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Chapter 39: Malfoy’s Consequence
Harry dove at Malfoy before he had finished the spell, knocking him to the ground. A jet of red light issued from his wand, exploding the head of a nearby statue. The rest of the team watched, shocked at what Malfoy had just attempted to do.
“What is going on?” asked Lupin sternly as he saw Harry and Malfoy on the floor; he had just come out of the Great Hall with Professor Alchemina.
“Malfoy just tried to use the Cruciatus on Katie,” Ginny said quickly and breathlessly “ as though she herself couldn’t believe her words. “Harry stopped him just in time…”
Lupin and Alchemina looked at Malfoy and Harry, horrorstruck.
“Is this true, Mr. Malfoy,” Alchemina asked.
“Of course not, Potter just attacked me. His teammates here are just covering for him.”
“Do you have any proof of this accusation?” she asked the Gryffindors.
They pointed at the statue, whose head was missing.
“Harry knocked him over, and the curse hit the statue…” Euan said.
Lupin and Alchemina looked gravely at Malfoy.
“Can I see your wand, Draco?” Lupin asked.
Malfoy gulped, but didn’t answer. He knew that he had just made a huge mistake.
“Your wand, Draco…” Lupin repeated firmly.
Draco handed over his wand. Lupin took it and pointed his own wand to its tip.
“Priori Incantetum” he muttered.
A tiny vapory red explosion was emitted from the end of Malfoy’s wand. Harry assumed this must have been a shadow of the Cruciatus Curse, because Alchemina looked at Malfoy, clearly shocked.
“This is out of our hands, Mr. Malfoy “ you’ll have to see the Headmaster.”
Draco’s face turned an odd shade of green, as though he was about to be sick. Lupin and Alchemina each took him by an arm and they escorted him to Dumbledore’s office.
The team was stunned. They couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“What do you think they’re going to do to him?” asked Sloper.
“Well “ he used an Unforgivable Curse “ that’s supposed to be a lifetime sentence in Azkaban…” said Harry, putting an arm around Katie “ who was trembling from head to foot.
“Yeah “ but he didn’t actually hit Katie, and he’s not of age. Besides, Azkaban isn’t used anymore, remember?” said Kirke
“They can’t let him stay here, though “ even if he’s not sent off to prison,” Harry replied.
He was so shocked by Malfoy’s behavior that not even the thought of his expulsion cheered him up. They set off for the stadium “ the game wasn’t going to be cancelled just over a behavior incident with Malfoy. But Harry was worried “ they weren’t going to be able to play their best after what had just happened.
The entire team was quite shaken as they entered the Quidditch stadium. Ron and Ginny were visibly upset about what Malfoy had said about Mr. Weasley; Ginny’s face was still splotchy from tears. The seven of them walked out onto the field, numb to the sound of the hundreds of cheering students in the stands. Harry was suddenly nervous “ he looked at his fellow teammates, not a single looked ready for a game of Quidditch. They’re minds were clearly somewhere else. Hufflepuff, on the other hand, looked very determined “ and much calmer than their Gryffindor counterparts.
Madam Hooch blew the whistle, and they were off “ Ginny starting with the Quaffle. She zoomed towards the Hufflepuff goals, but distracted as she was, she did not notice the Bludger that had been aimed directly at her. She was hit and she dropped the Quaffle; it was caught by a Hufflepuff chaser, who turned sharply and headed for Ron.
Ron steadied himself, ready to block the Chaser zooming towards him, but the Chaser faked left, throwing Ron off and scored through the right hoop. There was a deafening roar from the Hufflepuff supporters: they had scored the first goal against Gryffindor all year.
Harry looked desperately around for the snitch, but it was nowhere to be seen. The game continued, but the Gryffindor’s were still not on their game. A half-hour later, Katie and Euan managed to score one goal each, but were outmatched by another seven goals on Ron, who now looked a both lost and angry, Harry stopped looking for the Snitch for a moment and flew over to Ron.
“You doing alright, mate?”
“I’m fine Harry “ just look for the snitch…”
His eyes were a little red “ it was obvious Malfoy had accomplished his goal and distracted Ron from the game significantly.
Harry flew over the top of the stands, now frantically looking for the Snitch “ he wasn’t going to give Malfoy the satisfaction of a Gryffindor loss. There was another roar from Hufflepuff’s side “ they had scored again. Hufflepuff was now up 80 to 20.
Kirke and Sloper were desperately trying to ward off the endless Bludger attacks on Katie, Euan, and Ginny when they actually managed to get the Quaffle “ but it wasn’t often. Hufflepuff had launched a full-on attack on Ron. He was actually doing a decent job blocking the shots, considering how upset he was. But it was definitely too much for him to handle; within the next twenty minutes, Harry had still not found the Snitch and Hufflepuff had increased their lead by another ten goals. They were now up by 160 points “ meaning that even if Harry caught the Snitch now, they would lose. Ron called a time-out.
“They’re killing us,” Ron said as the other six landed on the grass next to him.
“I’m sorry Ron “ I just can’t get the Quaffle from them,” said Katie, tiredly.
“It’s alright,” he replied. “I know none of us are really focused “ but we have to end this soon.”
“Ron, if I see the Snitch I’m going for it,” said Harry.
“But we’ll lose “ we need to score at least one more goal if we’re even going to tie,” said Kirke.
“I don’t care “ we’ll still have the Quidditch cup. Besides “ none of us are up for this,” he looked to Ron. “What’d you think?”
Ron nodded.
“Yeah “ I think we just need to finish this. I don’t feel like dragging it out any more…”
“Alright then,” said Harry.
They flew back up into the air. Harry was paying no attention to what was going on at this point; he had to get the Snitch. Within five minutes their was a cheer from the stands “ Harry groaned, before hearing Seamus’s voice ring through the stadium:
“Ginny Weasley scores “ ten points to Gryffindor!”
If he managed to catch the snitch now, they would tie.
It was another five minutes before Harry saw the Snitch. It was whizzing around the top of the stadium on Ron’s end for the field. Harry felt relief sweep over him as he raced towards it “ there was no way the Hufflepuff seeker would catch him on this one. He closed in on the shimmering gold ball and wrapped his fingers on it as it struggled to get away. Harry heard a tumultuous applause from the Gryffindor supporters as he flew down onto the pitch. Katie touched down about fifteen feet from him and came running, ecstatically throwing her arms around him “ a huge smile across her face.
“We won! We won!” she shouted.
Harry was confused “ they hadn’t won, Hufflepuff had been up 150 points when Harry caught the Snitch.
“What “ I thought we tied?” he asked her.
“I scored a second before you caught the Snitch!” she said as the rest of the team gathered around them and the other student’s poured onto the field. “It put us up an extra ten points!”
Just then, Madam Hooch approached the team, holding the gleaming Quidditch Cup. She presented it to Ron, who was beaming madly, gripping Hermione’s hand “ who was absolutely sobbing for some reason. The team gathered around the Cup in a circle, passing it amongst each other. When it reached Harry, he caught Ron’s eye and raised the Cup above the team.
“For Mr. Weasley,” he said.
“FOR MR. WEASLEY!” the team shouted so everyone around them could hear.
They were then raised above the crowd and carried off, back to the castle amidst the colours of scarlet and gold.
“He tried to use the Cruciatus Curse on Katie?” Hermione asked, horrified.
Ron, Harry, Katie, and Ginny had managed to break away from the celebrations for a few minutes to tell Hermione what had happened before the game “ and explain why they had been on such poor form at the match.
“Yeah,” said Harry, still disgusted “ but half amused as he watched Seamus and Dean dance around joyfully near the fireplace.
“Surely he’ll be expelled?” Hermione said.
“I don’t see how they can let him stay,” said Harry.
Professor McGonagall then came through the portrait hole, scanning the crowd “ her eyes rested on Harry. She walked over to the group.
“Mr. Potter, Ms. Bell “ the two of you are needed in the Headmaster’s office,” she said.
Harry and Katie nodded silently and followed McGonagall, hand in hand.
She walked swiftly, and they actually had to struggle to keep up without running.
When they got to Dumbledore’s office he was sitting at his desk, looking very serious. Malfoy was seated in front of the desk, and his mother was standing behind him with her hands on his shoulder, looking absolutely livid. She kept glancing at Dumbledore in disgust, and when Harry and Katie entered the room she scowled at them. To the right of Dumbledore were Lupin, Alchemina, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Amelia Bones, and “ Snape. He had a long cut on the right side of his face, and his eye was slightly bruised. His eyes met Harry’s for a second, and then he looked away uncomfortably.
McGonagall pointed Harry and Katie in the direction of two empty seats in front of Dumbledore’s desk; they sat down. Dumbledore peered at them over his half-moon glasses.
“I hate to take you away from your celebrations “ but a very serious accusation has been brought against Mr. Malfoy “ and I need to ask you both some questions regarding this allegation.”
“Yes, Professor,” they both said quietly. Harry felt Katie grip his hand more tightly.
“Is it true that Malfoy attempted to use the Cruciatus Curse on you, Ms. Bell?” Dumbledore asked, fixing Katie with his piercing blue gaze.
“Yes sir.”
“Can you tell me exactly what happened?”
“We both had our wands pointed at each other, and then he shouted…Crucio,” She dropped her voice at the last word, and then paused. Dumbledore nodded slightly and signaled her to continue.
“Harry knocked him down just as he had said the spell, so it hit a statue instead of me.”
“What happened to the statue?”
“It’s head shattered, sir.”
“Might I ask why you had your wand pointed at my son in the first place?” snapped Narcissa. Dumbledore shot a silencing look at her.
“I will ask that you leave the questioning to me, Mrs. Malfoy,” he said with a tone of authority. He then looked seriously at Katie. “However, I must ask, Ms. Bell “ though it does not affect the seriousness of Mr. Malfoy’s actions “ why you did have your wand pointed at him?”
“It was my mistake, Professor,” she said. “He was taunting us “ Ron, Ginny, Harry, and myself “ saying Mr. Weasley’s death was our fault, he blamed Harry in particular. He said some awful things about Mr. Weasley. Ginny had started to cry, and Harry looked very upset. I understand I shouldn’t have let him under my skin, but it’s not the first time he’s done something like this…”
Dumbledore nodded again. He then looked at Harry.
“Is everything Katie just told me true, Harry?” he asked.
“Yes, Professor,” he replied.
“How did you know Mr. Malfoy was going to use the Cruciatus Curse?”
“I didn’t, I just heard him start to say it and I did the only thing I could think of “ I had no time to take out my wand - it was a reflex.”
Amelia Bones stepped forward.
“Well, Albus “ I think I’ve heard everything I need to hear. We have both Ms. Bell and Mr. Potter’s accounts of what happened, as well as statements from both Remus and Alexandria about what they saw “ including the fact that Mr. Malfoy’s wand emitted a shadow of the Cruciatus Curse when using the reverse spell charm. Not to mention the suspicion that he was assisting his father while he was on the grounds at the beginning of the school year - I don’t think we have much of a choice except to expel him.”
Dumbledore nodded gravely.
“I’m afraid she’s right, Draco. All the evidence is against you; you have attempted to use an Unforgivable Curse against another student. I cannot allow you to stay at Hogwarts.”
Narcissa let out a shout of fury.
“This is ludicrous! You have no witnesses to these accusations except those who are known enemies of my son!”
“I think it is quite clear that there is more evidence than that, Narcissa,” Kingsley said sternly. “Now, I’m going to have to take your son into Ministry custody “ as this goes further up than the school. It will of course be taken into consideration that he is underage, and that the curse was only attempted. But he will have to stay in our custody until disciplinary action is decided upon.”
Kingsley pointed his wand at Malfoy, muttered “Incarcerous” and ropes coiled around him. Katie and Harry were dismissed, and Malfoy left Dumbledore’s office accompanied by Kingsley and the Minister, followed by a fuming Narcissa spouting empty threats.
Draco Malfoy had just been expelled from Hogwarts.