Chapter 130: Harry's Answer

By the time Edward reached the Slytherin common room, dinner had ended and the fire had burned low. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle occupied a table near the hearth with three chairs arranged as practice targets. Open textbooks lay beneath a protective cloth, safely outside the line of casting. 

Draco lowered his wand when Edward approached. "Where have you been? We have spent an hour trying to cast the Leg-Locker Curse without speaking, and Goyle has attacked the fireplace twice." 

"The fireplace remains undefeated," Goyle said. 

A black mark on the stone proved the second part of Draco's report. Edward checked that no one had been hurt before looking at their setup. 

"Show me one attempt each," he said. "Use the chair, not another student." 

Crabbe went first. His wand movement was correct, but his lips shaped every syllable and no spell emerged. Goyle produced a weak flash that made one chair leg twitch. Draco managed a complete curse, though it struck the floor a foot short of his target. 

"You are treating silence as a second spell," Edward said. "It is not. The curse is the same. You still form the incantation in your mind, choose the target, and complete the movement. If all your attention goes into keeping your mouth closed, there is nothing left to guide the spell." 

Draco frowned. "The Chamber notes say to hold the sound behind the teeth." 

"The approved extract says that can help a beginner notice when the incantation is complete. It does not say to squeeze every muscle in your face." 

Pansy, reading on the nearest sofa, lowered her book. "He has been making that expression for forty minutes. I assumed it was permanent." 

Draco ignored her. "Demonstrate." 

Edward faced the nearest chair. He pictured its four legs fixed together, formed the incantation without moving his lips, and made the familiar downward turn of his wand. The chair locked in place. He released it immediately. 

"I chose one effect before I cast," he said. "I did not think about looking impressive, beating Harry, or proving the notes correct. Try it aloud once, then repeat the same action silently." 

Draco's spoken curse struck cleanly. On the silent attempt his wand shook near the end, but the spell reached the chair and held two legs instead of four. 

"That was weaker," he said. 

"It was also real. Release it, write down what changed, and rest before the next attempt." 

Crabbe and Goyle followed. Neither achieved a full silent curse, but both stopped scorching the room. Edward corrected Goyle's grip and asked Crabbe to slow the final movement. He did not touch their wands or claim he could feel their magic through the wood. 

Theodore joined them with a roll of parchment. "Professor Snape approved common-room practice for third-year jinxes if a prefect is present. Warrington is at the other table and says we have twenty minutes." 

Edward had not checked. He thanked Theodore and added the supervision limit to the top of their notes. The correction earned a look from Draco. 

"Since when do you enjoy asking permission?" 

"Since I set part of the library on fire and discovered that repairs do not erase risk." 

"That was months ago." 

"Consequences can remain useful after bruises fade." 

Pansy turned a page. "Write that down too. He will forget it the next time a forbidden book looks interesting." 

The exchange eased the room. Edward sat with them and watched another round. Draco's second silent attempt held all four chair legs for three seconds. Goyle managed a clear pulse without damage. Crabbe decided to practise the spoken version until the movement stopped feeling awkward. 

"That is not giving up," Edward said when Crabbe looked embarrassed. "It is choosing the part you can improve safely." 

His own thoughts kept returning to the courtyard. Harry knew about Sirius and Peter now. Lupin was taking him to McGonagall, but a secret spoken aloud could travel through portraits, pipes, animals, or careless repetition. Edward resisted the urge to open the map in the common room. Constant observation would not make him more responsible, and using it around other students would expose every private movement in the castle. 

Instead, he wrote a short note to Dumbledore. Harry had heard the factual account. Lupin intended to report the conversation. No confrontation had occurred. Edward added that the disclosure increased the chance that Peter might notice a change in Harry's behaviour, so any witnessed examination should be scheduled soon. 

He sealed the note for the Headmaster's office and gave it to a prefect rather than leaving the common room after curfew. 

Draco watched the seal vanish into the prefect's bag. "Is this about Potter?" 

"It concerns another student's safety. I cannot give you the details." 

"You tell him things and not me." 

"I told him information about his parents. If your family were involved, you would have a right to the part that affected you." 

Draco rolled his wand between his fingers. "Father says information is valuable because other people do not have it." 

"Sometimes. A warning becomes valuable when the right person does have it. Privacy is not the same as possession." 

Theodore looked up from the practice record. "And who decides the right person?" 

"That is the dangerous question. In this case, Dumbledore, Lupin, McGonagall, and the people directly at risk should decide together. Not me alone." 

Pansy closed her book. "That sounds irritatingly slow." 

"It is." 

"Then it is probably real administration." 

Warrington called the end of practice. Everyone released the remaining jinxes, checked the chairs for damage, and cleaned the black mark from the fireplace. Draco wanted one final attempt, but his wrist had begun to tremble. Edward pointed it out, and after a complaint, Draco put his wand away. 

Crabbe carried the chairs back. Goyle collected loose parchment. Their progress was modest enough that no one mistook the lesson for mastery. 

When the others left for the dormitories, Draco remained by the hearth. 

"Do you think the Dark Lord is coming back?" he asked. 

Edward considered what was known. Two Horcruxes had existed. The shade in the diary had tried to rebuild itself. Sirius believed Peter had survived. None of that proved where Voldemort was or what condition he was in. 

"I think he prepared ways to survive," Edward said. "I do not know whether he can return soon. That uncertainty is a reason to prepare, not a reason to invent certainty." 

"Father will know more." 

"Perhaps. Do not interrogate him or steal from him. If he gives you an instruction that frightens you, speak to your mother or Professor Snape before obeying it." 

Draco bristled at the implication, then looked into the fire. "You make every answer into a rule." 

"Only the answers that could get us killed." 

After Draco went upstairs, Edward opened his private notebook. He entered the evening under two headings. The first recorded the lesson: silent casting required the same intention and movement as spoken casting, and fatigue weakened accuracy. The second recorded the risk around Peter: Harry informed, Lupin aware, adult action requested, no student pursuit authorised. 

He was tempted to add a prediction about how Harry would respond. He left the line blank. Harry had given him an answer already by taking the evidence to a professor instead of turning suspicion into a private hunt. 

For once, waiting was not inaction. It was part of the plan.