THE POTIONS MASTER
..It all happened when -" No sound came from his throat. Looking down in surprise, he lets out a hum of consideration.
"Unfortunately, I am unable to tell you the story right now," Thanatos says with an amused grin when everyone's faces drop at the lack of story/information.
"Come on!" Sirius and Percy overdramatically shout before pouting
"There is another person coming to join us!" Thanatos says when he remembers someone.
There was a flash of light, and there stood Hyacinth.
"Hi all, I am Hyacinth Potter, the daughter of Lily and James Potter." A girl of black hair and a lighting scar on her face says.
Hyacinth then went to sit down with Sirius and Remus.
Percy just looked shocked and didn't know how to react to seeing her in front of him.
"Time for chapter eight," Thanatos chuckles.
*****
THE POTIONS MASTER
"There, look."
"Where?"
"Next to the tall kid with the red hair."
"Wearing the glasses?"
"Did you see her face?"
"Did you see her scar?"
"Why can't these mortals just keep their mouths closed," Apollo practically whines with his face in his hands from a mix of annoyance and second-hand embarrassment.
"I hate it when they stare at me it is so annoying." Hyacinth complains.
Whispers followed Hyacinth from the moment she left her dormitory the next day. People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoes to get a look at her or doubled back to pass her in the corridors again, staring.
"This is worse than in camp with Percy," Annabeth notes with a furrow between her brows. "At least with Percy, we know what happened and how."
Hyacinth wished they wouldn't because she was trying to concentrate on finding her way to classes, not attempting to get eyed up by the entire student body. Hyacinth had to physically bite her tongue to keep her polite expression in place.
Remus sighs. "She's going to bottle up that anger, and it's going to -"
"Practically explode, and it'll be a wonderful show to watch," Sirius cuts off Remus with an entertained cackle, the black madness seeping into his silver eyes.
Dionysus smirks behind his wine glass at the sight.
There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely or tickled them in exactly the right place and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending.
"... What?" Annabeth's voice cracks before mumbling to herself, trying to figure out how it managed to do it without compromising the structural integrity. It was Hephestus replicating the abilities without the aid of magic.
Hyacinth just smiled blissfully at the sound of the ancient castle.
It was also very hard to remember where anything was because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Harry was sure the coats of armor could walk.
Hecate looks around the room and chuckles at the expressions on her fellow Gods and Goddesses faces, she was proud of the capabilities that her creations possess. Knowing that one of her domains was getting the appreciation it deserves, Hecate couldn't help the soft smile that overtook her features.
This was one of the reasons she had turned to helping the crooked one. She was looked down upon for the mere fact that she was a minor goddess. Out of the corner of his eye, Percy sees the soft expression on Hecate's face and wonders how this could be the same goddess that sent her empousai after him. Poseidon looks to where his sons gaze is and softens. He hadn't had many interactions with Hecate, but he couldn't help but enjoy the smile on her face.
Averting his eyes to Sally, he couldn't help but notice how she had a small smile on her face at the description, seeming almost.... Wistful,as though she'd been there before.
The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class.
"He was never any help. There was a reason why practically every ghost wanted him gone," Sirius said amused.
He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"
Remus snorts and looks away guiltily.
"That was you?!" Draco and Bill screech.
Remus just ignores them, unable to look anyone in the eyes.
Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Hyacinth and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning. Filch found Ron trying to force his way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor with Hyacinth beside him, looking annoyed. He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.
"Why does he even work at a school when he hates children so much," Remus questions.
Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris is a scrawny, dust-coloured creature with bulging, lamp-like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later.
"He wouldn't," Sirius says, horrified.
"He wouldn't even be able to get into its pads," Remus comforts.
Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts.
Fred and George share a mischievous grin. Sirius and Remus look over to them with calculating glints in their eyes, acknowledging a theory they have.
The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris, a good kick.
"Don't do that! Animals are sacred!" Artemis says appalled.
"I love all animals but that specific cat is just the worst cat ever!" Hyacinth declares while shivering at the thought of the cat.
And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Hyacinth quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words like'abracadabra,' as many would say when thinking of a spell
"She isn't wrong. Lily said it in the first year, and magical raised looked at her horrified." Remus chuckles.
"Abracadabra sounds like the incantation of the killing curse Avada Kedavra," Sirius continues laughing, despite the fact that he was one of those students looking at her horrified.
Hyacinth just smiled at having the same qualities as her mother.
They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. It was in this first lesson that Hyacinth knew that she was going to enjoy this topic, having obsessed over flowers and their meanings. Endless hours of slaving over her aunt's garden having taken its toll on her, making her own game of what flowers she could find and grow.
"I did like Herbology. It was interesting to find carnivorous plants," Charlie says, having been more inclined to interact with the more dangerous side of magic with a happy heart.
Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates and got Emeric the Evil andUric the Oddball mixed up.
"We always had to self-study for exams. He was stuck on the goblin wars that hadn't ever been a topic in the exams." Remus sighs.
Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class, he took the roll call, and when he reached Hyacinth's name, he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.
"Lily was his favorite student," Sirius chuckles in remembrance.
Professor McGonagall was again different. Hyacinth had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
"Now that's a teacher," Athena says with a happy smile.
Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realised they weren't going to be changing the lesson, only Hermione Granger and Hyacinth had made any difference to their matches; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione and Hyacinth a rare smile.
"Good ole minnie," Sirius wipes a fake stray tear.
The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days.
"HA! So much for being a defense against the dark arts teacher!" Ares snorted loudly.
Those who had him as a teacher nodded in agreement as he wasn't a good teacher.
His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story.
"I don't blame them, i wouldn't believe him either," Persephone snorts while flipping her hair, somehow making it seem graceful, Hades just stares at his wife full of love while Nico and Hazel roll their eyes, amused at their fathers reaction.
For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.
Hyacinth was very relieved to find out that she wasn't miles behind everyone else. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like her , hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start.
Athena and many of her children nod their heads in understanding, none of them appreciated being one of the worst in anything.
Friday was an important day for Hyacinth and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once.
"It took them longer than it took for us," Sirius remarks teasingly.
"That's because you twits were out during the night." Remus chuckles.
"What have we got today?" Hyacinth asked Ron, bored as she poured sugar on her porridge.
"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them-we'll be able to see if it's true."
"The greasy git probably does," Sirius growls.
"Wish McGonagall favored us," jokes Hyacinth . Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.
"I love Minnie, but did she have to give us homework on the first day," Sirius pouted.
"You wouldn't have had trouble if you'd done it when you got it, rather than waiting the night before."Remus teases.
Just then, the mail arrived. Hyacinth had gotten used to this by now, but it had given her a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.
Hedwig hadn't brought Hyacinth anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble her ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls.
"Fucking rat," Sirius mutters, if he hadn't gone after Peter, he could have raised her and sent her letters while she was at hogwarts instead of rotting behind bars at askaban.
This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Hyacinth's plate. Hyacinth calmly ripped it open at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl:
Dear Hyacinth,
I know yougetFriday afternoons off, so would you love to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.
Hagrid
"Remus, remind me to get something for Hagrid when we get out of here," Sirius says softly, using Remus as his secretary.
"Sure Pads," Remus responds while adding his own reminder as well.
Hyacinth just chuckled at her honorary uncles.
Hyacinth borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled Yes, please, see you later on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again.It was lucky that Hyacinth had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to her so far.
The potions professor needed to get a grip, he was only feeding into the belief of Slytherins being evil, and only further proving that Slytherins were 'evil' Hyacinth thought, fighting against the urge to bury her head into her hands and groan.
"Trying to fight against the house hate but only enforcing it," Sirius wetly chuckles, still not over his regrets at chasing after Peter.
At the start-of-term banquet, Hyacinth had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked her. By the end of the first Potions lesson, she knew she'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Hyacinth — he hated her.
"Because you look like your father dear," Hecate chuckles, trying to bury her hatred of Snape by focusing on Hyacinth. However, she was failing to do so.
Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.
Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Hyacinth's name.
"Ah, yes," he said softly, " Hyacinth Potter. Our new—celebrity."
"Ah yes, the smaller female version of the dead man I hate," Remus snarks in a good Snape impression, causing Sirius to forget about his regrets and laugh.
Percy tries to hide his amused snort of laughter, asto not get whacked only for his mother to lightly laugh as well. Poseidon and Percy couldn't help but notice that Sally had a mix of anger and disgust in her eyes at the potions master.
They look at each other and vow to do something about him. They didn't know why Sally hated the man, they hadn't known she even knew the guy, but it was enough that she hated him.
Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.
"Still mad that your crush went after James?" Sirius pouts in fake sympathy.
"Stay mad bitch!" Sirius continues with a mad cackle.
"It wasn't James' fault that you called her a mudblood," Sally mutters as Remus says it out loud. Percy and Poseidon were just left wondering how Sally knew, and by the look she had, Sally wasn't sure at how she knew.
"What is a mudblood?" one of the Stoll brothers call out from their place by their siblings and Hermes.
"A mudblood is a derogatory term used by purebloods to those who are muggleborn or half blooded witches and Wizards. It, as you could probably infer, means dirty blood," Hyacinth explains kindly.
"Why would anyone-" One of the gods starts only to be interrupted, "It's close to racism or things similar, it helps people gain a sense of superiority that they wouldn't otherwise have," Hermes explained.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word—like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort.
"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
"That was a good speech before you started belittling your students," Athena says, beginning to get annoyed at the man.
More silence followed this little speech. Hyacinth and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.
"Know it all," Many in the room groaned.
"What's wrong with wanting to answer questions and wanting to prove herself?" Athena asks sharply.
"It's not the fact that she wants to ask questions or prove herself Lady Athena, it's the fact that she would never allow anyone else the chance to speak or present their ideas, she doesn't get better." Draco informs politely, causing Athena to blush slightly in embarrassment.
"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
A moment of confusion before wondering if she'd read it...
"Draught of the Living Dead?," asked Hyacinth unsurely, being sure to write it down lest she need it later, the flowers were setting off bells of recognition in her head, but she couldn't figure out why.
"Flower language!" Apollo cheers with a smile from Demeter, her kids, and Persephone.
"Asphodel is a breed of lily that means 'My regrets follow you to the grave' and wormwood symbolises 'absence' and 'bitter sorrow'" Demeter says.
"You mean to tell me that Snape is telling Hyacinth that he regrets her mothers death, while attempting to cause a scene by asking her questions that she wouldn't know the answer to?" Sirius grounds out, leading to Remus placing a comforting hand on his bicep.
Snape's lips curled into a sneer.
"Correct."
He ignored Hermione's hand.
"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Hyacinth didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. She tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter.
"Yes, yes, I know, I was an ass," Draco says before anyone else does.
"At least you know that Dray," Luna teases while Hyacinth smirks.
"I'm sorry, sir, however, I haven't a clue."
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"
"Dickhead," Clarisse says through fake coughs, when people turn to her amused all she says is "What? I have a cough,"
Hyacinth then chuckles.
Hyacinth forced herself to keep a polite smile on her face, staring this 'teacher' in his cold, dead eyes. She had looked through her books at the Dursleys', but did Snape expect her to remember everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi?
"Even I wouldn't be able to do that," Katie Gardener says.
Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand.
"Ask Granger! Stop picking on a defenseless child, you greasy motherfu-" Remus cuts Sirius off with a hand around his mouth.
"I think we get it, Pads," Remus says.
"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling.
"Monkshood and wolfsbane are the same thing, they are also known as aconite, it's a flower that is believed in the muggle world to repel Werewolves, although I am unsure of whether that holds true in this magical world." Hyacinth rambles slightly, excited over being able to talk about one of her passions.
"Yes! If she's any good at botany, I might take it upon myself to kidnap her as well," Demeter teases Poseidon, earning a glare from father and son
Snape, however, was not pleased , unknown to her, Hyacinth had been a mirror image of her mother in that moment, and Snape couldn't handle it.
"Pussy," Clarisse lets out coughs before saying "I did say I had a cough," For Sally to laugh at her actions, thoroughly enjoying them.
"Maybe I could adopt her," Sally mutters to herself only for Percy to look at her in horror at the prospect.
"Please I don't want to get adopted, I am happy with how my life is, thanks." Hyacinth says.
"Correct." Snape grits out before turning to the others.
"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
"Asshole," Sally sings quietly. Percy just stares at his mother in shock at her swearing before grinning slightly at the realisation that she isn't likely to say anything about them doing something against snape.
There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter." The polite expression on her face beginning to strain.
"That greasy git is lucky that Lily isn't alive, otherwise he would be dead already," Remus whistles.
Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticising almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like.
He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.
"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"
"When a student is injured you make sure they are alright, not berate them!" Apollo and Athena shout at the man.
Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.
"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Hyacinth and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.
"You—Potter—why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."
"What in the world? She wasn't in charge of other students! You evil slimy git!" Sirius yells, his hatred for Snape having increased since their school years.
Hyacinth then smiled as Sirius defends her.
This was so unfair that Hyacinth had to bite her tongue to keep her polite and demure expression in place and not verbally respond. He was a nasty bitter man, it was clear in her eyes, but he hasn't crossed a line that requires retribution yet.
"Better than me, I probably would have been expelled again for what i would do to a teacher," Percy says, telling himself that if or when she wants to get revenge, he will help her. Two rounds of revenge well deserved.
"Don't do anything," Ron muttered seeing Hyacinth's face, "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."
As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Hyacinth's mind was racing and her spirits were low. She'd lost two points for Gryffindor in her very first week , honestly and from the same class as wel l—why did Snape hate her so much?
"Because you look like your father, Snape can't see past that to notice how much of Lily is in you," Remus sighs.
"Cheer up," said Ron, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"
Seeing no need to say no, she agreed.
"Yes, no Hagrid slander here," Sirius' face splits into a broad grin.
At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.
When Hyacinth knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang—back."
Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.
"Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang."
He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.
"Dog!" Hades lets out before reigning himself back in and coughing slightly in his embarrassment. Persephone as well as Hazel and Nico laugh lightly at Hades reaction to the dog, having been a massive dog person.
There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.
Aphrodite and many grimace at the state of his home, but couldn't help but notice that it was warm and homey, like Hagrid himself.
"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.
Hades had to physically restrain himself over fawning over the dog. If he was alone or just with Persephone or his kids, he wouldn't have had an issue.
"This is Ron," Hyacinth told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.
"Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."
"Hagrid, we love you too," George and Fred say, blowing exaggerated kisses.
Hyacinth couldn't help the little giggle that escaped her before she embarrassedly fake coughed.
Percy noticed the uncomfortable feeling bubbled up into his chest again, the one he felt when he'd noted Hyacinth's reaction to the Blaise Zabini boy. He couldn't help but send a small glare in the direction of the Weasley twins.
The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Hyacinth and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on Hyacinth's knee and drooled all over her robes. She learned she enjoyed smothering the dog with love.
"Animal person," Draco chuckles amused, having witnessed Hyacinth interact with many animals that seem to adore her.
Hyacinth just rolled her eyes at Draco.
Hyacinth and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git''
"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like to introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up to the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her—Filch puts her up to it."
Hyacinth told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Hyacinth not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.
"Hagrid, I hate to tell you this, but you're terrible at lying," Sirius chuckles.
"But he seemed to really hate me."
"Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?"
Yet Hyacinth couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet her eyes when he said that and just raised her eyebrow at him unamused.
"You are a smaller version of the man i hate," Remus mimicked again, causing laughs around the room.
"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot—great with animals."
"Yay! I'm discussed before I'm shown!" Charlie cheers, sending Bill a smirk and sticks his tongue out at him.
Hyacinth noted that Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose . While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons,
Charlie couldn't help but let out a wistful sigh "My dangerous babies,"
Hyacinth picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations continued into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.
Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had, in fact, been emptied the same day.
"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokes goblin this afternoon.
Hyacinth remembered Ron telling her on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date.
"Hagrid!" said Hyacinth , "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"
"And now she's going to try and figure out what it was," Sirius sighs.
There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet Hyacinth's eyes this time. He grunted and offered her another rock cake. Hyacinth read the story again. The vault that was searched had, in fact, been emptied earlier that same day. Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for?
"I have a feeling that it was," Percy groans into his hands.
As Hyacinth and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, Hyacinth thought that none of the lessons she'd had so far had given her as much to think about as tea with Hagrid. Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Hyacinth?
"She isn't going to be able to let it go, is she?" Percy sighs.
Draco snorts "No she is not,"
"Don't go whining, Percy, you're exactly the same," Annabeth teases with a nod of agreement from Grover.
"Yeah, don't forget about the quest for the golden fleece," Grover adds.