Chapter 705: A Prophecy Spanning Nineteen Years After all, Pansy was not really Ginny, and Hermione could not possibly know everything.It was only natural that Pansy coul |
Following Harry Potter’s lead, Pansy went with him straight to a corner of the common room.
The spot was extremely secluded. Unless someone came quite close, it would be hard to hear what they were saying, let alone see what they were doing.
Once they reached the corner, Pansy did not hurry to sit down. She waited until Harry Potter had taken a seat first, then chose the seat farthest from him.
On closer inspection, one would notice that Pansy had, seemingly by coincidence, chosen a spot that blocked Harry Potter’s line of sight.
From Harry Potter’s angle, it was difficult to notice what was happening over on Draco’s side.
The way Pansy did this made it seem as if she had already guessed that something was about to happen over there.
And in fact, that was exactly what Pansy was thinking. She wondered what Draco would do and hoped he would give those people a harsh lesson.
If she had not been carrying out an important mission, Miss Pansy, known in Goyle and Crabbe’s minds as a little devil, would certainly have shown those blond-haired wizards her best Transfiguration.
As if something had just occurred to her, a sly, silent smile flashed across Pansy’s face.
It was not an expression Ginny Weasley herself could have made.
And Harry Potter, sitting across from her, happened to notice it.
“Are you listening, Ginny?”
“Tsk... Ahem. Did you just say something?”
Snapping back to herself, Pansy instinctively clicked her tongue in displeasure. The sheer disgust in it made one suspect that, if the time and place had been right, she would have slapped Harry Potter on the spot.
Especially when she noticed that the way he looked at her seemed a little off, Pansy leaned back warily and tightened her grip on the wand hidden beneath her robes.
It was as if the moment Harry Potter did anything out of line, she would immediately use her best Transfiguration on him.
As for that disgusting gaze, Pansy kept cursing Hermione in her heart for giving her bad information. Hadn’t she said this guy did not like Weasley? Then why was this happening?
What she did not realize was that the problem lay in Pansy’s acting.
Although she was wearing Ginny Weasley’s skin, the way she carried herself was still unmistakably Pansy Parkinson.
Harry Potter already liked Pansy, and he also had a faint fondness for Ginny. As a result, the “Ginny Weasley” Pansy was playing immediately caught his attention.
It seemed Harry Potter liked girls with a bit of forcefulness to them.
...
In any case.
To get herself out of this terrible situation as quickly as possible, Pansy decided to move straight to the point and complete her objective.
“So, where’s the map you wanted to show me? And what did you want to tell me?”
“I have the map with me... Here it is!”
As Harry Potter took out a blank sheet of parchment, Pansy’s eyes widened in excitement.
Just as Draco had described, that magical map was a blank piece of parchment.
It was called a map, yet there was not a single line on it. Strictly speaking, it was nothing but a blank sheet of paper. Even so, this was the target of Pansy’s mission.
“So this is...”
“This is the Marauder’s Map. And... I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!”
“...Wait?!”
At first, Pansy did not react much to the Marauder’s Map placed in front of her. But the moment Harry Potter finished speaking, a dot of ink magically appeared at the center of the map, then began spreading outward from that point.
In that instant, Pansy’s first reaction was not curiosity, but fear and tension.
She had not forgotten what Draco had told her about this magical map. In particular, she could hardly forget its ability to show the locations of wizards.
In other words, if the map did not show Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom, wouldn’t her and Draco’s identities be exposed on the spot?
After all, who knew whose names would appear on this Marauder’s Map?
“Huh?!”
Harry Potter had not expected Ginny to suddenly do something so rude, but he did not say anything about it.
In his mind, Ginny had probably been startled by the wonder of the Marauder’s Map.
At that moment, Pansy had snatched the Marauder’s Map and was staring wide-eyed at the map in her hands. Her adorable expression made Harry Potter glance at her a few extra times.
While Pansy confirmed what was on the map, Harry Potter’s voice reached her ears. “Look, all the hidden secret passages are shown on this map. It’s amazing, isn’t it? I have to say, Father and Sirius really were incredible.”
“...”
The pupils of her fixed eyes narrowed slightly.
Who had he just said?
Could the creators of this Marauder’s Map be Potter’s father and Sirius Black?
Was that true?
While quietly committing this information to memory, Pansy was shocked by how detailed the map was in its coverage of the entire castle, but she also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Because the map really did display names that should not be seen by anyone else.
“It can actually mark a wizard’s location this clearly?!”
“That’s right. So far, I’ve never seen this map make any mist...” Harry Potter’s certain tone suddenly became hesitant, as if he had remembered something.
Because he had thought of what happened in Professor Horace’s office.
At that time, the Marauder’s Map had indeed shown him something that made him question it.
But compared with Harry Potter’s puzzled frown, Pansy was far more relieved that she had snatched the map away at the first possible moment.
After all, the names written on it were Draco’s and hers.
Pansy’s eyelid twitched. She adjusted the angle at which she held the map and said, “So, what did you want to tell me?”
“About Ron.”
“Who’s that... Cough. Oh! Him.”
After realizing who Ron was, Pansy quickly responded.
Fortunately, Harry Potter did not seem to hear Pansy’s mutter. Otherwise, he would certainly have grown suspicious of the Ginny in front of him.
Only...
Ron Weasley?
Pansy’s expression turned a little conflicted.
Because how was she supposed to know how he was doing? After all, none of the preparations beforehand had covered this problem at all!
...
After all, Pansy was not really Ginny, and Hermione could not possibly know everything.
It was only natural that Pansy could not answer most of Harry Potter’s questions, let alone explain exactly how Ron was doing now.
What did that have to do with Miss Pansy?
In any case.
Since there was no way for her to give a proper answer, Pansy could only stammer and make something up. “He’s just... you know, like that. Eating when he’s hungry, sleeping when he’s full...”
“...I’m not joking with you, Ginny. I’m asking seriously. I’m really worried about Ron.”
“Even if you say that...”
Faced with Harry Potter’s pressing questions, Pansy gradually began to lose patience. Especially now that the Marauder’s Map was already in her hands, she started wondering whether she should simply find the right chance to slip away.
But after thinking about the consequences, Pansy gave up on that tempting idea.
With a sigh, Pansy pushed down her irritation and began carefully searching her memory.
If she remembered correctly, Draco had once mentioned Ron Weasley. It had something to do with that incident in front of the Lovegood house last time.
She glanced at Harry Potter across from her. “So you want to know what happened after Weasley... I mean, after Ron was taken away by my parents?”
“Of course. I’m worried something might have happened to Ron. I asked Dumbledore and the others, but I never got an answer. Do you know what’s going on?”
With no other choice, Pansy gave a vague explanation. “Mm... it just needs a little time, that’s all. You know what he went through. I’m sure he’ll be back at Hogwarts soon.”
“Yeah. This is all that evil Malfoy’s fault!”
“You’re the one who should go to h...”
“Hm?”
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Pansy, who had nearly cursed him outright, coughed hard several times to cover up her agitation and slip of the tongue.
To keep Harry Potter from having time to think too much, Pansy brought up the earlier question again. “So, is that what you wanted to tell me?”
“No... Actually, I wanted to ask your advice.”
“Advice? What are you planning to do?”
Noticing Harry Potter’s serious expression and the way he deliberately lowered his voice, Pansy realized that what he was about to say seemed very important.
Sensing that there might be important information coming, Pansy unconsciously pressed her lips together.
...
As Harry Potter lowered his voice and leaned in.
Pansy could not help growing tense at the change in him. It seemed this mission might have an unexpected gain after all.
“Dumbledore... you know, he’s been investigating something lately.”
“...”
How could she possibly know?
Although she did not understand, Pansy did not stupidly blurt out the question in her mind. Instead, she cooperated perfectly, putting on an expression that suggested she knew everything and giving a small nod.
“And then?”
“And then, just last night, Dumbledore suddenly told me he had found a clue and was almost certain he could find it.”
“He found it? Really?” Though she had no idea what he was talking about, Pansy still put on a look of delighted surprise.
“That’s right. So I was wondering whether I should ask Dumbledore to take me with him. What do you think?”
“But that should be... I mean, it must be dangerous.”
“It’s definitely dangerous, but...”
At this point, Harry Potter’s face suddenly filled with anger, as if he had recalled some awful experience.
It was also obvious that Harry Potter was struggling to stop himself from shouting.
Harry Potter himself did not realize that his emotions seemed to be swinging more and more violently now, and becoming harder and harder to control.
“But I’m worried Snape will go with him. I have to keep an eye on him!”
“Snape... why?”
“Why?! Because he told Voldemort the contents of the prophecy! It was him. He was eavesdropping outside the room. Don’t doubt it, Professor Trelawney told me herself!”
“...”
Looking at Harry Potter, who was panting hard from agitation, Pansy had no idea how Ginny was supposed to react in this situation, so she could only stay silent.
Harry Potter was breathing heavily, as if he had just gone through a fight.
Feeling faintly uneasy, Pansy quietly turned her head to look toward Draco.
But very quickly, Pansy forced herself to turn back, because she saw several wizards already lying at Draco’s feet.
Those wizards, lying motionless and seemingly unconscious, were the same blond-haired ones who had tried to bully Draco earlier.
It seemed Draco had taken care of those blond-haired wizards in a very short time, without alerting anyone at all.
As for whether this would expose their identities?
Well... Draco’s Memory Charm was probably very practiced.
...
Seeing this, Pansy decided to keep provoking Harry Potter’s emotions, to prevent him from suddenly looking toward Draco and discovering what had happened there.
“So you don’t trust Snape?”
“That’s right. Dumbledore actually still lets Snape teach here. Back then, he was the one who told Voldemort to go after my parents!”
“So what did Dumbledore say?”
“He said Snape only made a terrible mistake. When he heard the first half of the prophecy, he didn’t know that the people Voldemort wanted to kill were my parents! If he had known, he wouldn’t have done it.”
At this point, Pansy finally began to understand what Harry Potter was talking about.
The key to all of it was that prophecy.
It was also that prophecy that led to Harry Potter’s parents being killed by Voldemort.
As for why Snape had done it, that could only be put down to different loyalties. After all, he had been one of the Death Eaters back then.
In any case.
Speaking of that prophecy, Pansy remembered hearing Draco mention it before. It was also closely connected to the Death Eaters’ raid on the Ministry of Magic last time.
It had even been important enough for Voldemort to act personally, all because he wanted to know the second half of the prophecy.