder we couldn't see her."

Jeanne seemed to be doing something. Harry heard her give a soft, sharp cry, as if in pain. Then, to his horror, he saw something red being poured into the goblet.

"She's poisoning the potion," he thought, feeling sick. He tried desperately to move, but couldn't.

The potion in the goblet had now changed to a pale golden colour.

"That's what she was doing in Snape's office," thought Harry. "She must have doctored Snape's potion to make it the same colour as her own, and been waiting to see what kind of goblet he was going to use, so that she could get an identical one."

Jeanne seemed to be doing something else now; Harry heard her catch her breath at one point. Then, the goblet disappeared. She must have picked it up again.

Harry looked at Snape. He was still holding his own goblet.

"Don't put it down," Harry thought desperately. "Please, don't put the goblet down!"

Snape did not seem about to put the goblet down. He stood there, holding it, and talking to Flynn.

Then, all of a sudden, he quickly set the goblet down on the table, and started sneezing. Flynn was startled, and stood watching him. Harry watched the goblet on the table. For a split second, there were two goblets as Jeanne placed her own on the table. Then, Snape's goblet was gone.

Snape had finished sneezing. He brought his handkerchief out, and blew his hooked nose.

"…dust in the room…" Harry heard him mutter through the handkerchief.

Harry was in an agony. Lupin's going to be poisoned in front of me, and I can't do anything about it, he thought.

He heard approaching footsteps again, and Professor Lupin came in. There was a quiet, resigned look on his face. He nodded at the others, but did not join them. Instead, he walked over to the cage and stood next to it, staring at the floor.

Before long, Professors Flitwick and McGonagall came in, together with Dumbledore, all with sober expressions on their faces. Dumbledore looked at Lupin.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Remus?" he asked quietly.

Lupin looked at Dumbledore, then nodded, a set expression on his face. Marcus Flynn gave a childlike smile.

Dumbledore sighed.

"Very well," he said, looking at Flitwick and Professor McGonagall, "let us begin."

Lupin stepped inside the cage. Dumbledore waved his wand, and the manacles flew up, and closed over Lupin's wrists and ankles.

Flitwick was next to the window. "Ready, Remus?" he asked.

Lupin nodded. Flitwick tore the cloth away from the window.

Bright moonlight shone in. Lupin went rigid, then began to shake; his shoulders were hunching… fur was growing on his skin…

Harry was watching in horror. The werewolf raised its muzzle and snarled, and thrashed about in the cage; but the manacles held.

The others had taken out their wands. At Dumbledore's signal, they pointed their wands at the werewolf. Beams of bright light shot out at it, and it suddenly stopped snarling, and seemed frozen in midair, its jaws apart.

"Now, Severus!" Harry heard Dumbledore say sharply.

Snape walked over to the cage, and reaching between the bars, poured the potion down the werewolf's throat.

The others lowered their wands, and the werewolf fell back to the ground, snarling even more ferociously than ever. It thrashed about violently, foam flying from its jaws.

There was a sudden pounding on the door. It flew open, and Hermione, Ron and Neville came bursting in. Hermione was holding a cassette tape player. Behind them came a stranger, a tall wizard with a long, white beard and a serious face.

"Stop!" screamed Hermione, over the werewolf's snarls. "You have to stop!-"

"Miss Granger!" said Professor McGonagall sharply, "what are you doing here?"

Hermione pointed at Flynn.

"He's trying to kill Professor Lupin!" she screamed.

Flynn was staring at the strange wizard. His face had suddenly turned very pale, and the childlike expression was gone. Dumbledore was also looking at him in surprise.

"Elfrid!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly, the werewolf stopped snarling. It lowered its head, and looked at them. Then it drooped its head, and whimpered.

There was a dead silence in the room. Every eye was on the wolf. It walked around the cage, the chains clinking, then turned back to look at them, and whimpered again.

Professor McGonagall was the first to break the silence.

"It - it didn't work!" she said in a hushed voice, staring at the wolf. "He's become an ordinary wolf."

Flynn was staring at the strange wizard again, a curious expression on his face. Dumbledore came over to the door.

"Elfrid!" he said, taking the wizard's hand. "But how -? We thought you were dead!"

"Everyone thought so," said the wizard, "Especially Marcus. Didn't you, Marcus?" He looked over at Flynn, who was still looking pale.

The wolf whimpered in its cage again. Flitwick turned to look at it.

"Look!" he squeaked excitedly.

The wolf was transforming. Its legs were changing shape…its fur was disappearing…

Harry watched in disbelief. Professor Lupin was lying in the cage, a dazed expression on his face, the manacles still binding his arms and legs. Moonlight was shining through the window onto him. The potion had cured him!

Dumbledore gave an exclamation, and waved his wand. The manacles fell off, and the cage door flew open. He hurried over to help Lupin up.

Hermione's eyes were wide.

'But - but - it can't be," she whispered. "The tape - "

Dumbledore helped Lupin to a chair. Colour had returned to Flynn's face, and he was now beaming away.

"You see?" he said, his expression childlike again, "The potion worked."

The strange wizard walked a few steps into the room, his eyes on Flynn.

"Interesting, Marcus," he said. "Where, may I ask, did you get the final ingredient?"

Flynn stared back at him, the childlike expression gone again.

"I found a substitute, uncle," he said.

Snape looked surprised.

"Uncle?" he said, looking at Flynn. "Professor Donahue is your uncle?"

Flynn nodded. Harry thought he saw a peculiar flicker in his eyes as he looked at Professor Donahue.

Dumbledore looked at Donahue. "What final ingredient is this?" he asked.

Donahue sighed, and looked around.

"Where is Jeanne?" he asked.

Lupin, who was still sitting in his chair looking dazed, looked up at this.

Donahue took a letter from his pocket.

"She sent me a letter," he said, "saying I should get here by a quarter past nine."

Harry looked at the others. All of them looked astonished, except Dumbledore.

"She said she wasn't coming," said Flynn.

Snape was looking at Donahue, his eyes glittering.

"Our final ingredient was two leaves of silverblad," he said.

Donahue looked at him in disbelief.

"Impossible!" he said sharply. "That's impossible. The last person we tried silverblad on died within a minute of taking the potion."

Flynn had an innocent expression on his face now.

"It must have been due to the particular individual, uncle," he said. "As you can see, Remus here has been cured."

Dumbledore was looking at Professor Donahue.

"What final ingredient were you talking about, Elfrid?" he asked.

Donahue sighed.

"The ingredient that has been giving me and Miss Graham a headache this entire year, Albus," he said. "We've been trying for months to find a substitute, but to no avail."

Lupin, still seated in the chair, was looking pale.

"What ingredient is this?" he asked.

Donahue appeared to be in no hurry to answer the question.

"The reason only three people have been cured so far," said Donahue, "is that this ingredient is usually impossible to obtain. It has to be added, fresh, just before it is taken by the patient."

Professor McGonagall was beginning to look impatient.

"Professor Donahue, please do not keep us in suspense any longer," she said. "What is this final ingredient?"

Donahue looked at her gravely.

"It is blood, madam," he said quietly. "The blood of someone who is willing to sacrifice his life, for the patient."