The Banshee Incident!
The Library:
“Look at him,” Ron said, plopping down in the chair opposite Draco and whining. “Just look at him.” He shoved Scabbers into Draco’s face, a little too up close for Draco’s comfort. “He’s just skin and bones. Keep your cat away from him,” he snapped at Hermione, who had sat down next to Draco with an annoyed huff.
“Are we still on this?” Draco complained, visibly irritated.
“Crookshanks doesn’t understand it’s wrong,” Hermione said indignantly. “All cats chase rats, Ron.”
“I’m telling you, Draco, there’s something wrong with that cat. It actually heard me say that Scabbers is in my bag,” Ron lamented, trying, and failing, to coax Scabbers back into his bag.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Ron,” Hermione said impatiently. “Crookshanks could probably just smell him—”
“Keep your cat away from Scabbers, Granger!” Ron almost yelled, before storming out of the room.
“You know, he’s not entirely wrong,” Pansy started.
“Oh, don’t you start with me,” Hermione cut her off. “My cat is innocent.”
“I don’t know about that,” Vince said, looking up from his Potions essay. “There’s definitely something odd about those animals. Either Crookshanks or Scabbers isn’t normal.”
Draco didn’t comment and returned to his research.
…..
The Common Room of the Brave and Naive of Gryffindors:
The following days were tense. Ron remained furious at Crookshanks, while Scabbers spent as much time hiding as possible. Any attempts at reconciliation and peace making from Hermione were met with Ron’s scowls.
On the sixteenth of October, a somber Parvati entered the common room, holding a tearful Lavender. After some deliberation, it was confirmed that the dire and dreadful prediction Trelawny had made to Lavender had come true, leaving Lavender in ruins.
This led to concerned and sympathetic, even frightened in some cases, glances from his friends toward Harry. Harry turned to Draco with a questioning look.
“What?” Draco asked, feeling slightly hurt by the suspicious gaze.
“Well… should I be worried?” Harry asked.
“Oh, come on, Potter…” Draco waved his hand dismissively. “You heard McGonagall. Trelawny loves making wild predictions.”
“But her prediction for Lavender came true,” Greg voiced his concern.
“Really?” Draco shot him a skeptical look. “You’re telling me Lavender was afraid of Binky being killed by a fox?” Draco glanced at the teary Lavender.
“Well, not necessarily by a fox,” Lavender said through her tears. “I never even thought of him being dead. He was just a baby.” She sobbed as Parvati tightened her hold around her.
Everyone turned to Draco (and honestly Draco was getting tired of this lack of trust).
“Seriously, people,” Draco said, “Binky didn’t die today. Lavender just found out about it today.”
“And obviously, she wasn’t even dreading it. Look at her; she just said she wasn’t expecting it,” Hermione said, helpfully to prove Draco’s point.
“Don’t mind them, Lavender,” Ron said loudly as he steered her toward the other side of the common room, ignoring the rest of his friends. “Especially Hermione. She doesn’t think other people’s pets matter very much.”
“Draco?” Harry implored.
“Harry, I promise, as long as I’m here, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Draco assured him, holding Harry’s hand. “Well, I cann’t exactly save you from your own moronish Gryffindorish idiocies but I won’t let you die. That’s for sure.” Harry finally relaxed and gave him a smile.
“Oblivious!” Blaise moaned from the side. “I tell you, the lot of them.” He continued his complaints to Neville, gesturing toward Ron and Lavender on one end of the room and then toward Harry and Draco.
…..
The Library (Once Again!):
Draco & Co. were in the library, working on their homework or, in Draco’s case, researching spells to deal with the rat catastrophe, when Luna approached him with their dreamy, ethereal voice (Draco had come to recognize the three distinct tones Luna used):
1.The voice where Luna was just theirself, with no Sight or nargles involved.
2.The ethereal tone as if the universe or magic itself was conveying a message. (It was always beneficial to listen to that.)
3.The cautionary tone that signaled something important, or warned against harm, often best heeded (He had learned his lesson after his nasty arm fracture).
This was Luna with their ethereal voice. “Did you know there’s a potion that the Ministry uses to compel people?” Draco looked at Luna intently, sweating a little. (How does they know these things?) “It’s undetectable, tasteless, and doesn’t leave a trace like Confundus or the Imperius.”
Draco blinked, unsure of how to respond. Luna had always been helpful with others’ problems, but this was the first time they was speaking to him without any probing.
Before Draco could reply or understand what to say, Hermione huffed indignantly. “Luna, dear,” she said, approaching Luna as if to impart some knowledge. “We love you, but there’s a limit to how much nonsense we can digest. No offense, but that sounds like one of your conspiracies that doesn’t even make sense.” (Perhaps Draco should have done something to resolve the tension between Hermione and Ron, as this felt overly harsh towards Luna.)
“Hermione, honey, you know I love you, right?” Luna continued without waiting for a reply, their voice taking on a condescending tone Draco had never heard from her (the fourth voice apparently). “But out of the two of us, only one had a mother who was such a Potions prodigy that even Slughorn wanted to apprentice under her. The other is just an insufferable know-it-all bound to never learn that we live in a magical world where anything is possible.” ("That had to sting." Vii commented.)
“Hey, whoa there, Luna,” Draco interjected, stepping between the two parties with his hand raised, trying to defuse the situation. “That’s a bit harsh—” he said to Luna as Hermione turned and ran out of the library. (That was the second time someone had dashed away from Draco. Why was everyone so dramatic? Maybe it’s just you?)
“Might have been harsh, but it’s the truth,” Luna said nonchalantly. “And besides, it’s time someone taught her that she needs to change her thinking; otherwise, she’ll be the one creating insurmountable obstacles for your cause, Draco.”
("You're right. They are scary." Vii agreed)
…...
The Room:
Draco planned to go over his plans for dealing with the Rat as they sat in the Room, waiting for Pansy, Hermione and Blaise to join them before they went on to the Hogsmeade visit. Thanks to Luna’s hint, he had managed to brew the potion with unexpectedly easy-to-find ingredients. Luna and Hermione were still in their silent treatment phase, while Hermione and Ron had moved on to shouting at each other. Draco needed to address this before it became a villain origin story for Hermione.
“Guys!” Pansy screeched, running into the Room with Hermione and Blaise, waving a letter around and panting as if they had sprinted through the castle to deliver exciting news.
“We got it!” the three of them exclaimed.
“We got the Ministry to approve our talent show,” Hermione crowed.
“Not only that…” Blaise said with anticipation. “The Minister himself will be there.”
A round of applause followed as everyone congratulated the trio for their hard work. They had spent days and nights crafting their proposal for the Ministry to add an annual talent show to the official extracurricular activities.
Once the excitement simmered down, Luna turned to Draco and asked loudly enough to get everyone’s attention, “Will you be participating now, Draco?” ("Oh, they are impressively good at this. Scarily good, infact.")
“Of course, Luna,” Draco replied smugly. “I’d love to participate in such an esteemed event.”
“What will you be doing, Draco?” Ginny asked curiously.
“Magic!” Draco exclaimed.
“You can’t, Draco,” Pansy said sadly, seemingly trying to break the news gently. “You’re a pureblood; you need to show non-magical talent.”
“Oh, don’t you worry, Pansy,” Draco smirked. “I’ll be performing Muggle magic.”
“Muggles do magic?” Greg asked, astonished.
“That’s sleight of hand, not magic,” Hermione interjected.
“Oh, ye of little faith,” Draco said. “Just wait for the best magical act ever performed.” He gave his imaginary mustache a villainous twirl.
......
The Room Once More:
Draco stood in the Room, it had taken on the eerie ambiance of a clandestine laboratory. Shadows flickered across the walls as the dim light from a cluster of candles illuminated the intricate array of magical ingredients and arcane symbols. It reminded him of a more sinister version of the lab that the Twins used for their research. He could feel the weight of the ritual pressing down on him, a mix of adrenaline and apprehension fueling his every move.
It was one of the most important and taxing tasks in this Universe for Draco so far. Draco had painstakingly prepared the potion, which now simmered in the cauldron, its colors shifting from an unsettling gray to a murky green.
Draco took a deep breath and focused on the ritual. Contrary to popular belief (mostly of Luna and Draco’s) it wasn’t a Compelling Potion. It was basically a Potion to enhance and make Imperio undetectable. He placed the sleeping Scabbers on the table and transferred the liquid directly to his stomach. He cast a mild Imperio, to compel Scabbers. The room seemed to hold its breath as the Potion took hold.
Draco’s heart raced. The ritual was complete, and the Imperius Curse had taken hold. He lifted the now-submissive Scabbers from the cage, preparing to return him to Ron’s bedside.
He moved quietly, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible, with steady and deliberate steps.
He was just about to deposit Scabbers back into his cage when he noticed Ron tiwichting in his sleep. In the dimly lit room with sleep in his eyes, the brilliant Ron somehow mistook him to be Sirius Black, who had come to kill Ron, personally. (Why he would think that was anyone's guess.)
Hence the screaming and shouting that ensued and henceforth would be always known as the Banshee Incident occurred.