“I think Draco Malfoy gave Katie that necklace, Professor,” Harry said bravely.
He tried to make his voice sound steadier and more convincing.
Opposite him, Professor McGonagall’s serious expression quickly shifted to one of shock and incredulity.
To Harry’s left, Evan covered his forehead with his left hand, as if he had anticipated this exact moment.
On his other side, Hermione shuffled her feet as though quite keen to put a bit of distance between herself and Harry. Elaine, however, raised her right hand in a small fist over her chest, though Harry wasn’t sure whether it was meant as a gesture of support.
He knew he was alone in this suspicion, but he wasn’t about to back down — he was determined to convince Professor McGonagall.
“That is a very serious accusation, Potter,” said Professor McGonagall. “Do you have any proof?”
“No,” said Harry, “but …” and he told her about following Malfoy to Borgin and Burkes and the conversation they had overheard between him and Mr. Borgin, and how they had ventured into the Underground World deep within Knockturn Alley.
Evan gave Harry’s sleeve a discreet tug, signaling him to stop talking.
Harry suddenly realized that he shouldn’t have mentioned the Underground World.After all, they had lost track of Malfoy that day and had ended up encountering the werewolf Fenrir Greyback down there.
Explaining all of that would lead to an endless conversation. What he needed to focus on right now was Malfoy handing the necklace to Katie — there was no need to bring in unrelated details.
Besides, Harry had no evidence to prove that Malfoy had any connection with werewolves, but the fact that the four of them had sneaked into the Underground World of Knockturn Alley and met Greyback sounded very reckless and dangerous. If Professor McGonagall knew about this, she would definitely focus on this matter.
“Uh, then, we just went back!” Harry abruptly stopped.
Professor McGonagall hadn’t noticed Evan’s small gesture, and she looked slightly confused after listening to what Harry said.
“Malfoy took something to Borgin and Burkes for repair?”
“No, Professor, he just wanted Borgin to tell him how to mend something, he didn’t have it with him. But that’s not the point, the thing is that he bought something at the same time, and I think it was that necklace —”
“You saw Malfoy leaving the shop with a similar package?” Professor McGonagall looked at the group.
“No, Professor, he told Borgin to keep it in the shop for him —”
“So you suspect Malfoy bought the necklace from Borgin?” Professor McGonagall asked, frowning.
“Absolutely. I am certain that the necklace was in the window of Borgin and Burkes.”
“Wait, Harry,” Hermione interrupted him, “something doesn’t make sense here.”
“What doesn’t make sense?” Harry asked angrily.
“Well, Evan and I went there late, so we didn’t hear the conversation between Malfoy and Borgin,” Hermione analyzed. “But I remember you and Ron told us that Borgin asked Malfoy if he wanted to take it with him, and Malfoy said no —”
“Because he didn’t want to touch it, obviously?”
“What he actually said was, ‘How would I look carrying that down the street?’” said Hermione.
“Really?” Harry paused. “I can’t remember clearly. But even if that’s true, what does it matter?”
“It matters a lot! This proves that whatever he reserved at Borgin and Burkes was noisy or bulky, something he knew would draw attention to him if he carried it down the street,” Hermione pressed on loudly, before Harry could interrupt. “And I just remembered — I saw the necklace that day, too. Borgin had put it away behind the shop counter. I asked about it, don’t you remember? When I went in to try and find out what Malfoy had asked him to keep, I saw it there. And Borgin just told me the price, fifteen hundred Gold Galleons. He didn’t say it was already sold or anything —”
“Well, you were being really obvious, he realized what you were up to within about five seconds, of course he wasn’t going to tell you — anyway, Malfoy could’ve sent off for it since —”
“But —”
“— and what is more,” said Professor McGonagall, with an air of awful finality, “Mr. Malfoy was not in Hogsmeade today.”
Harry gaped at her, deflating.
“How do you know, Professor?”
“Because he was doing detention with me. He has now failed to complete his Transfiguration homework twice in a row,” said Professor McGonagall, turning to look at Evan. “Evan, do you have anything else to add about this matter?”
“No!” Evan shook his head.
“Very well,” Professor McGonagall stood up and strode past them. “Thank you for telling me these suspicions, but I must say that if you plan to go to Knockturn Alley or a more dangerous place next time, it is best to report in advance. You may leave now. I need to go up to the hospital wing to check on Katie Bell.”
She held open her office door, and Evan, Harry, Hermione and Elaine walked out one by one.
Harry seemed still angry because of Evan and Elaine’s indifference, Hermione’s rebuttal, and Professor McGonagall’s disbelief. He returned to the common room angrily, and when Ron came back, he narrated the incident and his suspicions again.
He hoped to seek support from Ron. Ron was obviously very surprised and confused about this matter, but he did not agree with Harry’s point of view. His focus was on who Katie was going to give the necklace to.
In fact, many people at the school could have been the intended target.
There was no need to say much about Dumbledore and the professors who were serving the Order of the Phoenix. Even Slughorn was a possible target.
Voldemort had always wanted to recruit him, and now that Slughorn had sided with Dumbledore, Voldemort was undoubtedly displeased.
In reality, he was probably more than just displeased. On the surface, Slughorn was Voldemort’s former mentor, but he was also the only person who knew that Voldemort had created Horcruxes, knew the exact number of Horcruxes, and was aware of many secrets from Voldemort’s school days that few others knew.
If Voldemort wanted to keep his secrets safe, the first person he would need to eliminate was Slughorn…
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